Award Setup

Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) works closely with Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) and Departments to ensure timely and accurate setup of research awards.

New awards, as well as continuation and supplemental funding awards, are initiated by SPA upon notice of award (NOA) approval by the sponsor. When an award is accepted and finalized, SPA notifies CGA and the Department.

Awards are set up by CGA Accountants in the Kuali Financial System (KFS), and each award setup is reviewed and approved by the CGA Manager. For New Awards, CGA assigns a new fund number in the pre-defined award fund blocks based on the funding agency and the type of award. In addition, CGA reviews terms and conditions of the award and ensures that the award setup is in compliance with all applicable regulations.

The award setup/update is finalized when the expense account is approved by the CGA Manager in KFS, and after budget is appropriated through a budget adjustment (BA). Departments can begin recording project expenses as soon as the award setup is complete. However, before spending begins departments are responsible for reviewing terms and conditions of the award, the approved and allocated budget, and the award synopsis.

Industry Contracts follow the same process except that they are set up based on the acceptance and notifications submitted by the UCI Applied Innovation.

Have Questions?

Any concerns, award setup discrepancies and errors, should be communicated immediately with CGA and/or SPA.

  • Look Up Your CGA Accountant in KFS

Spending Funds Prior to Award Setup

A Request for Approval to Spend Funds (RAS)is a request for authorization to spend funds in support of a sponsored project in advance of receiving a notice of an award from a sponsor and/or finalizing the award.

A RAS, once approved and processed, allows the setup of a fund and account when it is necessary to incur expenses prior to an award being in place. RAS allows expenses to be initially posted to the appropriate expense account, and prevents unnecessary cost transfers.

More on RAS can be found on the Office of Research's Pre-Award Spending.