Read Me First – Financial Administration

Reporting

Research Activity

Research activity reports (progress or final) may be required for some grants. See specific requirements according to program.

Financial Reporting

• Institutions are required to submit to the Agency an annual Statement of Account, signed by a Business Officer, for every grant for the period ending March 31 of each year, using the Federal Granting Agencies' Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (Form 300).
• The Business Officer must ensure that a copy of the Statement of Account (Form 300) signed by the Grantee is on record at the Institution, if not sent to the Agency.
• The annual Statement of Account (Form 300) must indicate the total outstanding commitments.
• In addition to the Grantee's Statement of Account (Form 300), each Business Officer is required to review a reconciliation report provided by the Agency's Finance Division. The Business Officer must return the Grantee's Statement of Account (Form 300) as well as the reconciliation report by June 30 for the period ending March 31.
• Other financial reports may be requested as needed.

CIHR only

• The business officer will be required to submit, in March of each year, a reconciliation of the commitments and payments made by CIHR with respect to the Common Grant Account in accordance with instructions issued by CIHR each January.
• Although expenditures in excess of grant funds are not the responsibility of CIHR, grant recipients must nevertheless report all expenditures incurred for each grant on the Federal Granting Agencies’ Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (Form 300).
• CIHR's Finance Department will ask for an annual certification, usually in the fall, that all signed statements are on file at the institution.

Supporting Evidence

The Grantee is responsible for authorizing expenditures from his/her Federal Granting Agency's grant account in accordance with the Agency's regulations and conditions of grants and with the Institution's policies. No other party may initiate or authorize expenditures from an Agency's grant account without the Grantee's written delegated authority. All claims must have the Grantee or delegate's signature. The signatures certify that:

• all expenditures on the claim are for the purpose for which the grant was awarded;
• the charges included have not been claimed for reimbursement from other sources; and
• reimbursements for expenditures received from other sources or Institutions will be disclosed to the administering Institution.

Grantees must be able to provide supporting documentation for all expenditures charged to their grant accounts. Such documentation includes the following:

• For expenses related to salaries or stipends paid to research personnel, signed records regarding personnel paid from grant funds, including names, categories, salary levels, and length of time supported in each case, and details of employee benefits charged and relevant calculations
• For equipment and supplies, supplier invoices indicating details of purchases and prices paid
• For internal expense allocations or shared expenditures, documentation indicating the exact charge being made, the method of calculation or attribution, and the Grantee authorization for those being assigned to the Agency account
• For expenses related to hospitality for networking and research-related activities, the date(s) of the event, number of participants and purpose of the event

Individuals claiming travel-related expenses from a grant must prepare a separate claim for each trip. Travel claims must also conform to the standard travel policies and procedures of the Grantee's Institution. For claimants other than the Grantee, the affiliation with the Grantee's research group must be specified. If the traveller is a student, the travel claim must be signed by the Grantee. In the event that the traveller is the Grantee or a visiting researcher, the travel claim must be countersigned by the department head or dean confirming the relevance of the travel to the research being funded.

The travel claim must include the following information:

• Purpose of trip
• Dates and destinations (person or Institution visited)
• Official supporting documentation (e.g., prospectus or program, indicating the dates of conferences and workshops)
• Details of daily claims for expenditures relating to those visits
• Details of any vehicle used
• Original receipts, such as hotel bills, car rental agreements (credit cards slips are not valid receipts)
• Original air travel ticket receipts and boarding passes (airline boarding passes will not be accepted in lieu of ticket receipts except in the case of electronic tickets)

All supporting documentation must be kept for seven years after the expenditure has occurred.

CIHR only

In the event that other restrictions are imposed, these will be clearly stated in the Authorization for Funding Form (AFF) and the Request for Application (RFA) documents for the guidance of the Grantee and Business Officer.