• Pre-award spending authorization request – you are accountable if the grant falls through! Department Head and Dean must sign for approval. Use the Grantee-Approved - Pre-Award Account form at OSP forms page.
  • Banner vs. CatBooks budget review
    • CatBooks can be tailored with encumbrances for simple grant expenditure tracking
    • Review your Catbooks report every month to identify any errors that might have occurred
    • Use of subaccounts or Catbooks options to address differences between MSU Chart of Accounts [shown in the inception to date (ITD) report] and sponsor funding category requirements.
    • Hint: ITD shows information for the life of the grant and Catbooks shows information for the current fiscal year (usually different from grant year).
    • PI access to Banner ITD (Inception to Date) reports. Ask E. Bird for help getting set up, or see instructions here.
    • More detailed expense tracking spreadsheet can assist with budget modifications - ask E. Bird
  • Sponsor financial reporting requirements, terms and conditions
    • Allowed budget deviations, no-cost extensions
  • Communication between PI, department & OSP
  • Cost share/matching requirements – use forms/templates for both cash and in-kind contributions; this documentation is needed for audits. PI is responsible for tracking fulfillment of match requirement.
  • Fiscal responsibility
    • Use SmartBuy for most purchases.
    • Spending through Pcard process – save, mark with index and submit your receipts via Chrome-River! (Hint: ask your departmental Fiscal Shared Services representative for help using this system.)  P-card may be used at Costco, campus food services, or Bookstore.  No other campus venues (like UIT).
    • Spending through invoice processing – normally you will submit a vendor/consultant invoice to your departmental BOM for processing.
    • Avoid expense corrections between spending Indexes!  This just creates excess work for all involved.
    • Subawards and contracted services agreements, Subawards with other organizations and institutions are generally established when proposal is submitted.  Contracts for short-term or individual service providers are set up after funding is received. Once funding is in hand you’ll set up the subaward contract through the Subaward process under the Office of Sponsored Programs.
  • Info requests from Montana Hall – be prepared and gracious

Note!  When it comes to submitting a hospitality form, a travel authorization or expense voucher, a P-card or other receipt, an invoice, or a cash deposit, you should provide those to your department’s Business Operations Manager. If you don’t have your own p-card, you will work with your business operations manager.