Finances (Advanced)

Finance Logs

Wasita sporadically logged general expenditures (non subject payment) for each grant, just for her own sanity and organization purposes.

• Location: Dropbox (Brown)⁩ ▸ ⁨frankLab_Private⁩ ▸ ⁨lab_finances⁩ ▸ ⁨expense_logs⁩
  • Frank Lab Expenses Tracker (June 2018--)
  • Subject Payment Tracker (Jun2018--)

Finance Form Templates

• Location: Dropbox (Brown)⁩ ▸ ⁨frankLab_Private⁩ ▸ ⁨lab_finances⁩ ▸ ⁨expense_logs⁩ ▸ templates
  • CLPS_reimbursement_form
  • CLPS_purchase_form
  • meal_reimbursement_template
  • travel_report_form_template

CLPS Finances Coordinators

You will primarily be contacting Rosa or Nicole regarding lab finances. Michelle Swallow and Reinette are your contacts if Rosa or Nicole don't know the answers to your questions.

• Rosa_Moniz@brown.edu (StartUp Funds)
• Nicole_Tella@brown.edu (Grants)
• Reinette_Sousa@brown.edu (Advanced StartUp Funds)

General Purchases (Both Purchases + Reimbursements)

1. Have Michael verify amount and funding source
2. Record the expense in the Lab Expenses log (should ONLY be accessible to Michael and the current lab manager)
   • Dropbox (Brown)⁩ ▸ ⁨frankLab_Private⁩ ▸ ⁨lab_finances⁩ ▸ ⁨expense_logs⁩ ▸ Frank Lab Expenses Tracker (June 2018--)
3. Fill out form (CLPS Reimbursement form or CLPS Purchase Form)
   • If reimbursement: Take picture of all receipts via ClearScanner app to generate PDFs of receipts
   • If purchase: Include link to product (e.g. Amazon link) in form description
4. Compile relevant form and receipt copies into 1 PDF via Adobe Acrobat
5. Store PDF copy in following location and format:
   • Dropbox (Brown)⁩ ▸ ⁨frankLab_Private⁩ ▸ ⁨lab_finances⁩ ▸ ⁨expense_logs⁩ ▸ buying_stuff ▸ [account or grant name]
   • [account or grant name]/[YYYY_MM_DD_purchase_description_account]
6. E-mail copy of PDF to relevant coordinator (see CLPS Finances Coordinators section)

Meal Purchases

For lab meetings where a University guest is presenting, we can order food via America to Go (ATG) on Workday. Make sure to order in advance!

• On Workday, type "Requisition" into search bar and click on "Create Requisition." Select Standard for requisition type.
• Click "Connect to a supplier website"
• Click "Connect" next to ATG
• From there you are sent to a portal where you can put in all the details of your order
• Include account number you wish to charge (e.g., StartUp, etc.) in the memo section before submission
• Once you submit, the process will be routed to a cost center manager (Reinette Sousa or Pat Squadrito) and they can add the proper worktags and approve the order

Example of a Kabob & Curry order for lab meeting (comfortably serves ~30 ppl.):

• 1 Tray 2 of Saag Paneer
• 1 Tray 2 of Chicken Tikka Masala
• 1 Tray 2 of Chana Masala
• 15 pieces of naan (cut up into quarters)
• 1 Tray 2 of rice

Meal Reimbursements

1. Have Michael verify amount and funding source
2. Record the expense in the Lab Expenses log (should ONLY be accessible to Michael and the current lab manager)
   • Dropbox (Brown)⁩ ▸ ⁨frankLab_Private⁩ ▸ ⁨lab_finances⁩ ▸ ⁨expense_logs⁩ ▸ Frank Lab Expenses Tracker (June 2018--)
3. Fill out Meal Reimbursement Form
4. Take picture of all receipts via ClearScanner app to generate PDFs of receipts
5. Compile relevant form and receipt copies into PDF via Adobe Acrobat
6. Store PDF copy in frankLab_private/lab_finances/meal_reimbursements in format:
   • [account or grant name]/[YYYY_MM_DD_purchase_description_account]
7. Submit in-person the Meal Reimbursement Form with physical receipts taped to the back** to relevant finances coordinator (see CLPS Finances Coordinators section).
8. Recommendation: There are times where the finances coordinator may lose the physical copy, so it's good to have the electronic copy stored (as in Step 6) for easy access to then send to finances coordinator. Finances coordinators prefer you to drop off physical form and copies and do not require an email notifying of form drop-off, as it may confuse them (e.g. sometimes makes them think there are 2 meal reimbursement requests instead of 1).

**The finances coordinator will be scanning whatever you submit for their records, so flattening the receipts and taping them to the back of the form makes things easier for them.

Travel Reports (e.g., for lab meeting guest speakers)

We often have guests from abroad present in our lab meetings, and usually we are able to reimburse them for some part of their travel or lodging costs. Because these visitors are often international (Michael = Mr. Worldwide), you will need the following info in addition to a copy of their Travel Report and receipts:

Note: The following are general requirements for any visa type. In brackets [] I have indicated documents that are visa-type specific. If you have any questions, ask the finances coordinators.

1. Copy of Passport biographical page
2. Copy of Passport visa entry stamps (visa type proof)
3. I-94 (https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/recent-search, need visitor passport info)
4. Attestation form [WB, B1]
5. Authorization letter from home insitution verifying reimbursement and student status [F-1, J-1]
6. I-20 [F-1]

If the visiting speaker will be traveling by car and needs a parking spot, you can request a parking permit via the CLPS department. 2 day notice is required. The parking permit is only good for the date that oyu request them for and if your visitor cancels you are still charged for the permit. The parking permit will be emailed to you to send to the visitor along with a map of the parking lots. The speaker has to print out the permit and put it on the dashboard of their car when they park in the assigned lot. The directions will be listed with the parking permit.

mTurk Funds

1. Determine how many HITs and subjects you're planning to run (including base pay + total bonus)
2. Record MTurk expense in the subject payment log
   • Subject Payment Tracker (Jun2018--)
3. Fill out CLPS Purchase Form indicating account source and amount
4. Send an email to Rosa_Moniz@brown.edu containing the following information:
   • We'd like to reload our mTurk funds
   • Total amount requested
   • Funding source (e.g. Michael's StartUp or specific grant)

Subject Payment (In-Lab/Cash)

Things that are good to know before requesting a cash advance:

1. Cash advances must be cleared 3 months after they are requested
2. Cash advances are issued to labs, not projects
   • Therefore, prior to requesting a cash advance, ask all core researchers to give you a 3-month projection of how much they'll spend
3. Because our studies utilize variable pay and/or bonusing, assume that every participant is going to walk away with the maximum amount of money possible
4. It is possible to have multiple cash advances open at the same time
   • If you are starting to run out of money on your first cash advance, request a second cash advance so that you don't run out of money in the interim period
   • Note, however, that the Finance Office typically doesn't like to have more than 2 cash advances open at any given time
5. Cash advances will deposit in your PERSONAL bank account (i.e. the bank account where your paycheck is set to direct deposit)
6. Cash advances can take anywhere from 2-6 days to deposit, so plan ahead!
7. If money is running dangerously low, core members may find it convenient to temporarily pay participants out of their personal funds, and then reimburse themselves once the cash advance deposits. Make sure to keep detailed records of the cash flow if this strategy is used! You will likely need to separate personal funds (to be reimbursed) from cash advances.
8. To submit subject payment sheets (signatures or "backup" as finances coordinator refer to it)

Requesting cash advances:

1. Send an email to the relevant finances coordinator:
   • We are requesting funds for subject payment
   • Total amount requested
   • Funding source (e.g. Michael's StartUp or specific grant and ideally include account number)

Handling cash advances:

• The money you requested for subject payment will be sent to your bank account via direct deposit
  • Note: Brown only does direct deposit via Bank of America (BoA). Otherwise, you will have to speak with the finances coordinators and figure out how you will withdraw money. Most likely you will need to walk to the BoA in Wayland Square to exchange a physical check for cash and denominations.
• The closest BoA ATM is located in the downstairs level of Faunce (Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center).
  • The machine provides $100, $20, and $10 bills.
• To exchange for smaller denominations (for bonus payments), go to Citizens Bank (120 Waterman St.).
  • Santander on Thayer Street is very particular about you having an account with their bank in order to exchange cash with them.
• Once you have the cash, create a paper log for the money envelope to document the following info:
  1. Which grant the money corresponds to
  2. Which project(s) the money can be used to fund
  3. How much money is deposited or withdrawn from the envelope
  4. Date of deposit/withdrawal
  5. Initials of person depositing/withdrawing money

Clearing cash advances:

1. Sum up each sheet's total and verify that the numbers match the numbers that have been recorded in each study's respective participant tracker
2. What to do if the amount spent is different from the amount requested (this will happen most of the time):
   • If you've spent less, return the difference to the Finance Office in petty cash
   • If you've spent more, either ask for a personal reimbursement for the difference (slow), or to apply the difference to the next cash advance (fast)