Frequently Asked Questions and Step-by-Step How Tos

research at boston college

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Post-Award
Salary Related
Time & Effort Reporting
Documentation Requirements
Travel
Allowable/Unallowable Expenses
Equipment
F&A

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Reporting
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NIH GRANT BUDGETING
Which types of positions are considered by BC to be "professional"?
Which types of positions are considered by BC to be "non-professional"?
Is there a fringe rate we should budget for graduate students?
Is there a health fee we should budget for graduate students?
How do you prefer we calculate tuition remission for graduate students?
Is there a fringe rate for hourly appointees, e.g., Laboratory Assistants? If so, what is it?

TIME & EFFORT REPORTING
What is a Time and Effort report?
Why does the Principal Investigator (PI) have to sign and return the report to OSP?
Why is it important to sign and return Time and Effort reports in a timely fashion?
How do I re-distribute labor charges on my grant?
How will I know if the labor charge was redistributed?

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT
How are payments made from my grant?
What kind of documentation is required for reimbursement?
What kind of documentation is required to pay a vendor?
What kind of documentation is required to pay a consultant?
What kind of documentation is required to reimburse non-employee travel?
What is the Expenditure Review Process?

TRAVEL
Can I receive a Travel Advance?
How do I determine per diem for my trip?
Do I have to use a U.S. carrier for foreign travel on my federal grant?
Are Registration & Conference Fees reimbursable?
How do I get reimbursed for Foreign Currency Conversions?

ALLOWABLE/UNALLOWABLE EXPENSES
Can I be reimbursed for alcoholic beverages or entertainment expenses?
Are Phone Calls reimbursable on sponsored projects?
I had to change my air ticket. Can this fee be reimbursed?

EQUIPMENT
I have funding for equipment. When I am ready to buy it, do I need to work with any other departments?

F&A
What are F&A costs?
Which rate should I use?
What if I’m not sure which rate applies to my project?
What if the sponsor only allows a certain percentage for indirect or F&A costs?

BUDGET, INQUIRY AND REPORTS
What is the Grant Balance Summary Report and how do I run it?
What is the online ACR Report for Grants and how do I run it?
What is the online TDR Report for Grants and how do I run it?
How do I view the grant budget?
How do I do a budget inquiry in commitment control?
Why can't I view the grant budget?

PROCESSING
Why am I getting the error message "invalid chart field combination"?
How do I add new authorized signatures (team members) to my grant?
How can I determine where my expense or voucher is in workflow?
What account codes are used by grants?

VISTA PLUS
I'm using a Mac to access reports and using Internet Explorer as a browser is not allowing me access to the reports?
How do I access my reports on Vista Plus?

Which types of positions are considered by BC to be "professional"?

The term "professional" refers to faculty and other monthly paid employees

Which types of positions are considered by BC to be "non-professional"?
The term "non-professional" refers to employees paid on a weekly basis.

Is there a fringe rate we should budget for graduate students?
Fringe benefits are not applied to graduate students (or any student) salaries included in the budget.

Is there a health fee we should budget for graduate students?
We are not aware of any "health fee" for graduate students

How do you prefer we calculate tuition remission for graduate students?
Tuition remission is calculated based on the number of courses the student is taking and the tuition rate for the School/Department. There may be some students who require a full 18 credits and there may be some who may only require 3 credits.

Is there a fringe rate for hourly appointees, e.g., Laboratory Assistants? If so, what is it?
If the hourly appointee (employee) receives his/her payroll check on a weekly basis, the "non-professional" fringe benefit rate would apply. Fringe Benefit rates are posted on our main site: http://www.bc.edu/research/osp/.

How are payments made from my grant?
All payments (Payroll, E-Pro Requisitions, Vouchers, Expenses) are originated in your department. Any documentation is then forwarded to OSP for approval. OSP in turn sends the documentation to Human Resources, Purchasing or Accounts Payable for release of payment.

What kind of documentation is required for reimbursement?
BC Employee:

Must submit original receipts.
For online purchases and registration, must submit documentation showing that the employee incurred the expense.
Meal receipts must be itemized; alcohol & related taxes and gratuities must be identified and deducted. If reimbursement is for persons other than the traveler, IRS regulations require that the names of the individuals involved and the purpose of the expense be provided.
Expense reports must be signed by the traveler.

Consultants:

May submit photocopies of receipts (BC issues 1099 for non-BC travel reimbursements).
Meal receipts are required to be itemized; alcohol & related taxes and gratuities must be identified and deducted.
Must have documentation that travel benefits the project (signed memo from PI needs to be submitted with every report).
Must provide social security number and home address.
Must sign expense report.

What kind of documentation is required to pay a vendor?
The original invoice is required. Also recommended is a brief explanation showing benefit to the project.

What kind of documentation is required to pay a consultant?
Before attempting to pay someone for work performed, it must be decided whether the individual is indeed a consultant or if he/she should be paid as an employee. The most important criterion is that the nature of the work performed is unique - that it is not offered at Boston College and not performed for a sustained period of time. Detailed IRS guidelines can be obtained from OSP. The following documentation is necessary:

A signed invoice from the consultant which includes the consultant's full name, home address, and social security number.
A brief description of the work, hours or days worked, rate of pay, and total amount due.
A signed memo from the PI of the sponsored project describing the work performed, explaining how the work benefits the project, verifying that the work was completed satisfactorily, and confirming that the rate of payment is accurate (the PI is ultimately responsible for any and all expenditures made to the project).

What kind of documentation is required to reimburse non-employee travel?

Non-employee/consultant travel is reimbursed by voucher.
Check PeopleSoft to see if a vendor profile exists for the traveler.
If not, complete an online vendor request (http://www.bc.edu/offices/acctpay/forms/vendor_request.html).
BC travel policy (http://www.bc.edu/offices/policies/meta-elements/pdf/policies/V/5-200-050.pdf) applies to all non-Boston College employees when traveling at the University's expense.

What is the Expenditure Review Process?

Effective September 1, 2006, all sponsored project (Fund 500) Purchase Requisitions, Vouchers and Expenses totaling less than $1,000 per transaction will workflow directly to Purchasing and Accounts Payable once departmental approvals have been done. Documentation for transactions under $1,000 should be forwarded directly to Purchasing and Accounts Payable.

On a monthly basis, the Office for Sponsored Programs will review all transactions under $1,000 for propriety. Certain transactions will be selected for post review by OSP. It is recommended that originating departments retain copies of all transactions under $1,000 in anticipation of this monthly review and audit. Official Memorandum

Can I receive a Travel Advance?

Available only to BC employees who do not have an outstanding travel advance.
Available for air fare (with documentation showing the travel dates, cost, and that the expense has been incurred to the traveler). This advance is reconciled when the traveler provides airline ticket receipts and boarding passes after the trip.
Available for anticipated M&IE per diem.
Must be reconciled within 30 days.

How do I determine per diem for my trip?

Domestic Per Diem Rates - http://www.gsa.gov/perdiemrate
Meals and Incidental Expense Breakdown - http://www.gsa.gov/mie
Foreign Per Diem Rates - http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm/

Do I have to use a U.S. carrier for foreign travel on my federal grant?
Federal regulations require that US air carriers be used for as many legs of a foreign trip as possible, regardless of cost, convenience, or personal travel preference. Read the Fly American Act guidelines.

Are Registration & Conference Fees reimbursable?

Yes, when related to the project.
Documentation showing the traveler incurred the expense is required.
Registration form/conference agenda is to be submitted with a completed expense report/voucher.

How do I get reimbursed for Foreign Currency Conversions?

Identify non-U.S. receipts and include supporting documentation showing the currency conversion for the date of the expense.
1. All expenses paid by credit card require a copy of the credit card statement to support the currency conversion rate for the expense.
2. All expenses paid by cash must be converted into USD using any of the following: OANDA.com (http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic), published foreign exchange rate, receipt from bank or Bureau de Change.
ATM receipts are required to document any cash withdrawal fees.

I had to change my air ticket. Can this fee be reimbursed?

Yes, when identified as a benefit to the project.
You must provide a memo from the PI supporting this claim.

Can I be reimbursed for alcoholic beverages or entertainment expenses?

No, alcohol and entertainment expenses are unallowable on Sponsored Projects.
Alcohol, related taxes and gratuities must be identified and deducted from all meal receipts.
Mini bar purchases cannot be claimed.

Are Phone Calls reimbursable on sponsored projects?
Only phone calls that are related to the project can be reimbursed.

I have funding for equipment. When I am ready to buy it, do I need to work with any other departments?
Please visit the Purchasing Department's website at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/fvp/purch/ for information regarding the Boston College purchasing policy and requirements.

If you are buying computer hardware or software, please visit the Academic Technology Services website at http://www.bc.edu/offices/ats/.

Any item with a single unit cost of $1,000 is considered a capital item and must be purchased using an equipment account code.

What are F&A costs?
F&A stands for Facilities & Administrative costs (sometimes called IDC, Indirect Costs). These are actual costs incurred by the university in support of sponsored activities that cannot be identified readily and specifically to a project. The rate used by BC is negotiated with the federal government. Among other expenses, it includes the cost of departmental and central administrative support, building and equipment use, and library services.

Which rate should I use?
OSA
The “Other Sponsored Activities” (OSA) rate should be used for projects other than research. This can include training grants, conference support, fellowships, travel grants, community service projects, etc. Research
Any project which includes some element of organized research is considered a research project for purposes of applying the F&A rate. The research rate must be used for all research activities including data collection, evaluation, analysis and/or reporting, as well as training projects which train individuals in research techniques and grants supporting the publication of research results.

On-Campus
The on-campus F&A rate is applicable to sponsored research projects using the university’s facilities, administration, and libraries.

Off-Campus
The off-campus F&A rate may be used for projects in which the preponderance of work is conducted at a location not owned by Boston College and which do not use the facilities and infrastructure of the university such as office space, computer networks, operations and maintenance, equipment, etc. The rate includes only the administrative costs portion. In other words, the F&A costs associated with the campus and library are not considered applicable to the project.

What if I’m not sure which rate applies to my project?
Determining if your project meets the definition of research or other sponsored activity and if it is an on-campus or off-campus project, requires analysis of your scope of work and the budget. When in doubt, talk with your OSP administrative contact. He/She will help you to determine the appropriate F&A rate for your proposal.

What if the sponsor only allows a certain percentage for indirect or F&A costs?
The rate agreement does not supersede sponsor guidelines. In the case of training, for example, many federal training grants mandate an indirect cost rate of no more than 8%. Many private sponsors also will not support indirect costs over a certain percentage; some will not allow indirect costs at all. In these cases, OSP will require written documentation of the policy from the sponsor.

What is the Grant Balance Summary Report and how do I run it?
An ad hoc report that is ran from Commitment Control displaying your available balance. Click here for instructions.

What is the online ACR Report for Grants and how do I run it?
An ad hoc report that is ran from Project Resources displaying budgeted and expended summary data with balance available. Click here for instructions.

What is the online TDR Report for Grants and how do I run it?
An ad hoc report that is ran from Project Resources displaying the detail behind the ACR. Click here for instructions.

How do I view my grant budget

Navigation:
1. Reporting Tools
2. Query
3. Query Viewer

Enter in the Search by field: BC_GM BUD_ACCTD and click the Search button.
Select BC_GM_BUD_ACCTD_GRANTS
Enter chartfield strings and click OK.

The query results will display revised budget, pre-encumbered, encumbered, actual and available balance amounts in real time. Actual includes expense and voucher items that have been budget checked but might not have produced a check yet.

How do I do a budget inquiry in commitment control?

Navigation:
1. Commitment Control
2. Review Budget Activities
3. Budget Inquiry
4. Budget Details

In this field	Enter	Example
Business Unit	Eagle	Eagle
Ledger Group	PGBUDGETS	PGBUDGETS
Project/Grant	(7 digits)	5000533

Click Search

Note: Only non-payroll expense codes can be viewed.

Why can't I view the grant budget?

You are not a team member (authorized signature).
Grant is attached to a different or higher department ID.
One or more of the chart fields is incorrect.

Why am I getting the error message "invalid chart field combination"?

You are not a team member (authorized signature).
Grant is attached to a different or higher department ID.
One or more of the chart fields is incorrect.
Account code being charged does not exist in budget.

How do I add new authorized signatures (team members) to my grant?
Please send a memo requesting the new addition, referencing the grant number, signed by the P.I. and the new team member to your team.

How can I determine where my expense or voucher is in workflow?
The following charts explains what the approval status messages means:

Expenses:

Status	Explanation
Pending	Pending status indicates Expense Report has not been submitted for approval
Pending Departmental Approval	Pending Departmental Approval can mean: The originator is not a P1 or P2a. A P1 or P2a belonging to the department listed on the expense needs to approve the expense. The expense is over $5,000 and requires a second approver.
Pending Fund Code Approval	This status means that either fund code for OSP, Endowment, Capital or Agency is needed.
PndAcctApp	Pending Special Account Approval. This status refers to accounts 1xxxx or 2xxxx appearing on the expense. These accounts must be approved by members of the GLAdmin role.
Approved	Expense report made it through workflow and is waiting for AP to audit prior to payment.
PAID	Check went out to spender.

Vouchers:

Status	Explanation
Pending	Pending status indicates: Voucher has not been saved after the budget check has been completed leading to not entering the workflow process The voucher has previously been in workflow but changes occurred which required the budget check status to revert to 'Not Checked' leading to the voucher status changing to 'Pending' The voucher has been in workflow but has been denied at some point in the workflow process.
PdDeptOrig	Pending Departmental Originator status means that the person (originator) who saved the voucher initially (submitting it to workflow in the process) was not a member of the department for which the voucher is being charged or the originator is not a P1 or P2a. A P1 or P2a belonging to the department listed on the voucher needs to approve the voucher.
PdptTotal	Pending Departmental Total status means that the total amount for the voucher is over $5,000. A P1 or P2a belonging to the department listed on the voucher needs to approve the voucher.
PND120500 OSP	Pending Fund Code 120/500 approval. This status means that either fund code 120 or 500 appears on the voucher line. The appropriate fund code approvers are allowed to approve.
PND200600 Endowment	Pending Fund Code 200/220/600 approval. This status means that either fund code 200, 220, or 600 appears on the voucher line. The appropriate fund code approvers are allowed to approve.
PND810820 Capital	Pending Fund Code 810/820 approval. This status means that fund codes in the 8xx range appear on the voucher line. The appropriate fund code approves are allowed to approve.
PND9xx Agency	Pending Fund Code 9xx approval. This status means that fund codes in the 9xx range appear on the voucher line. The appropriate fund code approves are allowed to approve.
PndAcctApp	Pending Special Account Approval. This status refers to accounts 1xxxx or 2xxxx appearing on the voucher. These accounts must be approved by members of the GLAdmin role.
PndAPRvw	Pending AP Review. This status indicates the voucher is ready for review by the Accounts Payable team. Approval by this team will approve the voucher and end the workflow processes in the voucher lifecycle.

What account codes are used by grants?
Click the link for Grant Account Codes.

What is a Time and Effort report?
The Federal government requires that recipients of sponsored projects maintain a time and effort certification system. BC developed a monthly time and effort reporting system to meet this requirement. The report reflects all labor charges for employees paid from grants.

Why does the Principal Investigator (PI) have to sign and return the report to OSP?
The PI of the sponsored project is required to review the time and effort for propriety and indicate any discrepancies on the report. The PI then signs and dates the report to confirm the accuracy of the information and returns it to OSP, where they are kept on file for audit purposes

Why is it important to sign and return Time and Effort reports in a timely fashion?
In accordance with Federal guidelines, any necessary labor changes must be reported on the Time and Effort report within ninety days.

How do I re-distribute labor charges on my grant?
Upon receipt of an ECR requiring a redistribution of labor or a signed Time & Effort report reflecting labor adjustments, OSP will provide HRSC with the necessary paperwork to redistribute the labor charge.

How will I know if the labor charge was redistributed?
The labor redistribution charge will be reflected on the Time and Effort report following the month the request was processed.

What is a service stipend?
Service stipends are issued to graduate students for worked performed on a grant.

What is a non-service stipend?
A non service stipend is a living expense stipend issued as part of a student's scholarship, with no expectation of work.

What is summer salary?
Payment for research performed on a grant during the summer months of June, July and August. Work performed on NSF grants cannot exceed 2/9 of their academic salary.

How do I process summer salary?
If a faculty member received a summer salary in the past, a turnaround ECR, for the SMR PROF RES-FACULTY position, must be used to process the salary. If it is a first time request, a hire form must be processed to establish a "SMR PROF RES-FACULTY" position. The rate cannot exceed 1/9 of their academic salary (prior to their annual increase) and the total summer salary cannot exceed 2/9 for work on NSF grants.As with any faculty salaries, the ECR or hire form must be signed by the AVP's office before being forwarded to OSP.

What is a faculty buyout?
Faculty Buyouts are written into proposals for grants to allow teaching time to be used for research. The amount of the salary reduction is based on the percentage of the teaching load from which the faculty member is being released, not the part-time faculty replacement cost.

Example: If the normal course load is 5 courses, buyout of 1 course will equal "20%" of the annual contract salary.

How do I process a faculty buyout?
Faculty Buyout requests are processed through the AVP's office via an ECR. OSP will submit the necessary paperwork to HRSC so the labor charges are redistributed according to the information provided in the ECR. Please note that distributions are calculated over a 9 month academic salary year (vs. the 12 month cycle used by the University). ECR's requesting faculty buyouts remain at OSP and are not forwarded to HRSC for processing.

What is supplemental pay?
Payment for work performed in addition to regular departmental responsibilities. It must be provided for in the award budget and be approved in writing by the appropriate Dean.

How is supplemental pay received?
A supplemental pay form is processed through the normal payroll channels and will be paid along with the employee's next scheduled pay period.

How do I hire personnel on a grant?
Hiring procedures and necessary forms can be found on the Human Resource website at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/hvp/e/hire.html - Hiring Instructions for Managers

How do I know when to submit salary related employee change requests (ECR's)?
Employee change requests must be submitted to the Office for Sponsored Programs 3-4 days prior to the payroll deadline. Payroll deadlines can be found on the Human Resource website at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/hvp/hrsc/payroll_deadlines.html.

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How do I access my reports on Vista Plus?
Click here for instructions. Please go to the PeopleSoft Financials Home Page for more information.