Prior to the Oracle Cloud 26B release, we communicated updates related to Project Resource Management (specifically, the process for assigning project roles) below.

However, after 26b went live, the team noted differences between the test and live environments during the final review; consequently, they have not implemented the planned changes at this time.

This means that the existing method for assigning project roles will continue for the foreseeable future.

Manage Financial Project Settings -> Parties -> Team Members

We will notify you ahead of future Oracle updates should this change. Our apologies for the confusion and our appreciation for your understanding. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

As part of the Oracle Cloud 26B release, Project Administrators will see an update to how project team members and resources are managed. 

What’s Changing

Project Administrators will transition from using the Team Members section on the Manage Financial Project Settings page to a new, enhanced page called Manage Project Resources.

The Manage Project Resources page provides improved visibility and flexibility when managing project resources. 

Key Enhancements

• You can view project resources using a tile view or an indexed list view, with enhanced filtering and navigation options.
• You can add project resources: 
  • With future start dates
  • Who were terminated in the past
• You can now add HCM persons as project resources even if they have missing or duplicate email addresses. 

You can access the new page using the following navigation path:
Projects → Manage Project Resources

Before 26B:

• Project team members were maintained using the Team Members page in the Project Financial Management work area.
• A single active Project Manager was displayed (for example, Mona Mantry).

After 26B:

• Project resources are now managed through the Manage Project Resources page.
• The previously active Project Manager (for example, Mona Mantry) is now identified as the Primary Project Manager.
• Existing confirmed resources (such as Anna Julia) are retained with their original From and To dates.

Service Alert: Dashboard Data Issues

update (3pm 5/8/26)

Resolution Notice: Dashboard Data Issues Resolved

Please see this important announcement on the Controller’s Office blog regarding upcoming enhancements to the iO Journal Process (the product of an effort led by the Controller’s Office and Finance Systems and Accounting, and in partnership with the Budget Office and Technology Solutions & Services (formerly OIT)).

The enhancements will deliver meaningful improvements to how journals, balance transfers, and budget adjustments are entered, reviewed, approved, and reported.

The redesign includes a structured rollout with testing, training, and support, and is scheduled to go live in May 2026.

A Reminder on Pre‑Purchase Requirements
(from Strategic Sourcing & Procurement (SS&P)

Across campus, we continue to see an increasing number of avoidable import duty charges, some exceeding tens of thousands of dollars, simply because Strategic Sourcing and Procurement (SS&P) were not engaged early enough in the purchasing process. These costs directly impact the research budgets and, in many cases, could have been fully prevented.

To support our research community and ensure compliance, it is essential that all import‑related purchases involve SS&P at the time of purchase consideration, not after the fact. Engaging the team early enables proper review of the quote, warranty, incoterms, duty exposure, U.S. market availability, and eligibility for federal duty exemptions.

Why Early Engagement Matters

Strategic Sourcing & Procurement’s pre‑purchase review ensures that:

✓ All Incoterms and shipping terms are clarified up front
✓ Correct HTS codes are assigned on quotes and shipping documents
✓ Duty and tariff assessments are completed before any PO is issued
✓ The ITA 338 duty exemption application is submitted on time
✓ Import routing and documentation meet all compliance standards
✓ Departments avoid unnecessary or non‑recoverable costs

What You Should Do

If you are considering purchasing equipment, instrumentation, or materials from an international supplier, or from a U.S. distributor that may be drop‑shipping internationally, please reach out to SS&P when the purchase is being considered, before the quote is finalized or requisition filled out. The SS&P team can complete the vetting process and guide the next steps.

By engaging early, SS&P can help you:

✓ Protect your research budgets
✓ Facilitate duty‑free importing when eligible
✓ Ensure compliance and proper documentation is submitted to U.S. Customs
✓ Coordination with the brokers to ensure a smooth import process is facilitated

SS&Ps goal is to make the process smooth, compliant, and cost‑effective for the entire research community. Thank you for helping us ensure that these important steps are followed.

For questions or assistance, please contact:

Susan Correa, Strategic Sourcing Specialist Operations, Finance & Support – Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Office: 713‑348‑4737 | Email: sc318@rice.edu

Since the launch of the PPM and COA single-form NLCT templates in May 2025, we have greatly appreciated your ongoing feedback. One of the most frequent requests we’ve heard from staff is the need for quicker, more frequent updates to the template lookup data. Until now, updating this reference data to the tool has been a manual process completed every few weeks.

We heard your feedback, and we are pleased to announce a significant improvement to this process.

As of today, the lookup data update is supported by a new Power Automate workflow. This automation ensures that the template reference data for both the COA and PPM templates is now updated daily.

What to Expect When Opening the Template

From the submitter’s point of view, the template will functionally work in exactly the same way as before. However, because the template is now dynamically pulling fresh data every day, you will notice a minor change to the experience when you first open the file.

Here is what you will see:

A Security Warning: When you access the template, a yellow banner will appear at the top of your screen stating: “SECURITY WARNING: This workbook includes external data connections…”

Please don’t worry! The ‘external’ data connection is simply linking to a Rice SharePoint folder. It is only “external” to this specific spreadsheet, but it remains entirely within Rice’s secure environment.

1. Click ‘Edit Anyway’: If your Excel opens in Protected View, click the button to allow editing.

2. Click ‘Enable Content’: Click this button on the security warning banner to allow the spreadsheet to communicate with SharePoint.

3. Data Refresh: After enabling content, you will see a green ‘refreshing data’ loading bar at the bottom right of your screen.

Once this green loading bar has disappeared, you can continue your work as normal.

You should see no differences in how the tool operates, other than the great benefit that newly set up projects will now be included in your lookup data much faster. (Almost always, newly set up projects will be there right away; if not, simply check back the next day).

Resources (SSO login)

– Submission Guide for Non Labor Cost Transfers 

– PPM NCLT Template.

– COA NLCT Template.

There are some updates to the following cost processing templates that can be found in the following box folder.

FedEx Charges

RCA are releasing an updated template for FedEx charges. Specifically, it allocates FedEx costs that have been posted to a COA string (General Ledger) but need to be charged to a project (Subledger PPM). This allocation to a project is considered the primary project allocation and this process is therefore not a cost transfer process.

It should only be prepared and submitted by departments at Rice that hold an account with FedEx and to whose General Ledger, FedEx charges correspondingly post.

After this template has been used to charge the cost to a project, any further reallocations of it would be considered cost transfers, and must instead follow the NLCT process (justification for transfer, submission of NLCT via iO ticket etc.)

Service Center Billing

Several staff have reported to RCA that they are unable to ‘create a copy online’ of the NLCT templates within SharePoint/OneDrive.

This is not local to Rice and is a known issue for Microsoft, which is investigating the problem

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5665155/unable-to-save-a-copy-any-more

As a workaround while waiting for a fix, try downloading a copy of the file from the web application and either working with the copy on your local machine or manually uploading the downloaded copy back to OneDrive to work with it there.

Embracing Innovation: AI-Powered Support at Rice

Rice University is leaning into the future of research administration. Staff at Rice have been issued licensed access to advanced AI tools.

“…We’re excited to see how these tools will support the collective work of the campus community and how they might inspire new ways to collaborate and innovate,” said Kelly Fox, executive vice president for operations, finance and support. “This initiative reflects Rice’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology to empower our campus with advanced AI capabilities across teaching, research and administrative work.”

Research and Cost Accounting (RCA) has been highly engaged in exploring ways to leverage these exciting new tools to streamline operations and ensure compliance, while also strictly adhering to Rice’s guidelines for responsible use, data privacy, and attribution.

Navigating the rules for Cost Transfers – especially involving federal funds – can be complex. One of the most important parts of ensuring that the justification text within cost transfers is compliant.

Crafting Stronger Justifications

Transactions involving federal funds are subject to strict scrutiny. This AI tool empowers you to evaluate and articulate the pillars of a strong justification – essential for RCA approval:

1. Root Cause: Accurately identifying why the error occurred.

2. Prevention: Articulating the corrective actions to stop recurrence.

3. Allocability: Proving the expense directly benefits the destination project.

4. Untimeliness: If a cost transfer is untimely, identify the extenuating circumstances and the changes you will make to internal controls.

What AI support is not?

This RCA support tool is not a final authority, nor is it a pre-approval of a cost transfer by RCA. It is designed to assist staff at Rice by assessing the narrative completeness of the justification.

How to Access?

These tools are integrated directly into your existing tools.

• Via Templates: You will find a direct access link on the current versions of the Non-Labor Cost Transfer template cover page. There are two links to two different tools. One that can be used to review the completeness of the main justification, and one that can be used to review the completeness of supplementary justifications that are necessary when cost transfers are untimely.

• Guidance on how to use the tools can be found here.

Secure and Private

We take security seriously. While the guidance documentation is open to all, access to this tool is strictly controlled via your Rice NetID. You can only access these tools if you are logged in to your browser with your Rice NetID.

• Your Data is Yours: Each user has a persistent, private chat history. Your queries and findings are visible only to you; there is no “cross-pollination” of data between users of these tools.

OTBI dashboards (ROBI) developed in 2021 had the capacity to review Faculty Fund balances by task line. For those users who continue to use ROBI because of this view, and worry that this view will be lost to them when the tool is ultimately decommissioned, we have good news.

Faculty Fund balances by task line can be replicated exactly in iO using the SPFF Budget to Actuals Dashboard.

Processing NLCTs (The Basics)

When processing Non Labor Cost Transfers, the template you use to submit the transfer depends on the origin data.

When the origin data is a cost on a project, use the PPM template.

When the origin data is a cost that is not on a project, use the COA template.

Both templates have a similar appearance, and they operate very similarly, but their internal workings are different and are thus not interchangeable. For full step-by-step guidance use this guide.

COA Template. Version 1.12. (An Update)

Several submitters noticed a bug within earlier versions where uploaded lines to the ‘TNC2 data’ tab were not appearing in the ‘TNC2’ tab upon refresh. The cause of this rare issue has been identified and the template has now been fixed in version 1.12.

Cost Transfer Compliance (A Reminder)

Approvals for NLCTs MUST ALWAYS be added to iO tickets prior to submission (unless the submitter is also both the origin and destination approver in which case no approval is needed). The approvals should take the form of the adobe sign PDF, signed by both origin and destination approvers, as indicated in the instructions within in the templates.

As detailed in box 2 of the cover page of each of the templates, and in Rice policy 302, there are some clear compliance expectations that MUST ALWAYS be met by cost transfer submitters when justifying a cost transfer in box 3 of the cover page.

PPM Template (excerpts from cover page):

1) How were the original costs miscategorized, charged to the wrong project(s), or allocated to the wrong task(s)?

2) If type is PPM-PPM, are the costs allowable and allocable to the receiving project(s)? (i.e does each line of the transfer meet cost principles, funder rules, and is within bounds of funder approved budget categories)?

3) What steps will be taken to prevent recurrence?

COA Template (excerpts from cover page):

1) Why were the original costs mischarged?

2) Are the costs allowable and allocable to the receiving project(s) and/or COA string locations? Does each line of the transfer that has a PPM destination meet corresponding cost principles, funder rules, and remain within bounds of funder approved budget categories)?

3) What steps will be taken to prevent recurrence?

Policy 302 (excerpts from policy page)

“Unallowable or inappropriate charges that appear on a sponsored project fund must be moved promptly to an appropriate fund. Cost transfers must be timely, well-documented and properly approved.”

“Charges to a sponsored project fund should be reviewed periodically by the PI and reconciled regularly by staff within each department or school so that erroneous charges may be identified and corrected promptly. Timely means that a transfer should be initiated as soon as an error is detected but normally within 90 days following the last day of the month in which the charge first appears on the fund.”

RCA are rolling out important, mandatory updates to how service centers and auxiliary units charge costs to sponsored projects and faculty funds, and how the corresponding revenue is recorded. These changes are the result of work by the Service Center Task Force and are designed to prevent transaction errors, eliminate duplicate entries, and significantly simplify your monthly and period-end reconciliation processes.

Please read this communication carefully, as these new protocols are effective immediately.

1. The Core Change: Two Distinct Accounting Paths

The biggest change involves separating transactions into two distinct methods based on where the cost is being charged (the destination).

Scenario A: Cost to a COA (General Ledger) String

• Destination: General Ledger (Chart of Accounts – COA)
• Method: FBDI (File-Based Data Import)
• Rule: The FBDI template must only be used for COA-COA transactions. This includes both cost transfers and the traditional cost/revenue accounting where the cost and the corresponding revenue are recorded as two separate lines within the COA.

Scenario B: Cost to a Project/Task (Sponsored Project or Faculty Fund)

• Destination: Project Portfolio Management (PPM – Project/Task)
• Method: New ADFdi (Application Desktop Integrator) Tool
• Rule: This is the new, all-in-one method. Using the dedicated ADFdi tool will now automatically:
  1. Generate the cost to the specified Project/Task.
  2. Simultaneously and automatically record the corresponding revenue to your service center or auxiliary unit.
• Crucial Note: FBDI templates can no longer be used to create GL costs or revenue relative to any PPM/Project transactions created (using 1087 account code). Any FBDI submission that attempts to record revenue or a cost transfer to a Project/Task (1087 account code) will be rejected by General Accounting.

The ADFdi method ensures that the cost and its corresponding revenue are successfully linked and posted together, which is the key to accurate and easy reconciliation.

2. Introducing the Pre-Submission Validation Tool

To ensure a smooth transition to the new ADFdi process (Scenario B), we’ve incorporated a powerful pre-submission validation tool directly into the template. Before you attempt to post a transaction, the tool will perform critical checks, including:

• Period of Performance: Verifies the transaction date is within the eligible project period.
• Task Number Viability: Confirms the Task number is valid for the selected Project or Faculty Fund.
• Project Status: Checks that the Project is Active and not Closed.

This validation will save your teams significant time by catching common errors before a failed posting attempt, allowing you to quickly communicate accurate information to your customers.

3. Training and Next Steps

We understand these are significant procedural changes.

An introductory training session will take place via zoom on October 15th at 11am.

[EDIT – see video recording of this session]

This change is going to primarily impact Service Centers (SEA, Chem Stockroom etc.) and Auxiliaries (Housing & Dining, Post Office etc.) but attendance is not limited. All are welcome.

Link for 27th at 11.30

Following this zoom training, there will also be an in person training session in Moody 205 (11.30-13.00) where we will do a walk through of the new ADFdi template, submission process, and validation tool. Details on this training will be added to this post, and communicated via the research-l listserve as soon as they are known.

—

If you have an urgent need to use the new ADFdi template to generate a cost/revenue transaction in the next two weeks, please reach out to James Hayward (jth6) in the Controller’s Office for assistance. Otherwise, please save your questions for the scheduled training session.

Thank you for your cooperation as we implement these necessary controls for more accurate and efficient accounting at Rice.

Registration Link

*Quick Tip
Be sure to use the Search function at the bottom of the Learning landing page to search for your desired course!

Overview of Changes

Effective July 1, 2025 (FY26), we’re changing how we account for certain research awards to improve tracking. Instead of using the single 012000 (Internal Projects) fund source, new projects will use specific, dedicated fund sources that better reflect their purpose.

Here are the new fund sources:

• 012100 for Cost Share projects
• 012110 for Deficit Projects
• 012120 for Salary Cap Projects
• 012130 for Interest Earned Projects

This means that a new Cost Share project, for example, will now be set up with its own fund source: 012100.

Impact on Current Projects

The new fund sources apply only to projects with a start date of July 1, 2025, or later. Projects created before this date cannot be converted.

To ensure consistency, Research and Cost Accounting will take the following steps for all 59 active awards with an existing cost share component:

1. A new project with the 012100 fund source will be created for each affected award.
2. The project number for this new project will be communicated to the Project Manager (PM) and the Principal Investigator (PI).
3. Any costs posted to the old project on or after July 1, 2025, will be transferred to the new project.
4. The old project will be closed.

It’s important to remember that for reporting purposes, you will need to consider the budgets and costs of both the old and new projects together. Both projects will be accessible within the same award for easy data retrieval.

Project Transition & Budget Management

The old “Internal” cost share project will remain open until its award closes or until September 30, 2025, whichever comes first.

• All cost transfers related to the old project must be completed and posted in iO before the project closes.
• Once the old project is closed, its budget balance will be calculated. If the balance is negative, the project will be closed, and the PI and department will need to communicate a management plan to Research and Cost Accounting before it can be reopened.
• If the balance is positive, the remaining budget will be transferred to the new “Cost Share” project.

For active labor distributions on old projects, Payroll will automatically update them to apply to the new “Cost Share” project starting July 1, 2025.

Project Managers for impacted awards have been contacted directly by e-mail with the above message. If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to that e-mail or to contact Research and Cost Accounting (rchacctg@rice.edu).

SPFF and Finance Dashboards are down and OIT are currently working on bringing them back up.

Downtime for these resources is estimated through tomorrow morning (8/19/2025)

Please be advised that Rice’s submitted Fringe rates are 25.8% for faculty and staff and 2.6% for students.

These rates are PROPOSED and may be used for FY26 grant applications (with a start date of 7/1/25 or later) but this are subject to change upon negotiation and execution of the official rates.

When more information becomes available, it will be added here.

SPFF has been restored to normal operational status.

Due to an Oracle system update, dashboard data has not refreshed since July 30th.

We’re working to resolve the issue and will restore updates ASAP.
Thanks for your patience!

Using the correct category can improve processing times for tickets because it allows us to quickly assign the ticket to the correct RCA staff member.  Please note that the “Controller’s Office Use Only” and “RCA Use Only – Cash” categories should not be used by the departments.

Whenever possible, please include an iO award or project number in the Summary field.

Below are some of the most frequently-used categories.

We have received several inquiries regarding the correct expenditure type to use when paying for undergraduate fellowships.  This situation will be most prevalent on Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) projects, but can also arise for other types of projects.  These payments are processed through Payables and should use expenditure type ODC: Teacher / Trainee Allowance.

Please note that graduate fellowships are still processed through Payroll.  Information on graduate fellowship payments can be found on the GPS website: https://graduate.rice.edu/fellows-to-payroll.

Many of you have received emails from OnBase regarding old subaward invoices.  These emails are caused by a glitch in the system. The IT department has been notified and is working to solve the problem. Please disregard these emails.

Below are the changes happening with the Encumbrance calculation revamp:

• Encumbrance costs will be relieved when actuals are posted. They used to be relieved based on calendar days. The change addresses the issue of payroll costs being posted before the end of the pay period, which caused the remaining balance to be understated as both actuals and encumbrances were posted for the same pay period.

• The new encumbrance calculation now supports automatic calculation of fringe based on the assignment category. This eliminates the need to maintain a fringe line for all assignments. The Labor Distribution Administrator will be required to create a fringe rule only when the fringe costs do not follow the salaries and wages costing.

• The hourly employee pay period amount will now be correct. It was overstated.

• F&A on Tuition remission costs for the MTDC burden schedule projects will stop being calculated.

• The award overview page will stop duplicating projects with encumbrance costs.

• Added the LD comment field to the labor distribution details

Rice University remains committed to research, scientific discovery and creative works. In light of changing external funding priorities, a long-term sustainability approach is necessary to deliver on our strategic plan and increased impact. As a result, we are pleased to announce that we are launching a Bridge Funding Program for faculty whose federally sponsored research support has been unexpectedly terminated or reduced.

https://rice.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/1975820

While both sponsored projects and fee-for-service activities involve external funding to the University in exchange for work performed by University personnel, they differ significantly in purpose, scope, and administrative requirements. Proper classification is essential for ensuring compliance with University policy and sponsor expectations.

If you are uncertain about how to classify a specific proposal, project, or agreement, please contact RchAcctg@Rice.edu for guidance and final determination.

Sponsored Projects

Sponsored projects are scholarly activities that directly support Rice University’s mission in research, teaching, and public service. These agreements—typically structured as grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements—require substantive intellectual input from Rice personnel and are subject to sponsor terms and conditions.

Sponsored projects must be processed through the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) and submitted via Cayuse.

Common characteristics of sponsored projects include:

1. The project requires significant intellectual or scholarly contribution by Rice personnel.
2. A formal proposal or award agreement is submitted and typically requires institutional approval or endorsement.
3. The budget is itemized and may include sponsor-imposed restrictions on spending or rebudgeting.
4. Cost-sharing or matching funds may be required.
5. There is a specified level of effort or commitment from project personnel.
6. Financial, technical, or progress reports—and sometimes audits—are required by the sponsor.
7. The agreement outlines ownership or disposition of tangible or intangible property, such as data or inventions.
8. Any unspent funds may need to be returned to the sponsor at the project’s end.
9. The agreement includes terms for compliance with federal, state, or institutional policies (e.g., human subjects, export control, conflict of interest).

Fee-for-Service Activities

Fee-for-service activities involve providing routine, defined services using established methods or procedures, often under the direction or specifications of the external entity. These activities do not involve research, scholarly inquiry, or significant intellectual contribution and are not expected to generate new knowledge or result in publications.

Fee-for-service activities typically have these characteristics:

1. The work involves routine, repetitive, or standardized services.
2. Rice personnel provide minimal intellectual or scholarly input.
3. No new intellectual property or research findings are expected to result from the work.
4. There is no scientific uncertainty or hypothesis being tested—the deliverables are clearly defined.
5. Data collected is provided without interpretation, and there is no expectation for publication or analysis by Rice personnel.

This guidance is intended to assist faculty and staff in appropriately classifying externally funded activities and ensuring that proper administrative and compliance protocols are followed. For case-by-case questions or complex situations, please reach out to RchAcctg@Rice.edu.

Relevant Policies
Policy for the Submission and Administration of Sponsored Projects https://policy.rice.edu/301

Signature and Approval Authority
https://policy.rice.edu/810

We often get inquiries from departments about how to fill out the Award Setup Form, particularly with selecting the correct Field of Study (FOS), THECB Category, and Special Interest (SI).  While the form does provide some guidance on these sections, it isn’t easily accessible until the Adobe workflow has been started.  To assist, we’ve provided links to documents that explain what options are available for sections 5, 6, and 7 of the form.  Please note that two of these documents are in Box and will require Rice credentials to access.

HERD Fields of Study (FOS):
https://rice.app.box.com/file/1140270835436

THECB Categories:
https://rice.app.box.com/file/1140277639377

Special Interest (SI):
https://rice.box.com/shared/static/gs2tgke4vjq6h58mnot73es9jhnt8pc4.pdf

Creating a service request through iO’s HR/Finance Help Desk means you need information or support quickly. In order for RCA to route your request to the staff member who can help, we are updating the ticketing categories for RCA effective Monday, April 6, 2025. 

Need a quick way to access the right category? 

1.  Select the file folder icon to at the right of the category menu to access the “view in hierarchy” menu.
2.  Select the Category Name: Research and Cost Accounting (RCA).
3.  Select the specific drop-down category and item, then select OK at the top right of the screen.

Please remember to include the iO Award/Project number, invoice number, or other reference information in the Summary field.

We frequently get questions and requests involving the various roles that are used in the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) system.  Below are the current roles, where they are applicable, and their purpose.

Please note that role changes should be requested via the Help Desk ticket system.  Requests to add roles for personnel not in the Award Org should be approved by the Department Administrator.

Updated 6/2/2026

Try as we might to stay within the sponsor’s budget, sometimes it simply costs more to complete the scope of work, and the award ends up being overspent.  When this happens, you might be tempted to move expenses off the award in order to bring it back within budget.  However, please keep in mind that any expenses associated with the SOW should remain where they are, even if it causes a negative balance.

Excess expenditures will be moved to the deficit project based on the expenditure type.

• If the overspent amount includes expenses such as ODC and/or Travel, RCA will move these direct expenses to the deficit project
• If the overspent amount includes expenses such as Salaries, Fringe Benefits, and Tuition Remission, the department will need to process an LD to move those overspent amounts to the deficit project.
• If the overspent amount includes all types above, RCA will move ODC, and Travel and Department will move Salaries, Fringe Benefits, and Tuition Remission via LD.

Note: ODC: Excess Costs expenditure type is no longer used as it causes issues with invoicing, especially for Federal Awards.

After moving the direct costs to the Deficit project, the department will need to process a balance transfer to fund it.

Information on balance transfers can be found here: https://rchcostacctng.blogs.rice.edu/2021/08/18/balance-transfers-in-io/

Information on the correct Fund Types and Fund Sources for these balance transfers can be found here: https://rchcostacctng.blogs.rice.edu/2025/01/29/update-to-frequently-used-fund-types-and-fund-sources/

As research administrators, you play a vital role in ensuring the smooth management of sponsored projects at Rice University. When a faculty member decides to leave the institution, it is crucial to notify both Research and Cost Accounting (RCA) and the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) as soon as possible. This early communication allows us to properly manage the relinquishment, closure, or transfer of awards, ensuring compliance with sponsor and university requirements.

Why Early Notification Matters:

• Award Transfers or Relinquishments – Some awards may need to be transferred to the faculty member’s new institution or officially relinquished to the sponsor. This process takes time and requires coordination.
• Final Invoicing & Financial Reporting – RCA must ensure all allowable expenses are recorded, final invoices are submitted, and financial reports are completed in accordance with sponsor deadlines.
• Effort Certification & Payroll Adjustments – Proper documentation and certification of faculty effort must be finalized before departure to ensure compliance with federal and institutional guidelines.

How You Can Help: If you become aware that a faculty member is planning to leave Rice, please promptly notify both RCA and OSP. This proactive approach allows us to:

• Assess the status of existing awards and determine next steps
• Coordinate with sponsors on award relinquishment or transfer requirements
• Ensure timely and accurate financial reconciliation and reporting
• Address any outstanding compliance matters, including effort certification

Your partnership is invaluable in maintaining the integrity of Rice’s research enterprise. By working together, we can ensure a seamless transition for departing faculty and uphold our commitment to responsible research administration.

If you have any questions or need guidance on this process, please reach out to RCA and OSP. We appreciate your diligence and cooperation!

The salary cap worksheets for Summer 2025 and AYT 2025 have been updated.  Please see the links below.

SUM SAL 2025 NIH and CPRIT Sal Caps_Template – updated 013025

AYT SAL 2025 NIH and CPRIT Sal Caps_Template – updated 013025

Please note that three new Fund Sources have been created.  The mapping process between the general ledger and subledger is undergoing testing and will be implemented upon the conclusion of this testing phase. Further information and guidance will follow.

012110 – Deficit
012120 – Salary Cap
012130 – Interest

RCA has established written guidance for Participant Support costs.  Please reach out to rchacctg@rice.edu if you have any question.

Guidance on Participant Support Cost 12.4.24

Search for PI/Co-PI has been combined for comprehensive reporting

What: The PI/Co-PI prompt has replaced the Award PI prompt, and the Co-PI name field has been added to all dashboard views except Labor Distribution Details and Labor Encumbrance Details.

Why:  This combined prompt allows faculty and administrators to prepare a comprehensive grants report for a PI whether they serve as PI or Co-PI on a project/award.

F&A Rates now included on the Award Overview report

What: Project/Award F&A rate will be included as a column on the Award Overview page. F&A Rate is also included as a hidden field on the Balance Details, Award Overview, and PI Project Summary pages.

Dashboard tip: Columns can be hidden or displayed using the right-click feature and selecting include or exclude. View more tips on the Dashboard Tips and Tools QRG.

Why: Displaying the F&A rate on the reports allows faculty and administrators to more easily validate the Project/Award F&A rate while reviewing financial reports.

Hello Research Administrators,

We are pleased to share that registration for the Skills Training for Administrative Research Staff (STARS) program is now open! STARS is a new training program offered to research administrators across Rice University. The program intends to enhance collective expertise, develop new skills, and promote professional growth. Through the duration of ten workshops, a variety of subject matter experts across campus will cover topics encompassing the grant lifecycle, including the pre-award process, sub-award process, personnel, compliance, and much more. The program is an opportunity to create true communities of practice and contribute to the Rice research enterprise.

Registration opens today, Thursday, August 1st, via Learning in iO. Please use this link if you have any questions on how to register.  It is crucial to attend all ten sessions in person to fully reap the benefits of the program and build connections. Registration will close Wednesday, August 28th at 5:00 p.m. or when the cohort is filled. Below you will find the direct link to register and a registration guide.

STARS Registration link: Click here

Enrollment Guide: Click here

The STARS program is a great opportunity to learn something new, refresh your understanding of the grant lifecycle and connect with other research administrators across Rice. Please join us!

All the best,

STARS Training Group

Basically everything is pushed back two days due to hurricane Beryl:

July 12   Original entries to be submitted

July 15   First close reports available on dashboards

July 19   Second close – final day for corrections to be submitted

July 29   Final reports available on dashboards after 10 p.m.

Please contact crystald@rice.edu if you have questions.

Effective February 15, 2024, RCA will adjust the accounting process for Cost Share F&A.

Currently F&A is being charged on cost share projects where no specific exclusion was requested in the award cost share agreement.  F&A on cost share charges is being recorded in the Cost Share Project and debited to COA with an expectation for the department to fund.

F&A for the cost share charges will be recorded in the Cost Share Project.  However, there will be no debit to the CoA, effectively forgiving the obligation for the department to fund.

F&A charges on cost share projects made prior to February 15 and that have already debited CoA accounts will be reversed by RCA prior to the end of FY24.

We have received multiple emails and helpdesk tickets regarding the ability to access FY24 dates in SPFF.  The GL Accounting Period filters are not functioning as expected on the Admin and PI SPFF Dashboards.  The iO support team is working to reset the filters.  The target date for a resolution is 02/16/24.  Please check the Known Issues page (https://ioevolution.rice.edu/known-issues) for updates.

The Finance Dashboard Redesign Committee is excited to share the launch of the redesigned Finance Dashboard that will improve your experience and streamline financial reporting. The committee has been testing the dashboard for several weeks and think you will appreciate their favorite new features:

• Faster response time and smoother navigation

• Ability to view and filter on the Full Chart String or individual segments

• Classification has been added to the table and filter options

• Drill-down capabilities take you directly to details of the expenses

• Updated CoA hierarchy makes it easy to view remaining budget in Supplies and Expenses categories separate from Salaries and Wages.

Training

Crystal Davis will host a webinar to preview the faster and enhanced design on Wednesday, January 31, at 3:00 pm.  After you attend or view the recording of the webinar, which will be posted on the iOEvolutiOn website, sign up for a hands-on workshop February 12 – 16 or in mid-March.  All details can be found on the iO EvolutiOn events page.

Hello, all:

As requested during the most recent Research Administrators Forum, I have uploaded the RCA portion of the presentation from December 14th.  The PowerPoint can be found here:

https://rice.box.com/s/ef916algy2qrol307hpr34reqk6h10g4

The expense workflow issue causing reports to not route correctly has been identified and corrected.  With the correction comes a long-awaited feature:  negative expense reports can now be processed.  You no longer have to wait for offsetting charges to process a credit to your p-card.

Emails were sent to Cost Center and Project Managers to announce both the issue and correction (see December 11 email here and December 20 email here).

An Oracle bug was introduced with the November 17th Quarterly Update that has caused all labor costs between 7/1/23 and 12/5/23 to be redistributed multiple times. This is visible in the Wages and Fellow Payments reports in the Finance Dashboard (Payroll Actuals, Gross Pay, and Graduate Student Pay reports). This issue does NOT impact actual pay to employees. The detailed email sent to Cost Center Managers, Project Managers and HCM initiators is viewable on the iO EvolutiOn Communications page.

Co-Hosted by Research and Cost Accounting and the Office of Sponsored Projects

Research Administrators Forum is a standing meeting for Rice Research Administrators to discuss various topics related to research on campus.

Next meeting: 10:00am-11:30am, Thursday, December 14th 2023

Location: McMurtry Auditorium in Duncan Hall

There is a bug in the Expense work flow that has caused reports submitted in November/December to not proceed to approvers.

Cost Center and Project Managers have received communications listing impacted reports and providing a temporary approval solution. Please see your department administrator for more details.

We apologize for the inconvenience. The iO Support Team is working closely with Oracle to address the issue as soon as possible. Watch the Known Issues Page for updates.

Oracle has made a recent update that allows us to transition to reporting Payroll Accounting Dates/Project Expense Item Dates at the Pay Period End Date as Rice has historically done.  This change aligns with the posting date and will make it easier for you to correlate various payroll charges. For more details, see the full article here.

Why is PTO paid on the grant, rather than charged as a fringe benefit?

Rice’s annual fringe benefit agreement with the Federal government addresses the way Rice charges paid absences versus fringe benefits.  Excerpts below are from our FY24 agreement.

TREATMENT OF FRINGE BENEFITS:
The fringe benefits are charged using the rate(s) listed in the Fringe Benefits Section of this Agreement. The fringe benefits included in the rate(s) are listed below.

TREATMENT OF PAID ABSENCES:
Vacation, holiday, sick leave pay and other paid absences are included in salaries and wages and are claimed on grants, contracts and other agreements as part of the normal cost for salaries and wages. Separate claims are not made for the cost of these paid absences.

FRINGE BENEFITS:
FICA, Retirement, Disability, Life Insurance, Tuition Remission, Worker’s Compensation, Unemployment Insurance, Health Insurance, Sabbaticals, Parking, Employee Assistance, Child Care, Medical Administration, Flu Shots, Financial Planning, Wellness Program.

The rationale for this treatment is that the fringe benefit rate would be much higher if the costs for paid absences were included.

When an employee is paid on a grant and they leave Rice, does their vacation payout go on the award?

Yes, according to Rice Policy 405 Paid Time Off, III.D., “Payout of PTO at Termination”, the payout of unused PTO to a staff member (other than a postdoctoral research associate as described in IIIA above) with at least six months of continuous benefits-eligible service who terminates from Rice for any reason will be no more than one year’s accumulation based on FTE and years of service (e.g., a maximum of 26 days, or 208 hours, for a full-time staff member with fifteen years of service.) Staff members on research grants are eligible for the payout of unused PTO. However, if the grants from which they are paid do not allow the payout of terminal PTO, principal investigators and departments must identify another appropriate source of funds for the payout.”

https://policy.rice.edu/405

Additional background:

The same applies if a person changes employment types, such as staff becomes faculty.  In this case, different benefits and policies apply, so the prior assignment is terminated in HR and the person is treated as a new hire.  Therefore, accrued PTO is paid out.

Rice’s DS-2 (Cost Accounting Standards Board Disclosure Statement) Part V, 5.1.0 is consistent with Policy 405.  Excerpt below:

Method of Charging Leave Costs. Do you charge vacation, sick, holiday and sabbatical leave costs to sponsored agreements on the cash basis of accounting (i.e., when the leave is taken or paid), or on the accrual basis of accounting (when the leave is earned)? (Mark applicable line(s))

A. _X_ Cash
B. ___ Accrual

RCA office hour for the month of September has been cancelled.  However, we will still be holding hands-on SPFF training.

SPFF Dashboard Virtual Hands-on Training

Join Teia Wright and the RCA Team for an on-line walk through of the SPFF Dashboard. Follow along on your own dashboard and ask questions along the way as you learn dashboard navigation and best practices for grants management.

If you would like a demo at your department faculty or staff meeting, please email iOEvolution@rice.edu and we will contact you to arrange a time.

Friday, September 29th 10:00 AM – 11:30AM

Zoom Link: https://riceuniversity.zoom.us/j/3133585535?pwd=T3RkenpjRVE4ZWJpUGpqZ3VYOGg1QT09

Meeting ID: 9313 358 5535 Passcode: 556994

The label for Faculty Funds on the various SPFF Dashboard views has been changed from “Default” to “Faculty Fund”.  This change allows faculty and administrators to more easily identify this fund.

Based on user requests presented to and approved by the iO Finance and Research Functional Committee, we are making a change to the Faculty Fund Types to facilitate department reconciliation.  

Starting on September 15, 2023, the General Ledger Fund Type for Faculty Funds will change from Fund Type 101 to Fund Type 109. This impacts Fund Sources 010000, 010010, 010020, 010030, and 010040. Because this is a General Ledger change, it will not impact Faculty Fund reporting in the Projects module or on the SPFF Dashboard. 

Why Are We Making This Change? Currently, both Faculty Funds and other departmental unrestricted designated funds fall within Fund Type 101, making management of both challenging. Adding an independent fund type for Faculty Funds:

• facilitates reconciliation between Faculty Fund projects and the associated GL transfers
• ensures that Faculty Fund projects are funded appropriately from GL accounts
• enables clear insight into tracking transactions between Projects and the General Ledger

Important Details: 

• This change will not impact the way FF balances and transactions are presented in PPM or on the SPFF dashboard; it only affects general ledger accounting. 
• Transactions from FY22 and FY23 will remain in Fund Type 101 as they are currently recorded and displayed. 
• Transactions from FY24 will appear in Fund Type 109. 
• Transactions between July 1, 2023, and September 15, 2023, will be moved to Fund Type 109 on September 15, 2023. Crystal Davis will monitor “in-flight” transactions that post the week of September 18-22 and make any necessary corrections. 

What Do You Need to Do? 

Finance and RCA are working to make all necessary transitions behind the scenes, but it is important for you review your funds for the following:

• If you have Faculty Funds pointing to fund sources other than 010000, 010010, 010020, 010030, or 010040, contact Crystal Davis before September 15, 2023, to ensure those transactions are included in the transition. 
• Between September 15 and September 28, review transactions in Fund Type 101 and Fund Type 109 and work with Crystal to resolve any unexpected results. 

We appreciate your cooperation during this system update, which will help streamline your financial processes and reporting. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Crystal Davis or the finance team.

Thursday, August 24 from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Wednesday, September 6 from 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Registration is required using this link due to limited space. You will receive additional information about the location after registration. If these times don’t work in your schedule, add your name to the Waiting List tab.

If you would like a demo at your department faculty or staff meeting, please email ioEvolution@rice.edu and we will contact you to arrange a time.

Co-Hosted by Research and Cost Accounting and the Office of Sponsored Projects

Wednesday, August 23 at 9:30 am
Farnsworth Pavilion in the RMC
Refreshments served at 9:00 am

Zoom Link: https://riceuniversity.zoom.us/j/97387862692?
Passcode: 665418

The new Faculty/PI SPFF Dashboard and new Administrator SPFF Dashboard will be moved to production starting at 5:00 pm on Thursday, June 1 and will be available on Monday, June 5.  In order to ensure sufficient time for the transition and testing, the SPFF dashboard will not be available during this time.

SPFF Dashboard Training

Via Zoom
Thursday, May 18  2:00 – 3 pm
– Intro to Enhanced Sponsored Projects and Faculty Funds Dashboard

In-Person, Hands-on Guided Workshops @ COB 4th floor OIT Office Suite
Friday, May 19  1:00 – 2:30 pm
Monday, May 22  1:00 – 2:30 pm
Monday, May 22  3:00 – 4:30 pm
Tuesday, May 23  1:00 – 2:30 pm
Tuesday, May 23  3:00 – 4:30 pm

Register for an in-person guided workshop using this link. 
Hands-on training will be conducted in a Test environment with data as of 5/8/23.

This is a handy guide to employee and student payments that covers which office pays, which tax forms the payee completes, and what type of IRS reporting (if any) happens afterwards.  The guide is a joint effort of Payroll and Procure to Pay that can be found on both websites and is also downloadable here: Rice Payment Reference Guide

If you would like to do further reading about payments to employees and students, you might like IRS Publication 525 on taxable and non-taxable income, which you can review here: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525

We had hoped to discuss the new Faculty/PI SPFF Dashboard during our next office hours.  However, the launch of the new dashboard has been delayed while some technical issues are worked out.  Therefore, the topic for the March 22^nd office hour will be Cost Transfers.  Office hour this time around will be at 10:00 am.

For those of you who had signed up for the in-person guided workshops on the new dashboard, please be aware that they have also been postponed.  The registration link has been deactivated and will go live again once we have new dates available.

As promised, the recording and transcript of the RCA webinar on 01/26/2023 have been uploaded to the iO Training Catalogue. Please search for the phrase RCA Webinar.

They can also be found here:
Recording – https://rice.app.box.com/s/huz0ohgmf05gcosimvncn06291slz04n
Transcript – https://rice.app.box.com/s/63sh0sihzz2tp1bggjddm5oj6na9nhrx

Research and Cost Accounting will be hosting a Webinar on January 26^th to discuss research management.  We encourage all faculty and staff who are involved with research awards or projects to attend.  Please share with any faculty members who may benefit from this information.

The Zoom link can be found on the iO Training Calendar.  Hope to see you there!

By popular request, the Payroll Office is hosting a special topics office hours focused on Encumbrance Calculations and Management.

Materials were prepared in conjunction with the RCA, Finance, Enterprise Systems and HR teams who will also be in attendance.

Payroll Office Hours: Encumbrance Calculations and Management
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
11 am – noon

Join Zoom Meeting
https://riceuniversity.zoom.us/j/99356972751?pwd=YmI3Mjc1VENrN1BmWTBPeHdFVzlIQT09

Meeting ID: 993 5697 2751
Passcode: 140274

Office hours materials will be made available in the iO Training Catalog by January 27, 2023.

Most of you have been using the SPFF for over a year in order to see expenses and commitments on your sponsored awards, University awards, and faculty fund projects.  I would like to point out another useful feature that was created in order to assist the departments with closeout preparations.

In the Awards Overview tab, there are two tiles at the far right indicating how many awards will be ending in the next 30 – 90 days.

Clicking on the tiles will take you to a list of the respective awards.  Please use this list to determine which awards require your prompt attention.   Any missing expenses or other corrections should be made quickly in order to assure they are captured in the final report or invoice.  Please note that any expenses not included in the final invoice are at risk of not being reimbursed by the sponsor and will have to be covered by departmental funding.

New Feature: Award Setup Form added to SPARC award notification emails

iO has the capacity to store information about awards that is not captured in the Cayuse documents, but is significant for reporting and analytics.  Until now, RCA has been collecting this information through informal communications.  In order to streamline the process, we have designed a simple, one-page Adobe Sign form that allows departments and PIs to provide all this data before setup begins.

As of this week, the SPARC award notice email will contain a link to the form in the Comments section (see below).

The Department Administrator, Project Manager, or PI who receives the SPARC notification and has a Rice Adobe Sign account can initiate the form and add others to the routing as needed. There are no required approvals, and the form is configured to include RCA as the final stop.  Please note the brief instructions for how to fill out the workflow at the top of the page.  For more information about Adobe Sign, please visit https://kb.rice.edu/page.php?id=85738.

Detailed information on how to fill out the form itself can be found in the Award Information Help Document.

We’ve had several inquiries lately about what Fund Types and Fund Sources should be used in order to fund projects via Balance Transfer.  Please use the information below for funding Cost-share, Deficit, Salary Cap, and Faculty Fund projects, as well as University Awards.

Updated 6/02/2026

We’d like to share information about the different Non-Billable projects available to departments in iO.  Some of these are created based on information contained in OSP notices, while others require a help desk ticket to the RCA queue in order to be created.

Advance Spending award

1. Used when an initial agreement has not been received from sponsor
2. Processed through OSP
3. RCA will create an award and an associated project
   1. Award and project names will include “Adv Spdg”
   2. Duration will be six months
   3. Project will have an external funding source
   4. F&A rate will be MTDC
   5. Budget will be set up for $1
4. Once agreement is received through OSP, RCA will update iO
   1. Award and project names will be changed to reflect sponsor information
   2. Duration will be extended per agreement
   3. Budget will be amended per agreement
   4. Award will be set to Billable

Cost Share project

1. Used when a proposal includes Rice cost-share
2. Signed cost-share form should be included in OSP award notification packet
3. RCA will create a new project while setting up a new award
   1. Project name will include “C/S”
   2. Duration will be the same as award
   3. Project will have “Cost-Share” funding source (balance transfer required)
   4. F&A rate will be the same as the signed cost-share form
   5. Budget will be set up for the amount on the cost-share form
   6. Department will use the project number on LD submissions for cost-shared salary
   7. All travel and ODC expenses that are to be cost-shared should be coded to this project

Salary Cap project

1. Used when a faculty member’s salary is above the limit set by NIH or CPRIT
2. Department will submit a help desk ticket (non-billable projects)
3. RCA will create a new project within the existing award
   1. Project name will include “Salary Cap.”
   2. Duration will be the same as award
   3. Project will have “Salary Cap” funding source (balance transfer required)
   4. F&A rate will be 0%
   5. Budget will be set up for $1 until one is provided by the department
   6. Department will use project number on LD submissions

Pending Amendment project

1. Used when the existing award period is ending, but we are expecting an amendment for more time
2. Department will submit a help desk ticket (non-billable projects)
   1. Department will attach request form found on RCA website
3. RCA will create a new project within the award
   1. Project name will include “Pending Amd”
   2. Project will begin the day after the award end date, and will have a duration of six months
   3. Project will have same external funding source as Base project
   4. F&A rate will be same as current project(s)
   5. Budget will be set up for $1
   6. Department revise LDs to reflect new project number
   7. All new travel and ODC expenses are coded to the new project
4. When an amendment is received, RCA will process it under this new project
   1. Project name will be changed to “Year 2” or other applicable identifier
   2. Expenditures posted will then become billable

Deficit Project 

1. Used when project expenses are more than allowed by the sponsor
2. Department will submit help desk ticket (non-billable projects)
3. RCA will create a new project within the award
   1. Project name will include “Deficit”
   2. Duration will be the same as award
   3. Project will have “Deficit Project” funding source
      1. Department will process balance transfer
   4. F&A rate will be 0%
   5. Budget will be set up for the direct portion of the overage amount
   6. RCA will process cost transfer to move the direct portion of the overage to the new project if the overage includes ODC and/or Travel Expense Categories
   7. The department will initiate an LD to move these expenses to the deficit project if overage includes Salaries, Fringe Benefits, and Tuition Remission,

In order to make the structure more consistent and easier for users, we’re restructuring some of the sub-folders in Box.

Currently, you see:

We are going to move all of the drop off locations to “drop off here” and all of the processed / in progress files to “processed”.

Within “drop off here” you will now see these choices:

The template for each folder is listed, and all of these are available under templates, which will look like this:

The FBDI box folder will continue to host the Labor Distribution template and instructions and the budget transfer memo job aid, but both of these are submitted through AdobeSign processes and completed templates should not be dropped off in Box.

Please name your general ledger entries with your name and date.  Please name your sponsored project cost transfers using the following naming convention:

These naming conventions will make it easier for RCA to answer questions when people inquire about progress (i.e. “did my entry post?” or “did my cost transfer for project XYZ get processed?”).

Hello, everyone:

We have received several inquiries lately regarding expenses that posted incorrectly to a department’s Central Operating Fund (100.000000) instead of posting to the appropriate Fund Type and Fund Source for a sponsored project (e.g. 104.040000 or 104.047000).

The Fund Source value is derived with a mapping set based on the Award Type for Rice Sponsored Projects.  PPM has a version of the mapping set, and it contains 23 Award Type values.  Payables also has a version of the mapping set, but it only contained 9 Award Type values.  When the system can’t find a match, it maps to an employee’s Default Expense Account.  Typically it would be the Central Operating Fund, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.

The Payables mapping set has been updated and should now include all Award Types for Sponsored Projects.  In order to correct any existing error on your GL, please create an GL entry to credit expenses on the incorrect COA string and debit expenses on correct COA string.

Hello,

When entering expenditure types on a cost transfer, please use an expenditure type that is on this list in box. Please enter exactly as written to ensure prompt, accurate processing.

https://rice.app.box.com/folder/156749942989

We have made some changes to the Expenditure Type list for use on Sponsored Projects.  Please use this new list going forward.

Expenditure Types 11.01.21

There’s a lot of new terminology that we’re all having to learn with the iO system.  Three of the more important terms are Award, Project, and Task.  Let’s take a quick look at what each one means and what it’s used for.

Sponsored Projects

Award is only used for sponsored projects.

• Award number for externally-funded sponsored projects start with 1
• Award number for University-funded sponsored projects start with 9
• The award contains the demographic information, such as sponsor name, start and end dates, PI, Co-PI, terms & conditions, etc.
• Each sponsored project gets one award number for the duration of the research being done
• Expenses do not post to awards

Project is what you should enter when charging to sponsored projects.

• Project numbers for sponsored projects start with G.
• There can be multiple projects associated with a single award.

Task is where budget and expenses live.

• Sponsored projects are not managed by task, thus the task for sponsored projects is always Task 1.

Faculty Funds

Project number for Faculty Funds start with F.

• In addition to budget and expenses, FF projects contain the demographic information since there is no award associated with them.

Task is where budgets and expenses for faculty funds live.

• When a FF project is created, it automatically has four tasks, but the departments can set up more as they see fit.

In situations requiring work to begin before an award’s official start date, you have two mechanisms for incurring costs early: Advance Spending and Pre-Award Spending.

Advance Spending

Use when: The sponsor has not yet issued the official award (it is still being negotiated).

This mechanism creates an early award fund to allow work to begin and prevent the need for cost transfers. It is also used for awards with restricted carry-forward that receive an annual Purchase Order (PO) from the sponsor.

How to Request: Work with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) to submit a Pre-Award/Early Setup Request via Cayuse.

• You will need to specify the exact amount of direct and F&A costs needed and provide a rationale.
• Risk Note: If the award is not granted, is for a lower amount, or has a start date outside the 90-day pre-award window (for federal funds), the responsible Dean’s office will work with the department and PI to identify an alternate fund to cover any unallowable charges.

Pre-Award Spending

Use when: The sponsor has already issued the official award.

Most federal sponsors allow recipients of grants and cooperative agreements under Uniform Guidance to incur costs up to 90 calendar days before the official start date without prior approval. For non-federal sponsors, you must provide written approval from the sponsor.

If your OSP-received federal award has allowable costs that fall within this 90-day window, you may request Pre-Award Spending.

How to Request: Work with OSP to submit a Pre-Award/Early Setup Request via Cayuse to adjust the award’s official start date.

Note on Travel Expenses

Rice/Oracle (iO) posts actual travel costs after a travel expense report is completed.

Therefore, if travel is booked before the award start date but the travel itself occurs during the period of performance, the final cost (posted when the expense report clears) will be allocable to the project.

• Should this rare scenario occur, the cost must be initially posted to a departmental COA. Once the award period begins, the cost can be transferred to the sponsored project and must be clearly documented to confirm its allocability.

[Post Updated on 10.16.25]

Many of you have reached out to RCA with questions about what COA information you should enter when charging expenses to a project.  We discussed it with the experts, and we have an easy answer for you: the COA information is there as a pass-through only, so you don’t need to worry about it.

While the current Procurement: Order by Quantity or Amount job aid does indicate that a COA string is required to be entered for every purchase, including project-funded purchases, it fails to mention that the COA information will be overridden by any POETAF information entered.  P2P will work on getting the job aid updated to explain this aspect of the process.

So if you enter POET information for your purchases and a COA pops up, please leave it with whatever information defaults in there.  If you edit the COA information for any reason afterwards, it will override the POET information and your charge will not post to PPM.

For those who missed it, last week the Budget Office sent out the following information  about how to process balance transfers in the new system:

There is now a new interim transfer process for handling fund balance transfers, formerly called budget transfers.  This process entails completing an AdobeSign form that is routed for workflow approvals (see attached job aid) and posts in iO.  This process is for temporary (operating year) balance transfers between fund types or between departments.  You will need to contact the Budget Office for base (permanent) budget adjustments as they will not be processed using this interim process.

Important things to note:

• All transfers will be processed as Year-to-Date entries in iO, using the Transfers – Inter/Intra Departmental account code (6800).
• Because of the end-of-year carryover process for the Unrestricted General Operating fund (000000) and because unspent fringe benefits budgets do not carryover, the Budget Office will need to capture fund balance transfers associated with salary and fringe benefits accounts (including Faculty Academic Year Time transfers).
• To capture the fringe benefits, the Adobe Sign form will contain a drop-down list of valid accounts (including faculty, staff, student, and fringe accounts) that will be written to a database file for use during the year-end analysis of carryover funds.
• Use of Salary and Fringe accounts is only permitted on the Unrestricted General Operating fund (000000).
• Faculty Academic Year Time transfers will require a separate action by the Project Administrators to update the PPM faculty/task budgets of any faculty receiving AYT funds.
• Faculty fund transfers will be a two-step process.  First, there will need to be a transfer to the receiving department’s designated fund with the appropriate fund source code (Faculty Discretionary – 010000, Faculty Start-up – 010010, Faculty Non-Sponsored Research Funds – 010020, or Faculty Retention – 010030).  Second, a separate action by the Project Administrators will need to be performed to update the PPM faculty/task budgets for the faculty receiving the additional funds.

Job Aid:  AdobeSign iO Balance Transfer

Marissa Gonzalez, Research Accountant III, is departing Rice University to work at Stanford University. Marissa’s last day is this Friday, July 30th.

Marissa began working in the Controller’s office, in RCA. in 2017. Since then, Marissa has continued to grow and develop into a very strong sponsored projects accountant. She was often relied upon by the departments and her peers in RCA for her extensive knowledge and experience in sponsored projects. Marissa could always be counted on to complete her work responsibilities without fail. Marissa’s calm demeanor, hard work ethic, and positive attitude will certainly be missed as well.

We are sincerely grateful in Marissa’s dedication and hard work she has given to our office and the University. We wish Marissa good luck in her new role!