Financial Reports and Invoices

Please log into GW Documents as financial reports and invoices are saved to your award documentation within two weeks of being issued.  If the document cannot be found, please contact the Sponsored Project Financial Accountant or Analyst assigned to your department as they can email a copy to you.

GCAS can hold off on sending a financial report if a fully executed extension or agreement has been received from the sponsor. GCAS cannot hold off on reporting based on the expectation of an extension. When departments communicate that a no-cost extension is expected on the award GCAS can indicate in the financial report that the report is being submitted pending an extension approval.

The award should be examined to ensure that all charges that you expect to see are posted (i.e., salaries are for personnel assigned to the award). You also want to make sure that there are no outstanding invoices that have not been processed. If you agree with the award numbers, then sign the PI certification letter and email it back to your designated Sponsored Project Financial Accountant or Analyst.

Please refer to the award close out timeline. Per the timeline reports are submitted within 75 days of award end date or sooner.

When the PI receives a 90-day review from the Sponsored Project Financial Accountant or Analyst, the first step is to determine if a No Cost Extension should be requested from the sponsor. Other items to verify include:

• Are all salaries charged to the award?
• Are there open encumbrances that need to be liquidated?
• Have all expected expenses posted to the award?

GCAS sends a copy of the invoice to you as a courtesy for your information.  No action needs to be taken.  If the sponsor contacts you regarding an invoice, please forward the call to your Sponsored Project Financial Accountant or Analyst.

GCAS cannot send out an Invoice for an award in At Risk Status established through Administrative Establishment. Once the Fully executed agreement is received from the sponsor and award updated in the system by OVPR, GCAS can then send out an Invoice. GCAS however does review Awards under Administrative Establishment Extension to complete invoicing and financial reporting as long as expenditures are within the original period of performance.

Any recently posted adjustments will be included in the subsequent Invoices, unless a Final Invoice and Final Financial Report has already been submitted to the sponsor.  It is important however to ensure that charges posted to the award are correctly charged to minimize the need for adjustments after expenditures have already been charged to the sponsor. Frequent adjustments send the wrong signal to sponsors that our award stewardship system is not dependable which impacts future funding opportunities. It could also lead to questions and even rejection of our invoices by sponsors. In addition, it is difficult to calculate burn rate when corrections frequently appear on an award.

In some instances, GCAS is only allowed to invoice a sponsor upon completion of a deliverable. Therefore, from time to time, GCAS will have to inquire about the progress/technical report.

The award status and close date do not need to be changed to clear suspense if the charges are not posting to the award.

Financial reports and Invoices cannot be submitted using projections. Financial reports and invoices are completed based on actual costs charged to the awards or based on deliverables completed and in accordance with the agreement, GW policies and Federal regulations with emphasis on ensuring cost are allocable, applicable and reasonable.

According to GW’s Award Closeout Policy, page 3, if the residual balance is equal to or greater than $50,000 or 20% of the total awarded (whichever is lower), the PI must prepare a memo for approval by the individual school’s Associate Dean of Research (ADR) explaining the reason for the residual balance. The ADR is responsible for reviewing and approving the residual request, representing acceptance of any associated compliance and financial risk associated with the award and the residual amount. Residual transfers should be completed during award closeout period and within the same fiscal year of when the award is expected to close.

In circumstances when a second year of funding is expected an Administrative funding request has to be submitted to OVPR so expenditures can post to the award in an At Risk status rather than staying on the suspense account until the next year of funding is received. This will allow the proper closing of the prior award while charges for the next year of funding can be charged to the award.  Note: Administrative Funding can and should be established before the end of the current year award.  We recommend preparing the document upon receipt of the 90 day alert notification.

Financial Management of Foreign Currency Awards (pdf) - This document provides guidance on what to expect when accepting agreements using the sponsor's local currency aside from the U.S. dollar. It also provides a foreign currency exchange risk consent statement to be reviewed and kept on record for School Finance Directors or PI designee.

Please refer to the FAQ section on "How do I manage a Foreign Currency Award?".  Stock payment fluctuations are managed by the same process used to manage currency fluctuations.  If you have any questions or need additional assistance on this topic, please reach out to your Sponsored Project Financial Analyst/Accountant within GCAS.