Award Advance Funds

An award advance fund provides a Principal Investigator (PI) the opportunity to initiate their sponsored research project and begin incurring necessary project expenses prior to the institutional acceptance of an award due to delay from an external sponsor (direct or flow-through funding). Award advances are established when there is a high probability of funding as confirmed by the sponsor’s authorized official representative (AOR) and demonstrated need to initiate or continue project work. The financial responsibility for covering advance expenditures in the event an award does not materialize is documented at the time of the advance request.

We expect that award advances will be provided under the following scenarios:

1. New Advance Account/Pre-Award Spending (New Fund)

2. Extension of authorization for Advance Account Previously Approved (i.e. the new award has not arrived and the original new advance should be extended or the amount authorized increased on the Fund in #1)

3. Additional funds advanced awaiting sponsor increment (Existing Fund)

Establishing an advanced fund account allows charges to be tracked properly, prevents the accumulation of charges in unrelated “holding” accounts while waiting for official sponsor authorization, and reduces the likelihood of late-cost transfers. All advance accounts should be monitored with special care.

Using Advance Funds is important for two primary reasons.

• Cost transfers to sponsored projects after the fact immediately raise questions for external auditors.

• Cost transfers create significant administrative burdens for multiple campus departments/offices, which increases inefficiencies and costs for the University.

Award Advances are requested by the Grant Program Managers (GPMs) when PIs need a FOAP prior to an agreement being signed or an award arriving to Notre Dame. Grant Program Managers are the only ones to initiate/submit advance fund requests. A request can only be submitted if the proposal is complete and has received all internal approvals (fully routed) with Notre Dame Research in its system of record Cayuse. 

Initially, an advanced fund will be active for 3-6 months depending on the need and individual award.

Advance budgets are typically up to 25% of the total anticipated award amount as necessary. GPMs should work with PI to verify the amount needed during the advance period. If more than 25% of the total anticipated award amount is requested, the PI will need to indicate in writing the amounts requested and the reason for the increased need to the GPM.

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New awards

A new award may be preceded by an informal notification from the sponsor’s AOR that the University of Notre Dame is the award recipient. The informal notification may indicate a high probability that the University of Notre Dame will receive the award. There may be a delay between the informal notification of the award and the receipt of the formal notice of award. Pre-award spending can occur but must be allowable by the sponsor. Additionally, in some cases the nature of the project may involve a “ramp up” period for assembling resources and infrastructure prior to the beginning of the performance period. In these cases, it may be advantageous to begin undertaking initial activities in advance of the start date, as long as pre-award spending is allowable by the sponsor.

Competing Continuations

Competing Continuations are awards for a sponsored program that have received previous funding, usually for multiple years, and are competing with other institutions for a new period of award funding. Ongoing sponsored program activities may be subject to competing continuations, which, by definition, have an element of uncertainty regarding whether the sponsor will decide to award funds for a new period of performance. Competing continuations are treated as new awards. Counter-balancing the risk associated with these awards is the possible need to assure the continuity of the sponsored program if the sponsor’s decision is to continue support. In situations where there is a gap between the end of one funding segment and the beginning of the next, if the probability of continued funding appears to be high, pre-award spending or an advance account may be prudent and appropriate.

Transfers

If a PI/PD transfers from another institution and grants are being transferred to the University, it may be appropriate for the University to permit the transferring PI/PD to incur expenses in advance of the official grant transfer between the PI/PD’s former institution and the University being executed. Factors involved in this decision include the degree of the University’s certainty that the grant fund balance will be transferred, the position taken by the PI/PD’s former institution, the position taken by the sponsor, and the effect a delay might have on the conduct of the sponsored program itself. An analogous scenario might arise when a PI transfers from Notre Dame and the gaining institution intends to issue a subaward to Notre Dame to allow for uninterrupted continuation of an existing project to be led by a replacement PI.

Non-competing Continuations

Non-competing Continuations are awards for the second or subsequent funding periods under a multi-period award for which the recipient is not competing with other institutions. Typically, the sponsoring agency will release a non-competing continuation award letter based on a satisfactory progress report from the PI/PD, subject to available funding under its agency appropriation. Advance spending is generally not necessary in non-competing continuations because funding typically continues without interruption. However, there may be occasions when an advance spending account is appropriate. For instance, if the current year’s funding is exhausted before the end of the year, it may be necessary to request an advance on the non-competing renewal year to continue scientific progress. An advance account might also be appropriate if the renewal award is delayed. The reason for delay in an award is normally an important consideration in determining the appropriateness of advance spending.