Researchers should take note of these upcoming accounting deadlines

Research York University
Research York University

If you are a researcher or an administrator of a CIHR, SSHRC, Canada Research Chair (CRC) or NSERC Grant, please review this important information. To view a PDF of the full memo from Angela Zeno, manager, Research Accounting, click here.

At this time, Research Accounting is planning its process for financial reporting for the period ending March 31 for all CIHR, SSHRC, CRC and NSERC grants. (Other funding agencies may also have March 31 end dates.)

Key dates to remember

Deadline
Research reports updated on eReports Daily
Submit correcting upload journal entries to Research Accounting Tuesday, March 27
Submit supplier original invoices (including payment via cheque, EFT and wire) Tuesday, March 27
Submit claims for reimbursement (use Concur) Friday, March 16
2018-19 grant instalments added to cost centre Monday, April 9
Researchers receive statement (Form 300) Friday, May 4
Researchers return signed statement (Form 300) to Research Accounting Friday, May 18

CIHR, SSHRC, CRC and NSERC Grants

The Annual Statement of Account (Form 300) for grants will be sent to researchers by Friday, May 4. As in the past, researchers will be required to approve these statements and return them to Research Accounting by Friday, May 18 to meet the Tri-Council submission deadlines.

To ensure the Annual Statement of Account (Form 300) is correct, researchers and research administrators are required to do the following:

  1. Access your cost centres by logging into eReports ereports.uit.yorku.ca/ereports and reviewing your transactions for accuracy, completeness and eligibility with agency rules. It is important that only transactions/expenditures related to your grant are processed to your cost centre. If you discover any transactions that do not relate to your research, notify either your administrator or Research Accounting. Prepare any correcting upload journal entries and submit them to Research Accounting at resjrnls@yorku.ca no later than Tuesday, March 27 to ensure they are processed in time for March month end.
  2. Clear outstanding personal advances by submitting a claim for reimbursement through Concur no later than Friday, March 16.
  3. Submit outstanding approved supplier invoices (originals) to Accounts Payable no later than Tuesday, March 27.
  4. Review all cost centres to ensure that all outstanding commitments for purchase orders (PO) are updated. A purchase order is cleared by making payment. If you have a yellow copy of the PO and you are satisfied with receipt of goods, sign this document and forward the related invoice to Accounts Payable for payment. If you wish to cancel a purchase order, contact John Pastorcic at ext. 22248.
  5. Review all cost centres to ensure that all outstanding salary commitments terminate on or before the expiry date of your grant(s).
  6. Ensure you resolve any over expenditures by making appropriate transfers/journal entries.

Note that expenses incurred outside of the period specified in your grant agreement are normally not eligible.

If your grant or contract ends on or before March 31, it is important to determine whether you have funds remaining and whether you wish to spend those funds on eligible expenditures before the grant ends. Note all salary, advances and PO commitments must be cleared before the end date of grant as required for reporting to Tri-Council.

Once the final cut-off for processing accounts payable invoices, travel and expense claims and payroll have passed, we cannot guarantee inclusion of those expenses in financial statements we prepare for grants and contracts ending March 31.

A final schedule for March month end will be released in a few weeks by Financial Reporting.

Grant instalments for the 2018-19 year

If applicable, grant instalments for continuing grants for 2018-19 will appear in your cost centre by Monday, April 9.

If applicable to your particular grant, you are required to renew your Ethics Certificate on an annual basis. Contact Alison Collins, senior manager and policy advisor, Research Ethics, at ext. 55914.

New research awards

Once Research Accounting receives notices of award for new research grants, an accountability document will be sent to researchers for signature. Upon its return and upon approval by Research Ethics, a new cost centre will be created and you will be notified via email.

Narrative/Progress reports

Where applicable, and to ensure prompt receipt of current and future funding instalments, send all progress, technical reports and other deliverables to the funding agency on time and as specified in your funding agreements.

Institutional advances

If an instalment is due to a sub-grantee institution it will be processed once Research Accounting receives a Form 300 (financial statement) from the sub-grantee institution.

*New* General Research Fund (NSERC and SSHRC only)

Some grants can be extended beyond the official end date of the grant, provided at least 50 per cent of the funds of the entire grant have been expended. In the event that more than 50 per cent of the funds remain unspent at the official end date of the grant, the grant will not be eligible for an extension and the remaining funds must be returned to the funding agency. Requests to extend grants beyond the official end date must be directed to Research Accounting.

If you have any questions with respect to the above information, contact your research administrator or call Angela Zeno at ext. 55668.