• Formula Grant (142) Fiscal Year 2008 Close-out
• Formula Grant (142) Cost Transfer Policy
• Formula Grant (142) Re-budget Required Approvals
• Formula Grant (142) Research Assistant Salary Re-budget Reminder
• New WAES Tools for Award and Financial Management of Formula Grants

Formula Grant (142) Fiscal Year 2008 Close-out

Required final Fiscal Year financial reporting to USDA for Formula Grants (142) is due by December 31 of each year. In order for us to meet this deadline, Formula Grant projects ending September 30, 2008 are currently being reviewed for close out. Please review your Formula Grant projects and follow-up with Jennifer Pang (jpang@cals.wisc.edu, 0-2249) before 12/31/2008 if you have any questions or concerns. If Jennifer contacts you regarding a Formula Grant project, please be prepared to:

• Provide justification to questioned costs and provide supporting documentation if needed.
• Submit a cost transfer to transfer expenditures exceeding budget categories to a non-sponsored project.
• Submit a cost transfer for October 2008 (Fiscal Year 2009) charges incurred that posted to a Fiscal Year 2008 project in error.

Formula Grant (142) Cost Transfer Policy

This is a reminder that administration of Formula Grants has fiduciary responsibilities to the federal sponsored awards and must adhere to the cost transfer policy. The Cost Transfer Policy and forms can be found at the RSP website (http://www.rsp.wisc.edu/policies/costtransfer/index.html).

Here are some frequently missed items on the forms for Formula Grant projects:

• Principal Investigator (PI) signatures are required for all Salary Cost Transfers.
• Late Cost Transfer justifications for transfers more than 90 days after the accounting period end are required.
• WISDM transaction details attached to the cost transfers showing the posted date of the accounting period are required.
• Supporting documentation of the original cost incurred, i.e. invoice, purchase order, receipts, etc., are required.

Formula Grant (142) Re-budget Required Approvals

Beginning with Fiscal Year 2009 (begin October 1, 2008) , CALS is requesting written justification from the PI of Formula Grant projects for all requests outside of the allowable rebudget categories noted in the WAES Policies and Procedures (https://cals.wisc.edu/research/waes/management.html?0?Cp5).

Formula Grant (142) Research Assistant Salary Re-budget Reminder

Formula Grant programs allow RA salaries up to 50% of the RA appointment. For Fiscal Year 2009, the allowable monthly RA salary is $1,633 ($19,596 annual). All changes outside of the 50% limit require written approval from Angela Seitler, WAES Assistant Director prior to the deviation. Please refer to the WAES Policies and Procedures (https://cals.wisc.edu/research/waes/management.html?0?Cp5). (Please note that we will not be approving any RA appointments over the 50% level this year.)

New Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station (WAES) Tools for Award and Financial Management of Formula Grants (142)

Call for Formula Grant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) –
WAES will be providing a section for answers to Frequently Asked Questions on our website in the near future. Please email your questions, past or present, to Jennifer Pang at jpang@cals.wisc.edu for inclusion on our website.

Financial Management Tools – 
To assist departmental staff in managing Formula Grant programs, the WAES will be developing tools such as close-out check lists and quarterly financial review worksheets and will publish it on the WAES website in the near future.

Please submit any other tools, currently utilized or created that you would like to share with CALS departmental staff to manage WAES programs to Jennifer Pang at jpang@cals.wisc.edu for inclusion on our website.