Procedures

Procedures related to post-award administration of Research Fund:

Cost Recovery Payments

The intent of this document is to define the procedures using Record Cash Sale task (cheque payment) or Create Ad Hoc Bank Transaction task (EFT/wire payment) for Grants in Workday. Cost Recovery Payment is a payment to recover costs charged against the Grant, which is not from the Sponsor under the terms of the award agreement. This payment will be credited to the corresponding expense recovered. 

This is not to be confused with Cost Reimbursement billing in Grants module, where the payment is from the Sponsor of the award for an invoice sent in accordance with the award agreement. An example would be an award agreement that stipulates invoicing to Sponsor is based on the actual expenses incurred for a certain period.

Procedures

Record Cash Sales task to deposit cheque cost recovery

1. Faculty/Department Finance Staff initiates the cheque deposit by following Record Cash Sale job aid.

   Provide the following information for the Grant:

Customer: Miscellaneous Cash Receipts

Revenue Category: Unearned Revenue

Grant: Grant ID

Memo: Indicate the grant #; expense ledger account & spend category

Attach supporting documentation (e.g. scanned copy of the cheque and other supporting documents) on the Attachments tab

2. Transaction routes to the assigned Research Finance Officer (RFO).

3. RFO reviews the transaction and approves if everything is in order or sends back if further information or documentation is required.

4. Faculty/Department Finance staff prepares accounting journal to reclassify unearned revenue to the appropriate spend category

For salary cost recovery, use journal source “7-Payroll Accounting Journal” and select the appropriate spend category (e.g. Salaries | Student Bachelor Domestic) on the Spend Category field & select the employee name on the Additional Worktags field).

For non-salary cost recovery, use journal source “1-Campus Manual”

Create Ad Hoc Bank Transaction task to record EFT/wire cost recovery

Only Research Finance can perform this task by following the Create Ad Hoc Bank Transaction job aid

The Faculty/Department Finance Staff requests RFO to record the EFT/wire payment by sending the following information to RF’s email address – AR@finance.ubc.ca:

  • Deposit reference # (from outstanding wire payment listing)
  • Amount
  • Grant ID
  • Spend Category for Cost Recovery
  • Documents related to the payment
Delegation of Grant Manager Role Signing Authority for Grants

A. Delegation of Research Spending Responsibility to UBC Staff or Faculty Member -  UBC Research Policy LR2 allows for UBC Researchers given Research Spending Responsibility for a UBC research account to delegate their authority to approve expenditures from such research account to another UBC staff or faculty member provided that their Department Head is notified in writing of the delegation. For clarity, any UBC Researcher with Research Spending Responsibility who delegates authority will continue to be responsible for ensuring all transactions in such research account, including all expenditures approved by the person(s) with delegated authority, are fully compliant with Funding Terms, UBC policies and any other applicable requirements.

For UBC staff or faculty member delegation: The Grant Manager delegation of signing authority can be initiated and approved by the Principal Investigator (PI) or Administrative PI as follows:

      1. In Workday - refer to Adding Additional Signing Authority training video found here
           for instructions (note that CWL login is required)

          1.1 - Information required for the delegation: grant worktag, name of delegated individual,
           and the effective date of the delegation
          1.2 - This delegation will remain in effect until the earlier of: Principal Investigator (PI) or
          Administrative PI removal of the delegation, or term end date of the grant.

       2. For assistance with initiating the Workday delegation of additional signing authority or
           multiple signing authorities, please contact:

           2.1 Cost Centre Manager or HR Partner roles to support PI for delegation

                 2.1.1 - Cost Center Manager initiates the signing delegation in Workday, which routes to
                 the PI or Administrative PI and Research Finance Officer.
                 2.1.2 - PI or Administrative PI approves the signing delegation in Workday
                 2.1.3 - If no action is taken within 7 days of the initiation in section 2.1.1,
                 the Research Finance Officer will follow up with the PI or Administrative PI for approval
                 or seek written approval to add delegated individual with a grant manager role
             

          2.2 Integrated Service Center (ISC) by:

                 2.2.1 - Submitting a Service Now Ticketwith the information required in
                 section A.1.1 or section B.

                 2.2.2 - Contacting ISC to speak with a representative for direct support at 
                 604-822-8200 (UBCV) or 250-807-8163 (UBCO)

                 

          Note: Refer to Appendix 1 for the ISC Grants and Research Finance Process

 

B. Delegation of Research Spending Responsibility by the PI to Contingent Workers who are not UBC Staff or Faculty Member

The PI or Administrative PI may request, on an exception basis, for a contingent worker to be assigned delegated research signing authority.

The process to obtain approval:

Complete the Contingent Worker Delegation Approval Form with assistance from your Department/Unit to obtain the required approval signatories

The completed form should be provided to the ISC team as per the instructions provided in Section A.2.2.

 

Appendix 1: ISC Grants and Research Finance Process for Signing Authority Delegation

1. For signing authority delegation requests, ISC Grants will review the request and process as

    follows:    

  

 

2. For batch requests, ISC Grants will review the batch request and process as follows:

Research Subject Payments

This document is to help define the business process when paying research subjects. Please review UBC Policy 89 / LR9 - Research Involving Human Participants that defines payments to individuals for participation in scientific research conducted on human subjects.

The Research Ethics Board must review and approve incentive plans involving recruitment and payment to research subjects. The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for the accountability of funds received and disbursed to research subjects according to the approved research protocol.

Procedures

1. Faculty/Department Finance Staff creates an expense report or supplier invoice request.

2. The faculty or department creating the expense claim must maintain all supporting documentation (e.g. signed receipts, coded list of payments, attestation of researcher and/or others involved in incentive payment) for audit purposes.

3. The Memo fields should state "Research Subject Payments" and contain a description of the research in question.

4. If the payment per research subject is $500 or more per calendar year, the payment will be made directly to the research subject. The department should submit expense claim by using Create Supplier Invoice Request task. Use ledger account 6300 with Spend Category SC0131 - Token of Appreciation. If the research subject is a Canadian resident, their social insurance number will be required and a T4A will be issued in order to meet Canada Revenue Agency reporting requirements.

5. If the payment per research subject is less than $500 per calendar year, use ledger account 6100 with Spend Category SC0120 - Research Study Participation. The payment is not taxable. Depending on the nature of the study, the amount payable to each subject and the total number of participants, the following payment methods are recommended:
 

  • Electronic fund transfer to the PI or delegate: The PI or delegate disburses the funds and promptly returns any unspent funds back to the grant after the research subject study is completed. The number of research subjects and the amount of payment per research subject should be indicated in the Expense Detailed support for the payment must be available for audit review if requested.
  • Cheque payable directly to the research subject: When there is no face-to-face interaction with the research subject, a cheque can be issued directly to the participant. The PI is responsible for ensuring that confidentiality requirements are met.
  • EFT directly to the research subject: When there is no face-to-face interaction with the research subject, EFT can be made directly to the participant. The PI is responsible for ensuring that confidentiality requirements are met.
  • Petty Cash & Imprest Accounts: Please contact Treasury for information regarding the use of Petty Cash and Imprest Accounts for research subject payments.