Most research grants and contracts have an expiry date attached to the money. It is important to be aware of the award end date when planning your research activities as the end date can affect the eligibility of certain expenses.
Steps for Closing Research Grants/Contracts
Once a research grant has ended, and upon request by the granting agency, the following steps occur:
- Research Accounting prepares a final financial report
- Report is sent to the PI for review and approval
- When required by the granting agency the PI may have to submit a narrative report
PI returns approved financial report to Research Accounting - Research Accounting authorizes report and forwards to funding agency
- Research Accounting closes cost centre 30 days after the award end date
- Research Accounting retains all hard copy and electronic files for up to seven years for audit purposes
Sometimes a residual fund balance exists when a research project is completed and all expenses finalized. If the funding agency requires the balance to be returned, Research Accounting will notify the PI. If the agreement is a fixed rate and the balance can be retained by the University, the PI may request to continue to spend against this cost centre.
Narrative/Progress Reports
In order to prevent delays in final installments PI’s need to submit narrative/progress reports by the due dates prescribed in their research agreement.
Cost Centre Closure
The research cost centre is closed thirty (30) days after the award end date. No further transactions can be processed against the research cost centre. Cost centres do not automatically close once a zero balance is reached, so be careful not to submit expenses in excess of the balance of your account, nor should expenses dated outside of the research grant or contract period be submitted. Researchers are required to cover any overspent amount.
Grant/Contract Extensions – Tri Council
Researcher’s should refer to the Tri Council Extension Policies for the list of research grants that have an automatic extension period versus the research grants that can be extended by request only.
If a researcher is approved for an extended leave from the University and the leave was due to maternity, parental, medical or family medical leave, Tri Council recognizes that it may have an impact on an individual’s research program. In these instances the grantee may request an extension of time on the current research grant for up to two years. Such a request must include a justification for the requested time and be endorsed by the appropriate institutional authorities (e.g., department head, dean, etc.).
If the faculty member does qualify for the extension and should they wish to take advantage of the extension period, Tri Council will require the following information:
- Signed letter or e-mail from the grantee confirming the following:
- application number of the research grant
- title of the research grant/project
- confirmation of the start and end date of the requested leave
- written justification for the additional time
- Signed letter or e-mail from the appropriate authorized official at the institution (department chair or dean) confirming the following:
- application number of the research grant
- title of the research grant/project
- start and end date of the requested leave
- written endorsement of the time requested by the grantee
If the faculty member did not take an extended leave from the University for one of the above mentioned reasons, then Tri Council does not grant extensions beyond the automatic one-year extension. Any residual funds in the researcher’s grant account at the end of the automatic one-year extension will be authorized for transfer to York University’s General Research Fund (GRF) account. The GRF account is held in trust by the institution president for the broad purpose of enhancing the quality of research in Social Sciences and Humanities.