Business and Financial Services

Grant and Contract Accounting

Anyone at Clark University who receives a grant must follow these procedures:

• In the process of applying for the grant, the Principal Investigator (PI) or potential grantee must contact the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPR).
• In the post-award stage, the grantee’s budget is set up by the Grant Accounting Office.

• If the Principal Investigator has established a more detailed budget than that supplied to the award agency, the grantee may contact the Grant Accounting Office at grantaccounting@clarku.edu or 1-508-421-3756 for clarification and further information.
• In the case of a multi-year grant, budgets are only input on a yearly basis. The Grant Accounting Office is available for assistance with reading its specifications.
• Once a grant has been awarded, the PI may conduct related accounting processes. These processes include purchases, reimbursements, cash advances, budget reports, and related questions. Budget reports can be viewed via CUWeb.
• Confirm reporting dates with the Office of Business and Financial Services in order to have interim and/or final financial reports sent to the reporting agency in a timely manner.

• For grant-related travel, the grantee may request a cash advance (XLS file) prior to the trip.
• For reimbursements incurred during a grant-related trip, a travel expense report must be filed and submitted via SmartBuy Plus. Instructions on filling out a travel expense report are available in the Travel Guidelines.

• Grant funds are also used, where applicable, for related purchases of supplies and equipment. In order to make these purchases, the grantee must submit a purchase order via SmartBuy Plus.
• Grant funds may also be used as payroll for the grantee and/or people hired to work on the funded project. For employees to be paid by a grant a Grant Payroll Authorization form (PDF) must be completed and submitted to Grant Accounting for processing.