Closeout and Monitoring Requirements for Sponsored and Internal Awards

Departments are required to review all Sponsored, Internal, and Cost Share awards no less than once per month to avoid overspending and prevent delays in the award closeout once the funding period has ended. This applies to all awards managed through the Grants Accounting system using the Project-Task-Award (PTA) account number.

Regular monitoring helps maintain compliance, ensures good financial stewardship, and supports accurate reporting to external sponsors. Although departments are required to review each account monthly, more frequent monitoring is highly recommended to catch and resolve any potential issues early.

Notifications for overspent awards

If a department receives a notification from either Grants Accounting or General Accounting regarding an overspent award, immediate action is expected, and any necessary accounting adjustments must be submitted within 90 days. It's important to note that this 90-day window is based on the effective date of the transaction in the General Ledger and the Expense PA date in Grants Accounting. All fiscal year-end deadlines must also be followed to ensure compliance and may not provide you with the full 90 days to complete the adjustment.

To assist with this process, departments can utilize the Grants Funds Available Dashboard in OBI to identify projects with overspent balances or those approaching their end dates. 

Steps to identify overspent accounts in OBI:

When accessing the Grants Funds Available Dashboard, use the following prompt selections to generate the necessary report:

• Restrict to Overspent PTAs: Change from “N” (default) to “Y” to display all overspent accounts.
• Include Closed Awards: Set to “Y” to verify balances even on closed awards.
• Include Closed Projects: Set to “Y” to include balances from closed projects for completeness.
• PTA with end date before: Enter a specific date to filter PTAs that ended on or before that day.
• Project Type: Narrow your search by selecting either Sponsored or Internal awards.
• Task Org Parent Level / Planning Unit: Further refine by selecting the appropriate organizational level (Level C) and associated parent details.

Award closeout process

Sponsored Awards

Sponsored  awards are closed centrally. The closeout checklist provides detailed guidance on steps to take 30-60 days prior to award end date, 90 days prior to the award end date, and final steps to complete no later than 90 calendar days after the award end date. Please note that you may have less time to address these issues due to final due dates to sponsors. If you are contacted by Grants Accounting regarding questions related to award closeouts, please respond promptly.

Internal Awards

Internal awards also must be  closed centrally by emailing  

• Include Closed Awards: Set to “Y”
• Include Closed Projects: Set to “Y”
• PTA with end date before: Enter a specific date to filter PTAs that will end on or before that day.
• Project Type: Narrow your search by selecting either Sponsored or Internal awards.
• Task Org Parent Level / Planning Unit: Further refine by selecting the appropriate organizational level (Level C) and associated parent details.

Questions?

General Accounting at 740-566-0021 or finance@ohio.edu regarding Internal Awards (awards starting with #4). 

Grants Accounting at finance.grants@ohio.edu or 740-593-0726, regarding Sponsored and Cost Share Awards (awards starting with a #1, 2, 3, or 5).