Department Administrator
Session #10
December 11, 2013
Agenda
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2014 Tri-council Monitoring Review
Roles and Responsibilities
Authorization of Expenses
Supporting Documentation
Journal Entries and Internal Charges
Compliance Review
Questionnaire
2014 Tri-council Monitoring Review
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Risk Assessment Questionnaire
– The Risk Assessment Questionnaire was completed by UofG in October 2012. A few
questions from questionnaire have been included in the questionnaire that was sent to
everyone by Asif Momin. The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information about
how things are done in your department so we can assess what controls are in place at UofG.
– We are keeping track and require every department to submit a response.
– Please respond honestly and reflect your current practice.
– These sessions and this questionnaire are about sharing information and learning from
each other. If you hear of something another department is doing that is a good practice,
please follow up with that department and implement the appropriate controls/practices
in your department. The Tri-Council review is for the University of Guelph so we are all in
this together, lets help each other out!!
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Collaborative Information Gathering Tool
– This is a listing of 100 controls that Tri-Council tests against. They require Guelph to provide
pdfs, website links, etc to show what controls are currently in place at Guelph.
– When Tri-Council reviews, they are reviewing the UofG and the controls for the institution. If
your department has good controls in place but another department does not, Tri-Council
will make an overall assessment that Guelph does not have good controls.
– If your department/college has a good control, please share it with others so another
department may be able to implement it.
– UofG will need to provide info about the controls by April/May 2014. RFS will begin its
review of these controls in January 2014.
2014 Tri-council Monitoring Review
• Information and Documentation Requests
– Tri-Council will review the researchers with awards in 2013/14
and select a number of them for testing. UofG will then provide
a transaction listing for the selected researchers for the 2013/14
period.
– Tri-Council will select approximately 200 transactions and they
will now test that we are implementing our controls to meet the
requirements of Tri-Council. This means appropriate signatures
are in place, etc. The review will take place offsite so we will be
scanning a large number of documents and sending them to
Ottawa for review. We will have one shot at this so we need to
ensure we will gather ALL of the relevant information at the
time we send it Ottawa.
– UofG will need to provide the transaction listing 1-2 months
before the visit. The visit is planned for sometime in July 2014
2014 Tri-council Monitoring Review
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Opening Meeting
– The Opening meeting will be with Laura Beaupre, Dave Reinhart and VP
Research (and/or AVP Research) and AVP Finance and Administration
Transaction Testing - normally covers last fiscal year (2013/2014)
– This will be done by the Auditors in Ottawa
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Interviews
– Tri-Council will conduct interviews with other relevant people involved in the
administration of awards. Interviews could be with department
administrators, researchers, A/P, Human Resources, Ethics, Central Animal
Facility, Research Support Services, Research Financial Services, etc
– Comments from these interviews can impact the overall outcome.
Closing Meeting
– The Closing meeting will be with Laura Beaupre, Dave Reinhart and VP
Research (and/or AVP Research) and AVP Finance and Administration to hear
the results of pass or fail.
– A failing grade will mean that the UofG President will receive a call from TriCouncil and future funding from Tri-Council will be at risk.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Tri-council Requirement: Roles and Responsibilities of all
parties (Grantees, OR, RFS, Dept. administrator etc.) should be
well defined
• 2009 Monitoring Review we responded that Roles and
Responsibilities would be clearly defined
• RFS is currently working on it
– We hope to have something drafted in January 2014. We have begun
work by reviewing other institutions and what they have on their
websites.
Authorization of Expenses
 Only Grantees and/or their delegates (with written
delegated authority) can initiate and authorize
expenditures from the grants.
 All claims must have the grantee or delegate’s signature.
 The signatures certify that:
 all expenditures on the claim are for the purpose for
which the grant was awarded;
 all expenditures on the claim are eligible expenses;
 all goods and/or services have been received;
 the charges included have not been claimed for
reimbursement from other sources.
Source: 2013 Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/Reporting-Rapports_eng.asp
Authorization of Expenses
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The Fund 301 Delegation of Authority must be used for Fund 301 transactions.
The Fund 301 form is specific to the Grant Leader delegating authority. This does
mean that some purchasing clerks, admins may need to sign off on additional
forms.
– To minimize the number of forms that are required, we have reviewed the
current form and have expanded it to allow up 6 delegations on ‘one’ form.
– This new form will replace the existing Form 301 Delegation form shortly.
– There is a standard delegation of authority form that allows you to note dollar
values,etc. This form is not valid for Fund 301 transactions.
There should be two checks for signatures when an expenditure is charged to TriCouncil account. One check is to confirm the person initiating the expense is the
researcher or a delegate. The other check is when the expense is being
authorized.
– The Form 301 Delegation of authority process is geared towards having the
appropriate signature (researcher or delegate) for invoices that are paid
through A/P.
– A/P is currently checking all Fund 301 transactions to ensure appropriate
signatures are in place
Authorization of Expenses
• Who initiates expenses in your department? What is the
control to ensure that the initiation of the expense is:
– Written request (please note that every request to charge a TriCouncil account must be in writing)
– Who in your department is checking to ensure that the
signature to initiate the expenditure is the researcher or an
approved delegate
• What is the control in your department around this process?
• Do you have a book or a listing of all delegated signatures for each TriCouncil award?
• Some departments/colleges already have this control in
place:
– Notably CBS and School of Environmental Sciences are checking
for researcher or delegate signature to initiate a transaction
Authorization of Expenses
• All types of expenses/charges need to reviewed to ensure that
UofG has a control in place to ensure written initiation of the
expense (by researcher or delegate) and appropriate authorization
of the expense (by researcher or signature).
– The other types of expenses/charges that do not go through A/P will
need to be reviewed. These include:
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Personnel
Courier charges
Supply Managed Contract purchases
Pcard purchases
Airfare
Journal entries
Internal charges (a list of internal charges will follow)
Internal stores (a list of internal stores will follow)
Travel
Other (please advise if there are other types of expenses that you feel should
be reviewed)
Authorization of Expenses
• List of Internal Stores to reviewed:
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Bookstore
Chemistry store
Pharmacy store
Lab Services
Physical Resources
Physics Machineshop
Other (please advise if there are other Internal Stores that
should be added to the list)
• Please advise Asif if you know of the appropriate
contact name for any of these stores
Authorization of Expenses
• List of Internal Charges to be reviewed:
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64021 – Animal housing costs
64111 – Fax charges
64131 – General Cost charge
64171 – Growth Room/Greenhouse charges
64251 – Lab tests and Equipment usage
64252 – Laboratory supplies cost
64301 – Machine shop services
64311 – Mail services charge
64351 – Parking charge
64361 – Photocopying costs
Authorization of Expenses
• List of Internal Charges to be reviewed (continued):
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64382 – Release time (INELIGIBLE)
64415 – Vehicle Service Charge – Maintenance
64483 – Telephone Charge – General (INELIGIBLE)
64484 – Telephone Long Distance
64513 – Vehicle Charge
64523 – Vet Hospital Charges
64533 – Work Order Charges
66105 – Project Authorizations
Other (Please advise if there are other Internal Charges
that should be added to the list)
Supporting Documentation
 Salaries or stipends paid to research personnel:
 signed records regarding personnel paid from grant funds,
including names, categories, salary levels, affiliation to the
grant;
 length of time supported in each case;
 details of employee benefits charged and relevant calculations.
 Equipment and supplies:
 supplier invoices indicating details of purchases;
 prices paid.
 written justification
 Internal expense allocations or shared expenditures:
 documentation indicating the exact charge made;
 the method of calculation or attribution;
 the grantee’s authorization for those assigned to the Agency
account.
Supporting Documentation
 Hospitality for networking and research-related activities:
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the date(s) of the event(s);
number of participants;
purpose of the event;
counter signature by the department head or dean for hospitality
expenses claimed by the grantee.
 Incentives paid for research recruitment and participation:
 supplier invoices indicating details of incentive purchases;
 the application to a Research Ethics Board (REB) detailing
incentive plan
 the REB approval of the incentive;
 proof of payment of incentives.
Source: 2013 Tri-Agency Financial Administration Guide:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/ReportingRapports_eng.asp
Journal Entries and Internal Charges
 Journal Entries
 Must be initiated by Grantees and their delegates
 Written documentation from grantee or delegate is
required (we committed in 2009 monitoring review visit)
 Internal Charges
 Must be initiated by Grantees and their delegates
 Written documentation from grantee or delegate is
required
 Documentation indicating the exact charge made
 The method of calculation of charges
Supporting Documentation
• Please note requirements to show relevant
calculations for internal charges
• CBS has a Hiring Form that captures much of
the relevant information for the charge of new
personnel to a Tri-Council account
Compliance Review
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Authorization of expenses
Expense Eligibility
Supporting Documentation
JEs and Internal Charges
Confirmation of ongoing eligibility of grantee
Ethics certification
Who provide compliance review
Compliance Review
• The points on the previous slide are the hot spots that TriCouncil will review when assessing whether UofG is
compliant.
• Please note that expense eligibility is only one part of the
compliance review.
• Because UofG is a decentralized institution, Tri-Council is
quite concerned about:
– the roles and responsibilities of those involved in Tri-Council
award administration
– assurance that all involved with Tri-Council award administration
are knowledgeable of the guidelines
– appropriate controls are in place in every department/college
Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Purpose:
- To get understanding of how departments operate Tri-council
grants
- To make sure all departments are compliant to Tri-council
policies and guidelines
The purpose of this questionnaire is to gather information
about how things are done in your department so we can
assess what controls are in place at UofG.
All department have to complete the questionnaire
Due by: January 10, 2014
• We are keeping track and require every department to
submit a response.
• Please respond honestly and reflect your current practice.
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Section 1: Authorization of Expenditures
Q1. Who can initiate expenditures charged to Tri-council grants?
• Only Grant Holders and/or their delegates
• Grant Holders only
• Procurement Officers
• Department Administrators
• Dean or Department Head
Q2. Who can authorize payments of expenditures charged to Tricouncil grants?
• Only Grant Holders and/or their delegates
• Grant Holders only
• Procurement Officers
• Department Administrators
• Dean or Department Head
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Q3. How is Grant Holder authorization of expenditures documented
(select all that apply)?
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A written signature for each expenditure
An electronic authorization for each expenditure
A combination of written and electronic authorizations
A signature or electronic authorization on the periodic
statement of account
• No documentation is required to support Grant Holder
authorization
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Section 2: Supporting Documentation
Q4. What supporting documentation you obtain for each
expenditure (select all that apply)?
• Supplier Invoice
• Purchase order
• Expense reimbursement Forms / Cheque requisition
• Expenditure initiation letter/e-mail from Grant Holders or
their delegates
• Authorization from Grant Holders and/or their delegates
• Justification for Equipment purchase
• Other: Please list _________________________________
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Section 3: Eligibility Status
Q5. Is there a formal process to confirm the continuing eligibility
status of Grant Holders to ORES?
• Yes
• No
Q6. When is ORES informed of these changes (i.e. terminations,
promotions, departures, death etc.)?
Immediately
• Upon request from ORES
• The ORES is not notified
• Other: please specify ___________
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Section 4: Eligibility of individuals to receive a salary from research grant funds
Q7. When paying salary and/or consulting fee to the individual from
Tri-council grants, do you make sure that the individual is not
Tri-council grantee or whose status would make them eligible to
apply for Tri-council grants?
• Yes
• No
Q8. If the answer of Q7 is “Yes”, is there a formal process to confirm
it?
• Yes
• No
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Section 5: Journal Entries and Internal Charges
Q9. How is Grant Holder authorization of charging (reversing) expenses through JEs
documented (select all that apply)?
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A written signature for each JE
An electronic authorization for each JE
A combination of written and electronic authorizations
A signature or electronic authorization on the periodic statement of account
No documentation is required to support Grant Holder authorization
Q10. How is Grant Holder authorization of internal charges documented (select all
that apply)?
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A written signature for each internal charge
An electronic authorization for each internal charge
A combination of written and electronic authorizations
A signature or electronic authorization on the periodic statement of account
No documentation is required to support Grant Holder authorization
Tri-council Monitoring Review Questionnaire
Q11. When do Grant Holders authorize internal charges and/or
shared costs charged to their grants (select all that apply)?
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Once a year for recurring transactions
Annually through internal agreements or service contracts
Individually as they are charged
When reviewing periodic financial statements
Before the expense is charged against the grant
Grant Holder is invoiced directly
The costs are charged directly to grants via journal entries