About CGS
Overview of CGS Module
CGS Structure
CGS Processing
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There are four different types of contract and grant records:
Sponsor records are created for each sponsoring agency who awards contracts or grants to the University. The sponsor code identifies the agency which awarded the funds to the University. Additionally, CGS maintains the sponsor name, billing address and reporting address on the sponsor record. Sponsors are assigned to award records. Sponsors are attached to accounts through the assignment of the award ID on the GL account record.
Award records are used to group accounts together for consolidated reporting and billing. Generally an award record represents the award from the sponsoring agency. This may span multiple years. Attributes maintained on the award record pertain to all the accounts assigned the award ID such as award number, award type, CFDA number, project period, project amount, related awards, and special conditions. Additionally, billing and reporting information is contained on the award record. This information includes billing frequency, invoice format, billing period, and similar data items for reporting. Each GL and SL account record is assigned an award ID.
GL and SL account records are associated with the FAS GL and SL account records. For every CGS GL and SL account, there must exist a FAS GL and SL account. The CGS account record maintains additional attributes specific for research and training. The SL accounts are mapped to a GL account using the FAS map code assigned on Screen 006. The GL and SL account records capture and maintain information specific to an account such as payment method, account status, award period, indirect cost base and rate.
All of the records can be maintained on-line or through batch feeds.
Sponsor records
The Sponsor Attribute Maintenance screen (601) is used to maintain information about the sponsoring agency. This screen will maintain data about all types of sponsors, Federal, State, Private, etc. The sponsor code is assigned at the award level and is attached to the accounts assigned to the award.
The required fields are:
The Award Attribute Maintenance screen (603) is used to maintain information about an award from a sponsor. The award generally matches the award described on the contract or grant from the sponsoring agency. Each award is assigned a valid sponsor code. Awards may have multiple GL and SL accounts mapped to it for consolidated reporting.
The required fields are:
Once the award is created, billing and reporting information can be entered. Since some awards may not
require billing or reporting to the sponsor, none of the information on the Billing and Reporting Attribute
Maintenance screen (604) is required. However, in order for the automated billing programs to generate
billing worksheets and invoices, some of the data items need to completed.
GL and SL account records
The CGS GL and SL accounts are linked to the FAS GL and SL accounts by the account number, campus code and fiscal year. The CGS account records maintain attributes specific to research and training and are oftentimes merged with the information from FAS to provide reports and perform processing. Accounts within designated ranges require CGS processing and thus, a CGS record. These account ranges include:
The required attributes for a CGS GL account record are:
Since the Award ID is a required field, the proper award record must be established prior to adding the account record. The award records are created and maintained on screen 603.
The other type of account record is the CGS SL account record. This record is used to maintain contract and grant attributes related to the SL account. Many of these attributes determine which processing will be required for the account in FAS. Screen 606 is used to create and maintain the CGS SL account record.
The required attributes for a CGS SL account record are:
There are five other flags on the SL account: pre-award, on/off campus, program income, cost sharing, and sub-recipient monitor. This flags are used for monitoring, but do not determine any processing at the present time.
Screen 606 displays attributes assigned at the GL account record level. Based on the FAS map code assigned to the SL account, the award ID, payment method, LOC code, LOC pool, and LOC document number are displayed for reference.
Once the GL and SL CGS account records are created, transactions may be processed on the accounts.
Oftentimes contracts and grants are awarded to the principal investigator with multiple budget lines. In FAS, each of these budget lines would need to be entered as a separate transaction on screen 010. Entering each of these budget lines separately can introduce data entry errors and an incorrect budget amount will be posted to the account. In order to reduce the number of errors, CGS has a Budget Transaction Screen (610) which allows the user to enter all of the budget lines at one time. The system maintains the total amount budgeted which can be verified by the user that this total matches the award document.
An additional feature of CGS is allowing different funds editing levels from reporting levels. A user can select to perform funds editing at the total account level (ABR = 1) and report the account status at a detailed category level (Report rule = 3). This allows some flexibility in overspending in some categories without creating a deficit in the account. The user can still enter budgets at a detailed level for reporting back to the sponsor and for monitoring the account.
Screen 610 captures the budget amount for each category and will post the amount to the appropriate pool based on the ABR rule and report rule defined on the account. Additionally, special object codes can be budgeted and/or reported separately for specialized reporting. If a non-standard pool is defined for the account, (ABR rule and report rule greater than 3), the user has the ability to budget amounts for the non-standard pools.
For specified accounts, CGS will perform an additional funds edit to validate if the account has enough funds to cover both the direct and the indirect costs associated with the transaction. This will insure that the account has enough money and that the expenditure can be billed to the sponsor. The CGS funds edit only applies to CGS accounts with ABR rule = 1 (funds editing at the total account level).
For these accounts, CGS will calculate the indirect cost associated with the transaction based on the indirect cost base and rate defined to the account. If the direct transaction is subject to overhead, then the related indirect cost is added to the direct transaction amount and this revised amount is compared against the budget balance available. If the revised transaction amount is less than or equal to the budget balance available, then the transaction is accepted.
Indirect cost is posted weekly to the accounts. In order for the funds edit to validate all transactions, the system maintains the amount of indirect cost which has been incurred during the week, prior to posting. This amount is subtracted from the available balance before the transaction is compared. Each week these temporary amounts are cleared out as the indirect cost is posted to the accounts. To see how much indirect cost has been incurred by the direct transactions, go to screen 619 and check the Incurred Indirect Cost line in the account summary.
Indirect cost is generated on a weekly basis and posted to the accounts. CGS accounts with a valid indirect cost base (not 99' or blank) are included in the indirect cost processing. The program bypasses accounts which have been flagged for delete or drop. The batch program, FHWR953, accumulates the direct expenses subject to overhead and calculates how much indirect cost should be posted to the account. It then compares that amount with the amount of overhead posted to the account in the Indirect Cost subcode (9100) and generates a journal entry transaction for the difference. The program also calculates indirect cost on encumbrances. The program calculates the outstanding encumbrance amount subject to overhead and generates two encumbrance entries, one to reverse the amount already encumbered in subcode 9100 and one to post the new encumbrance amount. The encumbrance posting is generated as an 052 transaction and the reversal is generated as an 054 transaction. In addition to generating the indirect cost entries, the program clears out the incurred indirect cost buckets for the account. Based on the fund assigned to the account, the program will post the indirect cost to the appropriate indirect cost control account.
Sample indirect cost transactions:
Total expenditures for SL account 6-50600 subject to overhead: 2,500.00
Indirect cost rate: 45%
Amount of indirect cost recorded in SL account 6-50600-9100: 1,000.00
Amount for indirect cost journal entry transaction: 125.00
Encumbrance balance subject to overhead: 500.00
Amount of indirect cost encumbered in account 6-50600-9100: 180.00
Amount of indirect cost encumbrance reversal: 180.00-
Amount of indirect cost enumbrance posting: 225.00
Indirect cost control account: 0-50379
Indirect cost journal entry transaction (062):
6-50600-9100 DR. 125.00
0-50379-2511 CR. 125.00
* account control 2511 represents the indirect cost liability
Indirect cost encumbrance transaction (052):
6-50600-9100 DR. 225.00
0-50379-9660 CR. 225.00 (indirect transaction generated by the system)
Indirect cost encumbrance reversal transaction (054):
0-50379-9660 DR. 180.00 (indirect transaction generated by the system)
6-50600-9100 CR. 180.00
* account control 9660 represents the expenditure encumbrance summary
These transactions are batched and fed to FBDU010 for posting to FAS. The program is scheduled to run on a weekly basis and during the month-end cycle.
Another feature of CGS is to calculate retroactive adjustments to the indirect cost. There are three different means to calculate retroactive adjustments: inception-to-date, fiscal year-to-date, or specified month. In each of the cases, the program will calculate the total direct costs subject to overhead and calculate the indirect cost generated based on the base and rate assigned to the account. This amount is compared to the total amount posted to the account and a transaction is generated for the difference. For example, if the fiscal year-to-date option is selected, the program accumulates all of the expenditures subject to overhead that have been posted for the entire fiscal year. Then it generates the amount of overhead which should have been posted by multiplying the total expenditure amount by the indirect cost rate. That amount is compared against the total amount posted to subcode 9100 and any difference is used to generate an expenditure transaction.
Revenue is recognized on all expenditures posted to a contract or grant. Unlike other types of accounts, CGS accounts record revenue when an expenditure is posted, not at the time payment is made from the sponsor. CGS generates revenue transactions on a weekly basis. The batch Revenue Recognition program, FHWR954, accumulates all of the expenditures posted to an account and compares the total against the total amount of revenue posted to the account. If there is a difference, then it generates a revenue transaction for the difference amount. The revenue transaction debits the accounts receivable and credits fund addition. Additionally, there is an indirect transaction generated which debits award unrealized and credits award realized. Revenue transactions are posted to the GL which the SL is mapped to.
Sample revenue transactions:
Total expenditures for SL account 6-50600: 2,500.00
Amount of revenue recorded in GL account 0-50600-1323: 1,000.00-
Amount for revenue transactions 1,500.00
Revenue transaction:
0-50600-1324 DR. 1,500.00
0-50600-4210 CR. 1,500.00
Indirect transaction:
0-50600-1322 DR. 1,500.00
0-50600-1323 CR. 1,500.00
There are four different sets of account controls established for contracts and grants receivables. Depending on the type of funding, the account posts balances to a particular set of account controls.
| Type of Funding | Award Authorized | Award Unrealized | Award Realized | Accounts Receivable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | 1321 | 1322 | 1323 | 1324 |
| State | 1331 | 1332 | 1333 | 1334 |
| Local | 1341 | 1342 | 1343 | 1344 |
| Private | 1351 | 1352 | 1353 | 1354 |
The Award Authorized is used to record the total amount awarded to the University from the sponsoring agency. This amount is updated by budget entries and represents the total amount that can be billed to the sponsor. The Award Unrealized represents the total remaining authorized amount available. This amount is updated when the award is recorded and indirectly when revenue is recognized. The Award Realized represents the total authorized amount that has been expended. This amount is updated indirectly when revenue is recognized. The Accounts Receivable represents the total amount of the receivable or advance from the sponsor. This amount is updated when revenue is recognized and when a sponsor payment is recorded. If there are no outstanding payments from the sponsor, then this amount should be zero.
Based on the account range and the revenue function code assigned to the account, the program will determine which set of account controls to use.
These transactions are batched and fed to FBDU010 for posting to FAS. The program is scheduled to run on a weekly basis and during the month-end cycle.
Posting award authorized entries
In order to maintain the total amount which can be billed to the sponsor, CGS maintains an account control Award Authorized. This represents the total amount of funds which have been awarded from the sponsor. This amount is updated when budgets are posted. Advance accounts may contain budgets which represent monies that the University is funding while the project is awaiting the approved contract. Since this amount is not billable to the sponsor, budget transactions posted to advance accounts do not update the Award Authorized. When the approved contract is received from the sponsor, the account status is changed to O' for open and the award budget is recorded in the system. At this time, the budget transactions will generate Award Authorized entries.
The Award Authorized batch program, FHDR956, is run daily to capture all of the entries which have been posted throughout the day. The program calculates the total budget amount posted to the SL account and compares that against the total amount posted to the Award Authorized account control on the mapped GL account. If there is a difference, then a transaction is generated debiting Award Authorized and crediting Award Unrealized.
Sample award authorized transaction:
Total budget for SL account 6-50600: 10,000.00
Amount of award authorized in GL account 0-50600-1321: -0-
Amount for award authorized transaction 10,000.00
Award Authorized transaction:
0-50600-1321 DR. 10,000.00
0-50600-1322 CR. 10,000.00
Based on the account range and the revenue function code assigned to the account, the program will determine which set of account controls to use.
These transactions are batched and fed to FBDU010 for posting to FAS. The program is scheduled to run on a daily basis.
In order to avoid billing sponsors for expenditures recorded after the award termination, CGS inactivates accounts which have passed their award end date. The batch program, CBDU020, checks each CGS account for its award end date and compares it against the current date. Due to time sheet payroll, the program allows 15 days beyond the award end date (compare date) before it detects that the award has ended. The program will set the freeze flag to Y', if the freeze flag was not previously turned on. Also, if the account status was set to O', then the program sets the status to C' for award ended, closeout status. The program also checks if terminated awards have a delete flag set to Y'. If the account status is not D' (marked for deletion), then the program sets the account status to D'.
The program is scheduled to run on a daily basis.