Tag Archives: Advance Budget Request

You can replace the cost share addendum with a newer version when an advance is in In GCA or Processed status.

In the Cost Share section of the Request Summary, there is a 3-dot more actions menu at the far right of the attachment row. The menu options are:

  • Replace file with newer version
  • Delete attachment

The following image shows the menu choices.

cost share addendum menu

To replace a file, select that option from the menu. A dialog will display, as shown below, where you can upload the newer version of your file.

advance attachment replacement dialog

Once you have added the newer version, you can expand the row and add a comment for the revised file. The expanded view will show all versions of the attachment, with the most recently added version at the top. The following image shows an example.

cost share section showing original and replacement attachments

Once an advance budget request has been processed, campus can request an advance budget number extension.

Advance budgets that are requested for the maximum of 12 months can be extended for up to 6 months.

NOTE: If the advance budget is requested for less than 12 months, the duration of the advance (12 months or less) + extension must be less than or equal to 18 months.

Along with the revised end date and reason for the extension, campus can indicate any sub-budgets associated with the parent advance budget that they also want extended.

Once campus submits their extension request in SAGE, you will see it on the SERA tasklist with the following information:

  • Action/Request Type: Extension
  • Last Action Taken: Received in GCA
  • Status: In GCA

Click Select to open the Advance Budget Extension Request page.

advance extension request

Once all of the budgets associated with the extension have been updated in FIN, you can select Approve Extension.

A dialogue box will appear where you can enter an optional comment regarding the extension, then click All Set, Notify Campus.

advance approve extension dialog

Once you have approved the extension, the status will update to Processed and notifications will be sent to the parent and sub-budget Principal Investigators (PIs) with the advance preparers copied.

If you select Deny extension, a confirmation dialog will display. Once you enter the required comment, the Deny, Notify Campus button will be enabled. Select it to change the advance’s status to Denied and notify campus.

The GCA view of the Request Summary includes the Budgets section, which is where you will set up budget numbers and notify campus.

The table includes the following fields:

  • Type of Budget
  • Biennium
  • ADV BN
  • Prior BN
  • Short Title
  • PI Name
  • Org Receiving Funding

By default, the Prior BN, Short Title, PI Name, and Org Receiving Funding fields are auto-populated based on the associated application and funding action.

The following image shows the Budgets section for a new advance before a budget number is assigned.

advance request summary budgets section

Budget Setup For New Advances

Follow these steps to complete the budget setup process:

  1. Click the Type of Budget drop-down menu to assign the budget type.  NOTE: Once the budget type is selected, the Biennium and ADV BN will automatically be filled in.
    advance budget section budget type menu
  2. Enter the ADV BN and other required information into FIN.
  3. Click the green Mark Setup Complete & Notify Campus button.
    advance budget section with budget selected
  4. Once you click Mark Setup Complete & Notify Campus, a dialog box appears with a reminder to make sure all budgets associated with the request are set up in FIN before notifying campus. If your budgets are set up in FIN, click the blue All Set, Notify Campus button. If you are not ready to notify campus, click Cancel.
    advance budget section complete and notify dialog
  5. Once you click All Set, Notify Campus , the header will automatically update to include the Advance Budget number and the status will update to Processed.

NOTE: You can navigate away from the Budgets section prior to completing the budget setup. All of the information you have entered will automatically save. The advance request will remain in GCA status, and the last action taken will update to Budget# Assigned/Confirmed.

Edit an Assigned Budget Number

The advance budget number can be updated to any budget number prior to marking the setup complete.

If a different Budget Type is selected, a confirmation message will appear, confirming that you want to change the type and assign a new budget number.

advance assign different budget number dialog

Budget Setup for Renewals

Advance budget renewal requests can be submitted for parent budgets with and without sub budgets.

In this case, the advance budget request for the parent budget is listed first on the Budgets section, and any sub budget requests will follow.

NOTE: The Prior Budget Number details for renewals are listed in the General Information Section.

To set up and edit budget numbers for renewals, follow the same steps (1-5) outlined for setting up new advance budget requests.

The following images shows a renewal with sub budgets selected.

advance with sub budgets selected

To return an Advance Budget Request to campus for modifications, scroll down to the bottom of the Request Summary page. Below the PI Delegation section are two buttons: Return Request and Mark Setup Complete & Notify Campus, as shown below.

advance budget return button

When you select the Return Request button, a confirmation dialog will display, as shown below.

sera advance return dialog

Once you have entered the required Return Reason, the Return Request button will be enabled. To cancel out of the dialog, use the Cancel link or the blue X in the upper, right corner.

When you return a request, the item will move to Returned status and will be read-only. An alert message will display at the top of the Request & Submit/Request Summary page with the date of the return and the reason. The following image shows an example of this.

advance return alert message

The GCA view of the Request Summary includes the GCA Managed Information section, shown in the following image.

advanced request summary G C A managed information

By default, the following fields are auto-populated based on the associated application or budget details. You can edit each field as needed by clicking within the field or on the drop-down arrow:

  • Assigned To
  • Activity Location
  • F&A Rate
  • Parent Budget F&A Rate Base Type

NOTE: If you update the Activity Location, F&A Rate, or Parent Budget F&A Rate Base Type within the GCA Managed Information section, the update will automatically appear in the General Information section.

The last field within the  section is the Form of Payment, which must be assigned by GCA. To assign the Form of Payment, click the drop-down arrow and select the appropriate form of payment. The following image shows the menu choices.

G C A managed information form of payment menu

July 2019 Maintenance Release

FIX: Unprocessing of FAs/PACs/ADVs Can Cause Errors

Periodically GCA staff need to “unprocess” an item previously completed. When new fields are added to SPAERC and SERA, it would at times cause validation messages at time of unprocessing of an item, that were not able to be corrected by GCA. The system has been updated to suppress validations during unprocessing, to alleviate this problem. The validations will again run when the item is re-processed.

March 2016 Maintenance Release

Updates

Links to New SERA User Guide

Additional help icons (question marks) have been added to SERA. These link to contextual help in the new SERA User Guide.

Fixes

Error when Inactivating Advances

An issue that was causing users to receive an error when trying to discard advances has been fixed.

This article describes when and to whom SERA sends email notifications. Select a link in the Email column to display an example of the email contents.

Note: Text in the examples that is in italic represents the specific values that the system adds to an email.

Email Purpose Sent When Sent To
Funding Action (FA) To notify owners that a funding action has been processed by GCA. The email includes a PDF of the completed form as an attachment. GCA completes the Campus Notify step while processing a funding action. PI, Application PI, Administrative Contact, Pre-Award Budget Contact, eGC1 Preparer, and first-level reviewers for the org code receiving funding.
Application Has Been Awarded To notify EH&S that an awarded application has an EH&S compliance approver or watcher. GCA completes the Campus Notify step while processing a funding action, and EH&S appears on the approval graph as a compliance reviewer. Appropriate reviewers for the node on the graph
Post Award Change (PAC) To notify owners of a post award change processed by GCA. The email includes a PDF of the completed form as an attachment. GCA completes the Campus Notify step while processing a post award change. PI, Application PI, Administrative Contact, Pre-Award Budget Contact, eGC1 Preparer and first-level reviewers for the org code receiving funding.
Advance Budget Request Processed​​​​​​​ To notify owners that an advance budget request has been processed by GCA. GCA completes the Campus Notify step while processing a budget advance. PI, the Advance Preparer(s).
Advance Sub-Budget Request Processed To notify the sub-budget PI and preparer that an Advance has been processed by GCA. GCA completes the Campus Notify step while processing a budget advance. Sub-budget Principal Investigator and the Advance Preparer(s)
Extension of Advance Budget Request Approved To notify the PI and preparer that an Advance Budget Number end date has been extended. GCA “Approve Extension” or “Approve Request to Extend Advance” Principal Investigator named on the Advance and the Advance Preparer(s)
Extension of Advance Sub-Budget Request Approved XXXX To notify the PI and preparer that an Advance Budget Number end date has been extended. GCA “Approve Extension” or “Approve Request to Extend Advance” Principal Investigator named on the Advance and the Advance Preparer(s)
Extension of Advance Budget Request Denied To notify the PI and preparer that a request to extend an Advance Budget Number end date has been denied. GCA denies the extension. Principal Investigator named on the Advance and the Advance Preparer(s)
Extension of Advance Sub-Budget Request Denied ZZZZ To notify the PI and preparer that a request to extend an Advance Budget Number end date has been denied. GCA denies the sub-budget extension. Principal Investigator named on the Advance and the Advance Preparer(s)

This tab appears for Funding Actions.

Clicking it opens a separate window that shows all of the attachments for the eGC1. The following image shows the top portion of the page.

example e G C 1 attachments page

For each attachment, this information displays:

Field Description
Description Entered by the person who attached the file.
Version Indicates if more than one version of the file was uploaded.
File Name The name of the computer file uploaded.
Attached On The date and time the file was uploaded.

The most current version is displayed. You can access older versions by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the description.

Use the View link on the right side of an attachment to review it.

The menu links will vary depending on the last action taken and/or status of the advance. When you are viewing an advance in read-only mode, no left navigation menu displays. When the advance is in Processed status, only the Save & Close and Reassign links will appear.

  • Save & Close saves any changes and closes the advance, returning you to your tasklist.
  • Assign/Confirm Budget Number allows you to assign a new budget number, or confirm an existing one.
  • Notify Campus allows you to notify campus that you have processed their advance.
  • Reassign allows you to reassign the advance to another Team and Desk.
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