Post-Award Reconciling

Daily or as needed, Restricted Accounting should review, approve and/or process the following items:

• purchase requisitions
• consulting agreements & honoraria
• blanket purchase orders
• personnel authorizations
• vouchers (travel, mileage, petty cash)
• received funds (cash payments on grants)
• budget transfers and adjustments
• sponsorships & scholarships

As part of the monthly reconciliation process, Restricted Accounting should:

• Reconcile assigned grant accounts
• Reconcile accounts monthly, according to the schedule prepared by the director. Each account must be reconciled before reports are prepared. The reconciliation report must include the GLBR, GLTB, and then saved to the network drive in the folder labeled for that month's recon. The Recon folder is housed in the Grant Accounting drive under FY2017.
• Print a Datatel GLTB (end the report on the last day of the month) and GLBR report for each account, and update each account spreadsheet on the T‐drive. Make sure that the ending balance on the reconciliation spreadsheet matches the corresponding ending balance on the GLTB.
• For payroll entries, review all salary and benefits expenditures and compare with the project’s budget. Print an XLDR Labor Distribution Report and compare figures with the amounts encumbered by the individual Personnel Authorizations. Investigate any anomalies with Payroll staff and, if necessary, departmental staff.
• For all non‐payroll entries, match each expenditure with the corresponding Purchase Request or Voucher in the grant’s tracking spreadsheet. For payments to vendors, assume that minor differences may be due to discounts, shipping costs, or price updates. If uncertain, or for larger differences, investigate the reason for the difference. Consult various Datatel screens (including Purchase Request, Purchase Order, and Voucher Inquiries), and, if necessary, review the backup to the non‐negotiable copy of the check. Note any changes on the file copy of the request or voucher. If problems remain, attempt to resolve them with Accounts Payable, Purchasing, or the operating department. Label the voucher number on the pdf copy and file it according to object code in the grant file online.
• For travel - Ensure "All grant travel is pre-approved prior to taking a trip". Prior to travel, all employees traveling on a grant account should submit a Budget Worksheet with signatures from their supervisor and the grant budget authority. While reconciling the grant’s expenditures, review and verify that all allowable travel cost on any TWC grant is within the state of Texas ONLY. Any travel outside of the state requires written permission from the grant agency BEFORE submission to the grant office. Ensure that the appropriate mileage rate is applied and that mileage is calculated in accordance with College policies & procedures. For mileage between ACC locations, refer to the mileage chart. For mileage to other locations, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, or Google Maps are acceptable sources of documentation.
• Review GLTB for any expenditures that were vouchered in the last few days of the month. Look up each voucher in Datatel to make sure that a check has been cut before you submit any invoice/financial report to the grantor. External auditors have instructed that if we claim as an expense any item for which a check has not yet been cut, we are potentially violating the 3‐days’ cash rule.
• Correct any object code or account number errors by journal entry. Arrange to transfer any inappropriate or over‐budget expenditures to another grant or institutional account, as warranted.
• Consult with the appropriate budget authorities and the grant accounting director/manager before preparing such transfers.
• When all reconciliations are complete, forward to the grant accounting director/manager for approval. Include all related journal entries and reports with the reconciliation package. DRA must initial each reconciliation as it is reviewed.
• Gift accounts only need to be reconciled if there has been any activity during the month.
• Calculate & post indirect costs or administrative allowance
• Collect Time and Effort (previously known as Personnel Activity) Reports from grant staff as required.