Fluid Grant Subcontract Requisitions in NUFinancials (Training Guide)

The Guide will walk a Requester through all aspects of how to enter and process Subcontract Requisitions on sponsored project chart strings.

Fluid Grant Subcontract Requisition – Getting Started

What rules apply to Grant Subcontract Requisitions?

Note: before creating a subcontract, verify that there has not been a previous subcontract where F&A has already been applied. (Check Commitment Control > Budget Overview)

F&A is only applied to the first $25,000 of expenses. If grant subcontract is $25,000 or more:

• The first $25,000 of expenses for each sub-recipient must be properly assigned to the correct chart string and category subcontract $25,000 or less (typically account 78640) in line 1 of the requisition. F&A applies to first line only.
• Any additional dollars for this contractual agreement must be properly assigned to the correct chart string and category subcontract greater than $25,000 (account 78650) in line 2 of the requisition. F&A does not apply to 2nd line.
• See FAQs for details about F&A charges.

When should a Grant Subcontract Requisition be created?

Once a subcontract is fully executed, a requisition for the full awarded amount must be created in NUFinancials to process payments to the subcontractor. The fully executed subcontract should be attached to the requisition. A subcontractor in this context is primarily another University doing work related to a grant.

When should a Grant Subcontract Requisition not be created?

When spending on a grant or sponsored project is not to a subcontractor (i.e. other University). A grant subcontract requisition should not be created to place orders to suppliers when grants funds will be used to pay for the items or service.

How are payments made on Subcontracts?

Subcontractor must send per contracts invoices to ASRSP. ASRSP reviews, adds a certification statement, logs invoice then sends to the department for PI for approval signature. The schools/department Receiver enters a receipt document for the full amount of the invoice on the correct line item. By selecting the appropriate lines to receive on, F&A will automatically be generated by the F&A process. PI reviews, signs, and emails a scanned copy back to ASRSP.

Additional Resources - Accounting Services for Research and Sponsored Projects

Grant Subcontract checklist:

Do you have the following? 

1. Fully Executed Agreement (FEA) as a PDF from Sponsored Research.
2. Completed Single Source Justification (SSJ) form.
3. Confirm the supplier Remit To address is current and active in NUFinancials.
4. The chart string for the subcontract.

Hot Tip! Make sure you enter the same supplier ID (Supplier ID and Address line) on both lines to ensure only 1 PO is created for the subcontract. Have the FEA (Fully executed agreement) in hand to reference the supplier when creating the subcontract requisition to reference the correct supplier address for payments. If you don't see the correct address listed, then submit a Modify Supplier Request to add the correct address to the supplier record. 

Hot Tip! Before you begin, remember to check to see if there was a previous Subcontract Requisition for this contract that may have already captured F&A.

Subcontract Workflow for First and Subsequent Years

Subcontract Workflow for New Requisitions:

Subcontract Workflow for Amendments to Existing Purchase Orders:

 

Note: For training purposes, the example below is for a grant subcontract greater than $25,000.

Step 1: Create a Fluid Subcontract Requisition

Navigate to Fluid Non-Catalog Requisitions

1. Log in NUFinancials.
2. If it's not already selected, select the Employee Self Service Home Page from the drop-down menu.

3. Click the eProcurement tile.

 

4. Click Create Requisition tile.

5.  Click Special Requests to create a subcontract requisition.

Step 2: Enter Standard Non-Catalog Information Fields

Item Details:

These fields provide information that NUFinancials includes on the purchase order after the requisition is approved. Fields that are denoted by the asterisk * are required.

Enter Line Item 1 for F&A ($25,000 or less, based on fully executed agreement):

1. Enter *Item Description. Enter F&A description and performance period.
2. Enter *Price. $25,000 or Enter US dollars and decimal. (Zeros after the decimal are automatically added if you do not provide them)
3. Enter *Quantity. (For all grant subcontract requisitions, ALWAYS enter 1)
4. Click the *Unit of Measure magnifying glass to open a Look Up window.

5. Enter the first two letters of the unit into the Unit of Measure field.
   • Alternatively, click the magnifying glass to see the list.
6. Expand the Search Criteria to search.
7. Select the Unit of Measure for your desired measurement. (For all special requisitions, always enter EA)
8. Click the Category magnifying glass to look up the categories.

9. Click the Category link that best describes the kind of non-catalog item you are requisitioning (Make certain the Category for line 1 is Subcontracts < 25K)
    

Supplier Information

10. Click the Supplier ID magnifying glass to run a search for the supplier directly from this field. Select the institution with which Northwestern has established the subcontract.
11. Click the triangle to expand the Search Criteria section to search by Supplier Name. Enter the name of the Supplier that you need in the Supplier Name. Then Click Search.
    • If the supplier is found but the address is wrong, update the address through Supplier Change Request process.
    • If no results are found for your supplier, you can request to add the supplier to NUFinancials using Supplier Registration process.
12. Click the Supplier ID/Supplier to select the Supplier.
13. For the Supplier Location field, click the Location magnifying glass to run a search for the supplier location directly from this field.

 

14. The Supplier Item ID is N/A.

 

Manufacturer Section-NOT in use.

 

Additional Information Section

15. Optional: Enter comments into Additional Information. Comments are applicable to the line item and not the entire requisition.
16. Click the Send to Supplier checkbox should not be used as Blanket Requisitions are not automatically dispatched to the supplier.
    • Show at Receipt box is not typically used or generally recommended.
    • Show at Voucher is not used.
17. Click Add to add the item to your shopping cart.

  

18.  Your item will appear in the shopping cart icon at the top right.

Enter line item 2 for remaining amount (over $25,000, based on fully executed agreement)

1. Enter *Item Description. Enter F&A description and performance period.
2. Enter *Price. Remaining balance of the award amount. Enter US dollars and decimal. (Zeros after the decimal are automatically added if you do not provide them)
3. Enter *Quantity. (For all grant subcontract requisitions, ALWAYS enter 1)
4. Click the *Unit of Measure magnifying glass to open a Look Up window.
5. Click the Category link that best describes the kind of non-catalog item you are requisitioning (Make certain the Category for line 2 is Subcontracts > 25K)
6.  Your item will appear in the shopping cart icon at the top right.

7. When you are finished adding line items, click Checkout at the top of the page.  

Step 3: Checkout

The Checkout step is where you enter ship to codes, chart strings, budget check, and save and submit the requisition.

1. Enter Requisition Name beginning with SUBK or other naming convention as determined by your school/department so it is easily recognizable as a grant subcontract when viewing your list of requisitions (maximum of 30 characters).
2. Select Requisition Type as SUB, the Grant Subcontract type.

Note: All Grant Subcontract Requisitions will automatically be placed on "Hold From Further Processing" and will not be automatically dispatched to the Supplier.

Requisition Lines Section

Adding Attachments: For grant subcontracts, attach the FEA agreement or the amendment containing signatures from both parties (SR version).

3. To add an Attachment, click the Line Comments button below the line item.
   • Click Add Attachment > My Device > Select File > Open > Upload > Done.
   • Files to attach:
     • SSJ for amount over $25,000.
     • FEA (fully executed agreement) (PDF from SR email notification) for back-up of subcontract amount.
4. Once you’ve uploaded the attachment, click Done.

 

Step 4: Enter Ship to Codes and Chart String Fields

Schedule Details (Within Requisition Overview Lines Section)

All chart strings utilize Fund, Dept, and Account codes, at minimum. If you do not know which chart string to use, see your manager.

1. To view the hidden section that contains the Ship to and chart string fields for a line item, click the Schedule Details next to that line item in order to open the section.

2. Click the magnifying glass next Ship To.

3. A lookup window appears. Expand the Search Criteria section to search by Ship to Location or Description.
4. Click Search and select the appropriate Ship to Location.

5. At this time, you can input the Attention To field, if it hasn’t already populated with the correct name.
6. Under Distributions, enter chart string fields for a line item, click Chartfields2.
7. Enter Fund, Dept, and Account for the chart string
8. Enter Project and Activity for the chart string. Project and Activity are required for grant chart The Percent field should be 100.

9. Click the Line Details tab.
10. Click the triangle to expand the Item Additional Information section.
11. Switch the Amount Only toggle to Yes.

12. A pop-up message appears regarding setting the quantity of the line to 1. click Yes.

13. Click Done when all information has been entered.

Step 5: Adding Comments and Check Budget

Adding Comments

1. Header Comments:  Enter a comment if you like, but Header Comments are not required.
2. Justification Comments. Enter a comment to explain the reason you are creating a requisition, and any other information that will assist in getting the requisition approved. Comments entered here will be viewable on the Approval Pages for all Approvers.
3. Click Save. Requisition ID is assigned.

Check Budget

1. Once Requisition is saved, click Checkout.
2. Check Budget.
   • The budget check ensures the chart string(s) is valid and has no spending controls against it that would prevent you from submitting the requisition.
   • Successful budget checking pre-encumbers or earmarks the funds.

3. A pop-up message appears regarding budget checking the transaction. Click Yes.

  

5. When finished budget checking, click Checkout. A Budget Check Status should now appear.

  

Step 6: Submit Requisition for Approval

1. Click Submit.

2. After you submit your requisition, a Checkout Confirmation page appears.
   • The Requisition ID is available on this page. This is for internal use ONLY.
3. The Requisition is submitted to workflow for approval. Click View Approval Chain to view approval workflow.
   • See the Approvals and Workflows articles for more information.

Appendix

Line Defaults

• In Default Settings (at top), Line Defaults may be used for non-catalog requisitions only -- do not use Line Defaults for catalog requisitions
• Enter applicable defaults for Supplier, Buyer, Category, Unit of Measure, Ship To, and/or Attention.
• If you use Line Defaults, it is not necessary to re-enter the same information in subsequent steps.

 Comments

• Requisition Header Comments on the Checkout page is where you enter comments that pertain to the requisition as a whole. If using these Comments to communicate to Approvers, ensure comments are entered in the Approval Justification comment box.

 Ship To Codes

• If a ship-to location needs to be added or modified, fill out the Ship To Code Request Form located at NUPortal > Financials > Purchasing > Purchasing Resources and Forms.
• A list of ship-to codes with addresses is also available at NUPortal > Financials > Purchasing > Purchasing Resources and Forms.

 

FAQs

What is F&A rate?

F&A stands for Facilities and Administration; it is the abbreviation for the costs incurred by an institution for the use of its facilities and administrative support of research. These are expenses that cannot be identified specifically with a sponsored project or other major function and are in addition to the actual cost to do the research project. F&A costs are sometimes referred to as indirect costs or overhead costs. Examples might be custodial services, building utilities, copy machine usage and administrative support compensation. 

A Facilities & Administration (F&A) rate is the percentage rate used to calculate charges to sponsors for the reimbursement of the use of facilities and administrative support. The percentage rate is multiplied against the base dollar amount of actual costs and is listed on proposal budgets to the sponsor. For various federal agencies, a negotiated F&A rate reimburses the University for these Indirect Costs. Non-federal agencies may or may not apply the same negotiated rate; they may reimburse at a lower rate, by lump sum or not at all depending on the terms and conditions of the proposal. For subcontracts, sometimes there is an agreement to waive F&A reimbursement or the F&A is prepaid at another institution. 

How is the F&A rate set?

For federal agencies, the University negotiates a rate every 3 to 4 years to be in place for the next time period. 

Why is it important to Northwestern?

It is important for Northwestern to account for the University's own costs contributed to the sponsored research to be able request the most accurate reimbursement rate from federal agencies. 

Sometimes F&A reimbursement is waived, meaning sometimes the University does not collect reimbursement for costs incurred for the use of facilities and administrative support. Nonetheless, the waived amount should be a part of the overall calculation when the F&A rate is being negotiated. 

How is it related to subcontracts?

In general, sponsors allow institutions such as Northwestern to charge F&A costs for managing subcontracts on grants, but many times, it caps the amount allowed to be charge to the first $25,000 of the direct costs and sometimes the allowance for F&A charges is waived entirely. Even if the charges are waived, it is important for Northwestern to quantify the amount as part of the periodic negotiation for the F&A rate. In NUFinancials, we use account codes divide out the first $25,000 of subcontract direct cost which will earn F&A reimbursement, divide out the remaining subcontract direct cost which will not earn F&A reimbursement and to calculate the waived F&A on a subcontract.

 

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