UWFT for the Research Community
On July 6, 2023, the UW switched from a nearly 50-year-old finance system to a new one – Workday Finance. With this transition came a great deal of change that is currently impacting the research community. This page brings together information and resources to help you navigate the transition.
Contents
Updated December 6, 2023
Reporting Problems
When you encounter problems, please start by working with your department staff to report the issues using the UW Connect Finance Portal. The problem reports will go to your School/College Shared Environment.
Check with your unit to make sure that there are no approvals pending (e.g. for invoices) or corrections needed in award setup and modification requests.
Reminder: PIs are required to approve subrecipient invoices on a bi-monthly basis using Workday.
If delays continue, or for other pressing matters, please elevate issues to your School or College Senior Research Administrators, and they will escalate the top priorities to Mandy Morneault, Chief Operating Officer in the Office of Research.
Refer to Central Office escalation processes:
- Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) urgent request process
- Urgent OSP Requests: Award Setup, Modifications, and Subawards
- Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) subaward conversion questions and resources
Key Resources for Successful Award Setup & Modifications
- Tips for Success – Award Setup and Modification Requests in SAGE
- What Workday Grant Worktag ID Information Do I Need for a SAGE Modification Request?
- Guidelines for a Budget Difference Between the SAGE Award Budget and the Sponsor Award
- How to Include Your SAGE Budget Snapshot on a SAGE Modification Request
- SAGE Office Hours – Expand for Each Month’s Office Hours:
Award Setup and Modification Volume
- Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) Award Setup Volumes
- Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) Volume: Awards, Modifications, and Subawards
What’s Changed for the Research Community?
Organization Codes to Cost Centers
Cost Centers have replaced Financial Organization Codes (Org Codes) across the SAGE Suite. For more information, please review the following job aid: Organization Code to Cost Center Job Aid. If you have questions or run into issues, please review the following table to better understand possible causes and assist SAGE Customer Support (sagehelp@uw.edu) staff with resolving your issue: SAGE Org Code to Cost Center Support
eGC1 Requirements
Some items that used to require an eGC1 will require a Modification Request in SAGE instead of an eGC1. Review When will I need to use an eGC1 vs request a Modification in SAGE? to decide if you will need an eGC1.
New Database for Sponsors & Donors
SAGE now leverages UW’s new centralized sponsor database. When searching for a sponsor, enhanced search functionality includes:
- Main sponsor name
- Acronyms
- Related names
- Previous names
Searching for a sponsor on the Award Setup Request will look slightly different; however, you will still be able to search by parent name, previous/related names, and acronyms.
If you do not find your sponsor in the SAGE sponsor search, there will be a link from both the eGC1 and Award Setup Request to the new Request Sponsor Form to have the sponsor added. Once the addition is confirmed, you can select the sponsor in SAGE.
Request Sponsor Setup in Funding Entity System (from eGC1)
Request Sponsor Setup in Funding Entity System (from Award Setup Request)
SAGE Budget Requirements
With UWFT, campus units are required to use SAGE Budget for award setup. SAGE Budget communicates budget information to Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA), provides a consistent format for reviewing budget details, and facilitates a direct flow of data between SAGE and Workday.
Get started using SAGE Budget today! Attend a SAGE Budget class, and review our job aid and user guides.
Principal Investigator Required on SAGE Budget Worksheets: SAGE Budget requires a Principal Investigator on all worksheets. Subaward worksheets default to the PI linked to the primary budget’s worksheet.
Clinical Trials Office (CTO) Budgets (Creating a Clinical Trials Budget for SAGE Awards Job Aid): SAGE Budget will be required on all Award Setup requests, including budgets that will run through CTO review and Oncore billing. To help with Award Line and Award Period setup in Workday Finance, you will enter the following minimum information in a single SAGE budget worksheet with $0 amount. This setup should only take a few minutes:
- Budget Settings
- Budget Title
- Budget Start Date
- Total number of periods (defaults to 1)
- Worksheet Settings
- Primary Worksheet Title
- Cost Center
- Activity Location
- Sponsored Program Activity Category
- Sponsored Program Activity Type
- Base Type (F&A need)
- Budget Entry
- Add a Principal Investigator for each worksheet
- Enter $0 budget amounts for their salary
- No other line item entry is required for the budget
For more information, visit the SAGE Awards page.
Award Setup Requests and Modifications
Award Setup Requests
Create Award Setup Requests from the new Awards tab in SAGE! Review the following information for more in-depth guidance:
- Tips for Success – Award Setup and Modification Requests in SAGE
- SAGE Awards User Guides (step by step how-to guide)
- Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE eLearning
- Setup Financials (Award Setup guidelines from the Office of Sponsored Programs)
- Award Setup Updates from GCA
Award Modifications
Modifications in SAGE are now available. Please note that TRANSPASUs and re-budgeting will now be accomplished through a modification request. In the meantime, please refer to the following resources to learn more about Modifications:
- Award Changes Webpage: Guidance for Modification types and requests
- When will I need an eGC1 vs. Modification Request in SAGE?
- Award Modifications Job Aid
PI Required Approval on Subrecipient Invoices
Please be aware that PIs need to approve subrecipient invoices on a bi-monthly basis using Workday.
Effort Reporting
Employee Compensation Compliance (ECC) is now live. Check out the Introduction to ECC video for a brief overview of our new certification system. For information on training and office hours, refer to ECC Training Timeline.
Award Portal and Grant Tracker
- Award Portal provides up-to-date grant and contract information to UW researchers and staff. Financial data does not include expenditure detail, which can be found in Workday.
- Use Grant Tracker to view information for awards that did not convert to Workday (i.e. awards closed before June 16, 2022). Grant Tracker will be in read-only mode effective July 7, 2023. If you need to contact GCA about an award that did not convert to Workday, please email gcahelp@uw.edu.
MyResearch
As of July 6, 2023, MyResearch Funding Status and Non-Award Agreement (NAA) data may be out of sync with SAGE and Workday until MyResearch is remediated. Please use SAGE to review eGC1 and award status until further notice.
Research Administration Data (RAD)
As of July 5, 2023, existing RAD reports are accessible but historical. Until new RAD 2.0 based reporting solutions are available, please request data from grantrpt@uw.edu until further notice.
SAGE Resources
Office Hours
eLearning
- Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE: In depth instruction on SAGE Awards usage, including creating Award Setup Request and monitoring Award Requests.
- SAGE Budget eLearning: This on-demand resources allows you to learn/reference all aspects of SAGE Budget via lectures with demonstrations. Content covered is similar to that in the live class but highly flexible in that you can search for and view specific content as you need it.
Videos
- SAGE Award Setup Workflow Video: An overview of the SAGE Award Setup workflow.
- What’s Changing in SAGE?: A high-level overview of changes coming to SAGE, including SAGE Award Setup Requests, Cost Centers, SAGE Budget and Award Lines, and more!
Instructor-led Classes
- SAGE Awards: The SAGE Awards course provides an overview of the award and modification process in SAGE. The SAGE Awards section allows research administrators to accurately create and track Award Setup Requests, which is an essential part of the research lifecycle.
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- Upcoming SAGE Awards Classes:
- Check back for additional SAGE Awards classes soon.
- Upcoming SAGE Awards Classes:
- SAGE Budget: Campus units are required to use SAGE Budget for award setup. The SAGE Budget class provides an overview of how to establish budget settings, add personnel and costs, create sub budgets, and link budgets to an eGC1.
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- Upcoming SAGE Budget Classes:
- Check back for additional SAGE Budget classes soon.
- Upcoming SAGE Budget Classes:
Job Aids
- Award Modifications in SAGE: Campus and the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) can create and route Award Modifications, and filter modification requests by request type and status from the Award Requests list.
- What Workday Grant Worktag ID Information Do I Need for a SAGE Modification Request?: View a roadmap of what information is needed to process a Modification.
- Guidelines for a Budget Difference Between the SAGE Award Budget and the Sponsor Award: Review guidance for getting your SAGE award budget and the amount awarded by the sponsor to match. An award budget must match the amount identified on the Notice of Award (NoA) by the sponsor. If the amounts do not match, the Award Setup Request will be returned.
- Creating a Clinical Trials Budget for SAGE Awards Job Aid: Learn how to create a minimal budget for Clinical Trials. SAGE Budget will be required on all Award Setup requests, including budgets that will run through CTO review and Oncore billing.
- How to Find an Award ID Number in Award Portal: Use Award Portal to find this required information when requesting Award Modifications.
- How to Find a Workday Grant Worktag ID in Award Portal: Grant Worktag IDs are required when requesting most Modifications.
- How to Make a Comment on a SAGE Modification Request: Learn how to leave a comment to provide additional information to OSP and GCA on requested Award Modifications.
- How to Make a SAGE Budget Snapshot: Budget snapshots can be shared with OSP and GCA to communicate specific budget information.
- How to Include Your SAGE Budget Snapshot on a SAGE Modification Request: Temporarily, requested budget Award Modification require SAGE Budget snapshots to be sent to GCA.
- How to Set Up Training Grants in SAGE Budget
- Organization Code (Org Code) to Cost Center: Cost Centers have replaced Financial Organization Codes (Org Codes) across the SAGE Suite. If you have questions or run into issues, please review the following table to better understand possible causes and assist SAGE Customer Support (sagehelp@uw.edu) staff with resolving your issue: SAGE Org Code to Cost Center Support.
- SAGE Budget: Reference a step-by-step guide on creating and managing budgets in SAGE.
Additional SAGE Budget Training Resources
- SAGE Budget User Guide: In-depth documentation on all aspects of SAGE Budget.
- SAGE Budget Training Site: The SAGE Budget training site offers a “sandbox” for you to explore and experiment with SAGE Budget without affecting production data. Once you are ready to create a real SAGE Budget for routing, visit the production site.
Workday Resources
Grants Dashboard Desktop Nanolearning
This nanolearning provides an overview of the Grants Dashboard Desktop found in Workday.
Grant Manager Training
Grant Managers are assigned the Grant Manager security role in Workday. Some PIs who do not have administrative support will also receive the Grant Manager role. Check with your unit administrator if you are a Grant Manager and need access to the following training.
- Workday Grant Management Reporting (15 minute eLearning)
- Workday Post Award Overview (15 minute nanolearning)
- Workday Finance for Awards & Grants Part 2 (15 minute nanolearning)
- Workday Introduction to Procurement (30 minute eLearning)
- Workday Procurement and Supply Chain Overview (10 minute nanolearning)
- How to Edit Grants in Workday (job aid)
- How to Navigate Grant Hierarchies in Workday (job aid)
- How to Create an Advance Award (job aid)
- How to Manage ProCard in Workday (job aid)
- How to Approve Finance Transactions in Workday (job aid)
- Award Setup and Tracking in SAGE (45 minute eLearning)
Nanolearning Videos
The UWFT nanolearning videos include an overview of financial literacy and Workday topics including:
Terminology
Refer to the Research Administration Terms on Knowledge Navigator for usage and reference of commonly used terms like Proposal, Award, Sponsor Type, and more.
Where to Get Help
- Workday Finance: Reach out to your unit’s Shared Environment via UW Connect (or via your unit’s support process). Shared Environments are the first point of support for Workday Finance within each unit.
- Workday Security Role Questions: Check with your unit administrator or contact the Integrated Service Center (ISC)
Stay Informed
Mailing Lists
- Subscribe to the MRAM mailing list to stay informed of timely and relevant research administration information.
- Subscribe to the ORIS mailing list for information on SAGE maintenance, feature releases, and system availability.
Monthly Research Administration Meeting (MRAM)
MRAM is open to staff interested in research award administration at the UW. In addition to other research administration topics, we share relevant UWFT information at MRAM. Visit the MRAM website for more information.