Reporting Overview
Reporting on a grant or contract budget is how UW confirms to sponsors that we have used their resources appropriately and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award agreement. Timely and accurate reporting is critical to maintaining good relationships with sponsors and ensuring future funding for the PI, the department, and the university as a whole.
While this website focuses on financial reporting, researchers and departmental grant administrators should review each award to determine ALL reporting requirements. These may also include:
- Technical/Progress Reports: prepared by the PI
- Intellectual Property (IP) Reports: prepared by the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
- Equipment Reports: prepared by the Equipment Inventory Office (EIO)
Watch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Non-Financial Reports. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.
MyResearch Lifecycle provides additional guidance on reporting requirements for sponsored awards.
Financial Reports
Watch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Financial Reports. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch this video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.
When setting up a new award or award line in Workday, GCA reviews the award agreement to determine any financial reporting requirements and deadlines.
- Interim reports: Required quarterly, semi-annually, or, in the case of multi-year awards, annually.
- Final reports: Required after an award is completed.
GCA completes a report, submits to the sponsor and provides a copy of the report via Award Portal.
Note: Not all awards require financial reporting. In particular, for awards that are invoiced, the invoice transaction detail may serve the same function as a financial report for the sponsor, allowing them to monitor the allowability of expenditures.
Departmental Involvement in Financial Reporting
In most cases, GCA can prepare financial reports without direct involvement from the department.
- If a report requires a level of detail or backup documentation that GCA does not have access to, we will contact the department for assistance or ask the department to complete the report.
- Financial reporting is based on transactions posted to Workday Finance, the UW’s financial system of record. Please reconcile your awards regularly so that any erroneous transactions can be corrected before reports are submitted.
- Make sure to post all allowable expenditures by your award's Final Action Date so they can be included in the final report.
- If a sponsor contacts you about financial reporting, please forward their email to gcahelp@uw.edu.
- If you have questions or concerns about a specific award's financial reporting, please contact GCA via Award Portal and select the Reporting topic.
Department-Prepared Reports
There are times when the department needs to prepare the financial report. A common reason is that the sponsor requires expenditures to be categorized by program objectives rather than cost categories.
Here are tips on preparing a financial report:
- Check award document for restrictions and unallowable expenditures.
- Run the Workday R1234 report. Exclude Receipt Accrual Journal Source transactions so the report only includes actual expenditures.
- Review expenditures for allowability and add a note if excluding certain expenditures and why. (e.g. unallowable expenditures).
- Send draft report to GCA for review and signature, if needed. Please provide 1-2 weeks for GCA review.
- Send copy of submitted report to GCA. If we don't receive a copy, campus unit is responsible for providing one if requested by sponsor/auditor.
Training Grants and Reporting
For guidance on reporting issues unique to NIH training grants, UW's Office of Research has a web page on training grant reporting.