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Office of the Controller

Principal Investigator

A Principal Investigator or PI is the individual responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of a research grant.

Below is a list of tasks a Principal Investigator may be responsible for as the administrator of a research grant. Sections include links to training resources that support each task.

Note: Each year the Controller’s Office provides refresher trainings starting the month of February thru the end of April. Registration links for all scheduled trainings are sent to our PROJECTPI listserv end of January and in a prior week reminder email. On demand training can be found in the sections below.

Work with your Grant Manager to close out grants timely to ensure submission of final invoices and financial reporting by the deadlines required.

The below training resources are available:

System: PeopleSoft Finance and PeopleSoft HCM
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

Cost sharing occurs whenever any portion of project’s costs is provided at USC’s expense rather than the sponsor. Most sponsors expect cost share to be charged in ratio throughout the life of the project. All cost sharing commitments must be listed in the budget and identified in USCeRA.

The below training resources are available:

System: Finance Intranet
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

A Cost Transfer is a reassignment (transfer) of charges involving one or more sponsored awards. This includes both direct charges and cost share. Review projects monthly to determine and submit adjustments as soon as possible. PI signature and approval are required.

The below training resources are available:

Training: Using HCM Distribution and Time and Effort Reporting for the Business Manager
System: PeopleSoft Finance
Contact: controllercompliance@sc.edu

Introduction to Grants Management is for principal investigators and departmental business administrators who work closely with Grants and Funds Management to ensure proper management of sponsored award funds. 

The below training resources are available:

90-day, 30-day, and 15 -day Project Ending notifications are sent to Principal Investigators, Post Award Accountants, Business Managers, and Approver 1s.  These emails provide a list of action items that need to be completed before the project ends. Always reach out to your Post Award Accountant if you have questions.

The below training resources are available:

System: PeopleSoft Finance and PeopleSoft HCM
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

Cost sharing occurs whenever any portion of project’s costs is provided at USC’s expense rather than the sponsor. Most sponsors expect cost share to be charged in ratio throughout the life of the project. All cost sharing commitments must be listed in the budget and identified in USCeRA.

The below training resources are available:

System: Finance Intranet
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

A no-cost extension allows work to continue on a project beyond the original end date if the project does not need additional funding. Work with your SAM administrator to submit requests at least 45 days prior to the end of the award.

Visit the No-Cost Extension page on the SAM Office website for additional information.

Contact: Your SAM Office Administrator

If a requisition is charged to an award and you have questions about a specific requisition or Purchase Order, please reach out to the Purchasing Department.

Contact the Purchasing Department if you have questions about a requisition and/or a purchase order.

System: PeopleSoft Finance
Contact: purchasing@sc.edu

Use the Grant Dashboard to view the project team for a USCSP project.

Log into the HUB and navigate to Finance Intranet – Grant Dashboard to view the Project Team.

To make Project Team updates, please reach out to your Post Award Accountant (PAA).

System: Finance Intranet
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

Retro Funding Change Journal Entries are after the fact corrections to payroll. Please note, if payroll corrections affect sponsored awards, they are subject to the Cost Transfer Policy and must have a Cost Transfer Justification Form attached.

The below training resources are available:

Training: Using HCM Distribution in the Finance Intranet and Time and Effort Reporting for the Business Manager
System: Finance Intranet
Contact: retroje@mailbox.sc.edu

If expenses will occur prior to a sponsored award agreement being executed or there is a gap in the sponsor authorizing the next budget year of funds, a Risk account is necessary so that expenses may occur. Contact the Sponsored Awards Management Office (SAM) to establish a risk account. (SAM) can establish a risk account.

Visit the Risk Account page on the SAM Office website to see detail instructions for requesting the establishment of a risk account.

Contact: Your SAM Office Administrator

A Salary Cap is a sponsor-imposed limit for the total salary rate allowed to be charged to a grant for an individual. Any amount above the salary cap must be recorded as mandatory uncommitted cost share in order to properly capture total expended effort and prevent the effort from being used on another sponsored project. Prevents double counting effort and ensures faculty do not become overcommitted.

The below training resources are available:

Training: Time and Effort Reporting for the Business Manager
System: PeopleSoft HCM
Contact: gfmpay@mailbox.sc.edu

Effective management of sponsored projects is a shared responsibility among the Principal Investigator, Grants and Funds Management Post Award Accountant (PAA), departmental grant support, and the Office of Sponsored Programs (SAM). Each party has specific responsibilities in ensuring that the work is conducted, and the funds are used in accordance with all sponsor and university requirements.

The below training resources are available:

The SAM Office coordinates with the Controller’s Office to set up purchase orders for Subawards through PeopleSoft. The PI must approve all sub-recipient invoices in order to have Compliance submit for payment.

Subrecipients must submit invoices to the sub-invoice mailbox: subinv@mailbox.sc.edu

Visit the Compliance Management page for additional subrecipient information.

The below training resources are available:

System: PeopleSoft Finance
Contact: subinv@mailbox.sc.edu

Time and Effort Reports documents effort, the portion of time spent on a given activity expressed as a percent of total activity for which an individual is employed by the institution. Time and Effort Reports flow to Business Managers, employees, principal investigators, and supervisors for approval.

Visit the Compliance Management page for additional Time and Effort Reporting information.

The below training resources are available:

Training: Time and Effort Reporting for the Business Manager
System: PeopleSoft HCM
Contact: gfmecert@mailbox.sc.edu

For grant related transactions (payment request, expense report, requisition, etc.) The PI and all Approver 1s on the award’s project team must approve the transaction. This is required verification that the charges are true and accurate for the Notice of Award under penalty of law.  If a PI plans to be out of the office, it is very important they designate someone as an Alternate User ID in their absence using the My System Profile page in the PeopleSoft Finance system.

This Out of Office [pdf] quick reference guide demonstrates how to assign an alternate approver in your absence.

Use the following queries to review approvers:

Navigation: Main Menu > Reporting Tools > Query > Query Viewer

  1.  SC_SECURITY_DEPT_APPROVER_ROLE– Department Approvers by Role

This query shows level one and two department approval authority and which transactions each person can approve.

  1. SC_SECURITY_PROJ_APPROVER – Project Approvers

This query shows project team assignments. Level one approvals for projects does not use the department approval setup. It routes to project team members in the APPRV_1 and people with the Project Manager checkbox = ‘Y’ (typically a PI for USCSP projects). Level two approvals for projects route to the level two approvers for the department tied to the project.

  1. SC_SEC_JE_APPROVERS– Regular Journal (JE) Approvers

This query shows regular journal approvers. Of note, journal approvals are based on who enters the journal. So, journal approvers have profiles that include the people for whom they approve journals. The recommended practice is to have at least two approvers for every person.

  1. SC_SEC_KK_APPROVERS– Budget Journal (KK) Approvers

This query shows budget journal approvers. Of note, budget journal approvals are based on who enters the journal. So, journal approvers have profiles that include the people for whom they approve journals. The recommended practice is to have at least two approvers for every person.

The below training resources are available:

System: PeopleSoft Finance
Contact: Your Post Award Accountant (PAA)

 

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