NSF MREFC PI Meeting Reporting Anders Ryd NSF

NSF MREFC PI Meeting - Reporting Anders Ryd, NSF PI and Deputy Project Manager Nov. 2, 2018 Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 1

Outline § NSF MREFC Overview § Scope § Cost § MREFC Preparation Timeline and Requirements § Proposal Submission § R&D and Reporting Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 2

2019 R&D Budgets § Thanks to the hard work of the L 2/L 3 s in working with the very constrained R&D budget that we have from the NSF we now have the 2019 R&D budget completed § T. Grozis is generating the SOW templates now for each institution § Next step is to fill out the SOW this will be done by L 2/L 3 s in collaboration with PIs § Funding from NSF for R&D in 2019 is available Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 3

MREFC Reporting Requirements § The MREFC is not a ‘normal’ grant § Since we have contingency as part of the budget we are required to do Earned Value Management (EVM) § We need to demonstrate that we are able to do this before the MREFC start so we have started collecting the required financial data now ‘project statusing’ § We will continue this in 2019 to show at the Sept. FDR that we have the mechanisms in place to do this § We will have to do this monthly for the duration of the project – until end of 2025 § The purpose of the EVM is to have accurate and upto-date information about the spending and progress of the project Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 4

Financial Reporting § Invoicing: § In the SOWs we state that invoicing should be done monthly. For some institutions this is hard to accomplish, but it is important to invoice as promptly as possible. § Invoiced costs are actual and accurate. § Accruals: § For the statusing – where we need the best estimate of the spending to date – we can not rely on the invoicing due to delays § The accruals provides an estimate of the costs that has been (or will be) incurred by the statusing date but has not yet been invoiced § Anders Ryd The statusing date is typically a little bit into the future, so some extrapolation is needed NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 5

Accrual Collection § It is the responsibility of the ’Control Account Manager’ (CAM) to collect this information § The CAM is typically the L 3 manager (or in some cases L 4 managers) in the project § The CAM will need to establish a good connections with the institutions that are involved in his/her L 3 (or L 4) area of the project § This includes you (PIs) as well as administrative staff at the institutions § The request for statusing information will typically be sent out around the 20 th of each month and the information will be requested back in just a few days § The exact date for this is still to be determined Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 6

Accrual Collection - II § What you need to provide is an estimate for the spending at your institution until the end of the current month: § Spending that you have incurred but not yet invoiced plus and spending you expect to have until the end of the month § This include e. g. Labor § Travel § M&S § § Cost needs to be reported by the cost category (CTC) in SOW § If invoicing is prompt the accruals only covers a short period § If you are behind in invoicing the accruals get significant and hard to calculate § Important to establish a process at each institution that allows to easily provide this information (without PI involvement) § This information is required every month - have to plan to have some way to provide this during vacation and holiday times Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 7

Summary § The MREFC reporting requirements are challenging § To make this manageable it is important to set up the your financial tracking at your institutions so that providing this information is as easy as possible § E. g. tracking costs but the CTCs in the SOWs in separate sub accounts. § Make sure that costs are charged to the correct tasks. § Particularly a problem if an institution is involved in multiple areas of the project and e. g. use the same labor resources § For the 2019 SOWs that will go out soon we have explicitly made these reporting requirements clear Anders Ryd NSF PI Meeting Nov. 2, 2018 p. 8