May 21, 2026
MRAM: May 2026 Q&A
Meeting materials are available for your review along with a list of links shared during the session. Q&A from our session are included here for reference and are available in the MRAM announcements.
Within a week or so following every MRAM, an email like this one typically goes out with Q&A from the session and a link to the meeting materials.
Questions by topic:
Post Award Fiscal Compliance
Q: Can you share the progress to resolve the issue where SOC is applied to staff where there is retro pay? These employees have salaries below NIH salary cap.
A: A solution to the issue of erroneous salary cap charges on retro pay for non-faculty staff is currently being tested in Workday. We are awaiting the results of the current testing before implementation of the solution in the Workday production environment. We will provide an update on testing and implementation at the June MRAM.
SAGE Demo
Q1: One question about the CF / offset field and it summing to the cumulative total for all periods. Usually that “offset” is actually funds that were already awarded in a previous year, so they should not be summed together with previous year’s awarded dollars. It is just the sponsor’s formal way of releasing those funds for use in the current period. Can you clarify how to use these fields?
A1: The Carryover/Offset Amount is added to the Request Amount on the MOD General Info section. The total should equal the Budget Total when the MOD is for a Supplement and Extension on an award requiring separate year accountability. Exclude the Carryover amount when entering the Modified Sponsor Total for all Spending Periods (see instruction text below the Modified Sponsor Total field for guidance).
Q2: If the sponsor only funded 1/3 installment out of the actual proposed year 2. How do you do the MOD for period 2?
A2: Connect a budget for period 2 to a MOD Supplement + Extension that includes the 1/3 installment amount. Additional supplement MODs for other installments can be submitted in future.
Q3: Wouldn’t separate year accounting mean new grant worktags?
A3: Yes, this would require renewal award lines if separate year accountability was required. This would qualify for the integration into Workday.
Q4: Is there a way to see the grant security hierarchy in the MOD itself when assigning these Grant Worktags?
A4: On the MOD Budget & Award Lines section, expand a Worksheet/Award Line to see the Award Details section that includes display of the Security Grant Hierarchy from SAGE Budget.
Q5: What do you select if the award line is new as part of the supplement? Leave the Grant Worktag selection blank?
A5: Yes, to set up a new award line on an award, leave the Related Grant worktag blank for that worksheet/award line on the MOD Budget & Award Lines section.
Q6: Some awards require us to track carry forward as a separate line. Would we include it in the way you demo’ed or would that be another submission?
A6: You can include the carryover as a separate worksheet/award line on the MOD Supplement + Extension. Add a separate worksheet for Carryover to the SAGE Budget. Enter the Carryover amount in the field on General Information and the Request Amount the separate field.
Q7: The NOA for the new period comes before the NOA releasing the carryforward – so is this example just for carryforward approval?
A7: Yes, if we did not receive the official release of the carryover, then there would be no SAGE budget worksheet to add with the approved carryover.
Q8: Did I hear correctly that there will be some situations where the budget total and the request amount not match? If I did hear that, what situations would this be the case?
A8: An award with one multi-year period that has a MOD request to add Supplement funding would be an example where the Request Amount doesn’t match the Budget Total.
Q9: What spend categories do those carryover funds go to? Or do they just automatically stay in the same place from the previous year?
A9: When a sponsor approves carryover, the total amount may need to be distributed across multiple grants/award lines—not just one. Because of this, department contacts should carefully review their award, decide how the approved carryover or offset should be allocated across the appropriate grants/award lines, and then update their SAGE Budget worksheets to ensure those balances are accurately reflected.
Q10: Will the ORIS training reflect this process to complete a MOD?
A10: The SAGE Awards & MODs class has been updated with these changes that were demonstrated. Training materials (documentation, job aids, etc.) have also been updated.
Q11: Do we anticipate this added detail in MODs will decrease the processing time of MODs?
A11: Yes, eventually, this update will result in a decrease in processing time for SAGE MODs. The updated MOD form supports an integration between SAGE and Workday, reducing the need for GCA to manually enter the award information into Workday.
Q12: What if an ADV budget is not available until after the MOD is submitted? I thought edits could not be made after the MOD was submitted?
A12: GCA will be able to edit the Related Grant worktag while reviewing the MOD request. If GCA sees an Advance Spend award line in Workday, they will select it as the Grant worktag on the MOD which will allow an integration to update the existing GR#.
Q13: Will SAGE accept a MOD with the same award period name as an existing award period if the MOD is for a supplement to an existing year?
A13: Yes. Having the correct period name is always beneficial to GCA.
Q14: If automatic carryover is allowed, the new year increment NOA would make no mention of the last year’s carryover balance. Do we still need to fill in the carryover amount in the MOD?
A14: No, for awards with automatic carryover, you don’t need to request anything from GCA. GCA will transfer the unspent balance as part of the final financial report/final sponsor invoice/closeout process. For more information, visit GCA’s webpage on carryover.
Q15: it seems like there should be a connected budget to a worksheet regardless of whether we are connecting it to a previous year (in which case a new line is to be created) OR we are connecting it to the current pre-spend year (in which case we are adding money to that existing line). Will it be easy for GCA to distinguish the difference?
A15: It depends on the request. If it is a supplement, it will be connected to the existing GR award line. If it is intended for a renewal award line (separate year accountability required) then a new award line with that SAGE budget worksheet (if funds are to be added) will be required.
Q16: Who would be best to contact if we have questions about entering carryforward?
A16: If the question about carryforward pertains to entering information into SAGE Budget worksheet, contact sagehelp@uw.edu. If the question pertains to entering carryforward information into Workday, Grant & Contract Accounting can assist either via Award Portal or at gcahelp@uw.edu.
Q17: If you are doing a MOD for a supplement to an existing year, should the budget include only the supplement or the whole amount for the year?
A17: The budget should include the whole amount for the year.
Other questions
Q: For reports in Workday: For selecting Time Period – Last 36 periods ends 6/30/26. Will Last 48 Periods (or 60 Periods)be added by or before July 1?
A: This question should be directed to the UW DATAGroup. Refer to the DataGroup Resources webpage for ways to contact them.