Post-Award Essentials Every PI Should Know
- Account Setup and Activation: Understanding how and when new award accounts are established helps avoid delays in accessing funds at the start of a project.
- Effort Reporting and Certification: Effort commitments made at proposal stage must be accurately tracked and certified throughout the life of the award. (See the Sponsored Programs section for the new effort calculator resource.)
- Expenditure Monitoring and Cost Transfers: Charges to sponsored accounts must be allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Cost transfers, moving an expense onto or off a sponsored account after the fact, are subject to timing requirements and should be requested as soon as an error is identified.
- No-Cost Extensions: Requests to extend a project period without additional funding must be submitted before the award’s current end date. Build in time for review and sponsor approval when planning ahead.
- Subrecipient Monitoring: PIs share responsibility for ensuring subrecipients on their awards comply with sponsor and university requirements throughout the project period.
- Award Closeout: Final financial reports, technical reports, and account reconciliation are due within strict post-award deadlines. Early planning for closeout, well before an award’s end date, helps avoid last-minute compliance issues.
Resources
- Forms and Links (post-award forms and related resources)
- Effort Reporting (guidance on effort reporting and certification)
- Closeouts (award closeout procedures and requirements)
- Roles and Responsibilities Guide (PI, departmental, and central office responsibilities across the award lifecycle)
- Contract & Grant Accounting: 336.334.5091
For questions about a specific award, current post-award support remains available through Contract & Grant Accounting. As the transition progresses, we will keep the campus community updated on any changes to processes or points of contact.
