Notice Number: NOT-OD-13-112
Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:
- May 28, 2015 - Reminder of Timeline for Administrative Changes to NIH Domestic Awards to Transition to Payment Management System Subaccounts. See Notice NOT-OD-15-105.
- July 11, 2014 - See Notice NOT-OD-14-103 - Revised Timeline for Administrative Changes to NIH Domestic Awards to Transition to Payment Management System Subaccounts.
- May 16, 2014 - See Notice NOT-OD-14-093. Administrative Changes to NIH Domestic Awards Transition to Payment Management System Subaccounts.
- September 26, 2013 - See Notice NOT-OD-13-120. NIH Domestic Awards to Transition to Payment Management System Subaccounts in FY 2014 and FY 2015.
Key Dates
Release Date: September 3, 2013
NOT-OD-16-028
NOT-OD-15-105
NOT-OD-13-111
NOT-OD-13-079
NOT-OD-12-139
Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Purpose
The purpose of this Guide Notice is to alert NIH grantees that in accordance with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directive to Agencies, NIH will transition payment for grant awards to Payment Management System (PMS) subaccounts by the end of FY 2014.
This Guide Notice applies to only domestic awards. NIH transitioned the payment of grant awards to foreign institutions to PMS subaccounts throughout FY 2013; see NOT-OD-12-139 and NOT-OD-13-019. Also, see companion Notice NOT-OD-13-111 on transitioning payment of Federal Institutions and Individual Fellowships at Federal and Foreign Institutions to PMS subaccounts.
Background
Most payments for NIH domestic awards are currently made via pooled accounts in PMS, which is a centralized grants payment and cash management system, operated by the Division of Payment Management (DPM) HHS.
Payments for NIH awards to Federal institutions, Federal Fellows and Foreign Fellows are currently made directly by the Office of Financial Management (OFM), NIH.
Anticipated Implementation
Between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014, NIH will transition payment for all new and continuing domestic awards from PMS pooled accounts (G accounts) to PMS subaccounts (P subaccounts). For these types of awards, PMS will establish subaccounts for each NIH award made on or after October 1, 2013.
For domestic grants with a non-competing continuation year of funding in fiscal year (FY) 2014 (October 1, 2013 September 30, 2014), NIH will use a technical process to shift the funding from PMS G accounts to PMS P subaccounts by issuing all FY 2014 non-competing continuation awards as Type 4 awards (funded extension awards). This means that all domestic Type 5 awards (non-competing continuation awards) and Type 8 awards (non-competing continuation awards with a change of awarding Institute or Center), will be issued as Type 4s during the transition period. This enables NIH to separately track obligations and payments for grants which span the Federal FYs 2013 and 2014. In addition to changing the record Type and the document number for the FY 2014 award, NIH will change the project period end date of the FY 2013 award when the FY 2014 award is issued. The project period end date will be changed to the budget period end date. This effectively breaks the single competitive segment in to two shorter "competitive segments." The change will be reflected in the eRA Commons; however, NIH will not issue a revised Notice of Award (NoA) for the FY 2013 award. Therefore, the FY 2013 award becomes the final year of the first "competitive segment" and requires final Federal Financial Report (FFR) expenditure data. If the award is under Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP), the grantee will be required to submit FFR expenditure data that covers the project period from the original start date through the new project period end date.
NIH will make this transition as seamless as possible for grantees and NIH staff. Records for non-competing continuation progress reports (Type 5), or in rare instances Type 8s, will be converted to Type 4s. The conversion will be processed internally by NIH. There will be no change to the due dates, submission, or review of progress reports for domestic awards for FY 2014.
Please be aware that that competitive revisions/supplements (Type 3s) issued to domestic awards in FY 2014, will be issued in the same account as the parent award. If the parent award is in the pooled account at the time the Type 3 is issued, the Type 3 will be in the pooled account too. If the parent award was issued in a P subaccount at the time the Type 3 is issued, the Type 3 will also be in the P subaccount account.
Please see below for procedural changes in carryover of funds for non-competing continuation awards issued in FY 2014.
Change in Process to Carryover Funds for Domestic Non-Competing Continuation Awards during FY 2014 (October 1, 2013 September 30, 2014).
The change in method of payment from the pooled accounting to subaccounts, requires a final FFR for the prior year(s) of the competitive segment before any carryover funds would be available for drawdown in the PMS. However, this requirement does not change the carryover authority listed in Section III of the NoA. If the award was issued with automatic carryover authority, OFM will automatically authorize the carryover in the PMS P subaccount equal to the amount of unobligated balance reported on the FFR.* If the award was issued without carryover authority, OFM will automatically transfer the unobligated balance reported on the FFR to the PMS P subaccount; however, the grantee will still be required to submit a prior approval request to use carryover funds as detailed in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, Section 8.1.1.1. If the request is approved, a revised NoA reflecting the approved carryover amount will be issued and the authorized amount will be reflected in PMS. Failure to submit FFR expenditure data in a timely manner may affect future funding.
*In accordance with existing policy, the GMO will review unobligated balances in excess of 25 percent of the total authorized amount for the budget period and may request additional information from the grantee. If the GMO determines that some or all of the unobligated funds are not necessary to complete the project, the GMO may restrict the grantee’s authority to automatically carry over unobligated balances in the future, use the balance to reduce or offset NIH funding for a subsequent budget period, or use a combination of these actions. The GMO’s decision about the disposition of the reported unobligated balance will be reflected in the terms and conditions of the NoA.
Change in Processing of Funds Requested for Awards in PMS Subaccounts that are 90 days Beyond the Project Period End Date
When a federal grant expires, recipients can only use remaining grant funds to liquidate expenses incurred during the performance period. Federal grants management policy specifies that within 90 days of the project period end date the grant recipient must submit its final financial report for the grant, unless the awarding agency extends the project period end date or the reporting period due date. See NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.6 for more information on the grantee responsibilities for timely closeout is a grantee responsibility.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Division of Grants Policy
Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Telephone: 301-435-0949
Email: [email protected]
and Human Services (HHS)
