######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ASRSP News & Updates Advance Accounts: Sponsored Research has changed the allowable period for advance accounts (formerly prespend) from 120 days to up to 12 months, effective March 1, 2024. PIs may request advance accounts for new awards through the end of the anticipated budget period (not to exceed 12 months), or the sponsor’s limit, whichever is shorter. This change creates the ability to place charges on the appropriate account and allocate salary correctly, and thus should reduce cost transfers. Quarterly Deficit Report: Beginning in March, ASRSP will produce quarterly deficit reports for departmental review and resolution. ASRSP Compliance will send research administrators an email notification including a link to their report on SharePoint, with a request for resolution within 10 business days. A deficit (or overdraft) is considered an unallowable cost and should be removed immediately upon discovery. ASRSP Training: ASRSP staff is pleased to announce an overview of Cost Allowability Training Session on Wednesday, April 3rd from 10:30am-12pm. This will be a hybrid event, taking place in Baldwin Auditorium on the Chicago campus, and online. Please register for the training here. Effort Certification: The first semi-annual effort certification cycle for FY2024 will begin in the coming weeks. Department administrators can take the following steps to prepare: Conduct a suspense review in NU Financials to identify payroll transactions that were not processed due to use of an inactive chart string, one that has an insufficient payroll budget, or one that does not exist. Check all commitments for budget periods with activity between 9/1/23-2/29/24. Effort may fluctuate during the budget period, but the averaged effort must equal the commitment (or be reduced no more than allowed by the sponsor). Effort expended in one budget period does not count toward commitment fulfillment in a subsequent budget period. Reminders FY2024 Single Audit: The FY 2024 Single Audit will include a review of the Research and Development Cluster which comprises the majority of NU’s sponsored award portfolio. Given this, the following is a list of best practices to ensure compliance with federal regulations, terms and conditions of the award, and university policies: Test allowability (consider the cost principles: reasonable, allowable/permitted, allocable, consistently treated) Prepare comprehensive documentation Retain evidence of transaction review and approval Reconcile accounts regularly Resolve overdrafts Unapplied Payments: The Unapplied Cash Payments spreadsheet has been updated through Q3, FY2023. Please view the lists and contact [log in to unmask] with information on any payments that are applicable to your projects. Equipment Inventory: The annual equipment inventory is underway. Departments should plan to complete their inventory by 5/31/24. For any questions regarding the inventory process, please contact Accounting Services at [log in to unmask] Term Time Equipment: Equipment (also called capital equipment) is tangible property having an acquisition value of Northwestern’s capitalization threshold of $5,000* or more and a useful life expectancy of one year or more. *threshold may increase this year per updated federal regulations Supplies: Supplies are all tangible personal property other than equipment. Note: Computing devices are supplies unless the cost is $5,000 or more. ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######### ######################################################################## Access the RESEARCHFINANCE Home Page and Archives: https://LISTSERV.IT.NORTHWESTERN.EDU/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A0=RESEARCHFINANCE Unsubscribe from the RESEARCHFINANCE List: &*TICKET_URL(RESEARCHFINANCE,SIGNOFF); ########################################################################