• Federal Property Control System Analysis regulations require that the Office of Research & Commercialization (ORC) review purchases of equipment to ensure that the item is approved for purchase on a Contract and Grant (C&G) account.

• Prior to C&G equipment purchases, either through Purchasing, the Computer Store, Purchasing Card, or Credit Card, the Principal Investigator (PI) or his/her designee is requested to send an e-mail message to the appropriate Contract Manager (CM) or designee assigned to the PI's college, providing the following information:
  • C&G account # to be utilized
  • Principal Investigator name
  • Item to be purchased (brief description)
  • Price

• The CM will respond with an e-mail authorization to purchase the item or with notification that approval of the funding agency is required.

• If agency approval is required, ORC will contact PI to determine if agency contact is desired.

• ORC's approval to purchase will also provide proper decal instructions (please use FS (Florida Solar), CG (Contract and Grant), CF (Central Florida, BV (Brevard Campus), DB (Daytona Beach Campus), SO (South Orlando campus) or US decals) that reflect vesting information contained in the funding document.

• When a purchase requisition for property on a C&G account is forwarded to the Purchasing office, it must:
  • Include decal instructions under the description of the item
  • Have a copy of the ORC authorization to purchase attached

• Purchasing will add the decal information to the resulting Purchase Order and receiving report. In this way, Property and Inventory Control will know which type of decal to use for the item of property the PI is purchasing on the C&G account.

• Any requisition without this information will be returned by Purchasing to the PI for correction or forwarded to ORC for the required approval or information.

• ORC will make every effort to respond within ½ day of receipt of the PI's request.

• Purchases made within ninety (90) days of the project end date will need an additional justification regarding the need to make an equipment purchase at the end of the project.

Pre-Expenditure Review - Travel

• In order to provide adequate monitoring of Contract and Grant (C&G) awards, the Office of Research & Commercialization (ORC) is required to review certain categories of travel expenditures to ensure that the trip is approved or appropriate on a specific C&G account. The categories of C&G travel which require prior approval are:
  • Domestic (Continental U.S.) exceeding $2,000/trip/person
  • International - all trips *

• The procedure used for travel is similar to that utilized for pre-expenditure review of equipment purchases. Prior to processing a Travel Authorization Request (TAR), please send an email message to the appropriate Contract Assistant (CA) for your college, institute or center providing the following information:
  • C&G account # to be utilized
  • Principal Investigator
  • Travel Destination
  • Estimated cost
  • Number of travelers

• The CA will respond with an email authorization to proceed with the TAR or with notification that approval of the funding agency is required. If agency approval is required, the CA will contact the Principal Investigator (PI) to determine if agency contact is desired. If so, the CA will proceed to the agency with the request. Typically, the CA will respond within one day of receipt of your request for approval. To expedite ORC's review and approval, please include sufficient travel detail in your proposed budgets whenever possible.

• When submitting your hard copy TAR to Finance & Accounting's (F&A) travel desk, please attach a copy of the email authorization. If using the electronic TAR system, please hold the pre-expenditure approval and submit a copy with your travel reimbursement form. F&A will return to you or to ORC any travel reimbursement form for a trip in these categories, if proof of prior authorization is not provided. Travel approved and trips initiated prior to February 1, 2002 will not be subject to this procedure.

• Travel expenditures that have not been pre-approved and that cannot be charged to a C&G account due to agency restrictions will be charged against the C&G balance or indirect cost account of the principal investigator, department, college or institute, as necessary. Chairs, deans, and other unit heads are urged to remind faculty of this consequence.

• The review by ORC is solely to ensure the allowability of the expense as dictated by the terms and conditions of the award document. F&A and the PI's department will continue to assume the responsibility for ensuring that C&G accounts and their budget categories are not over-expended.

• Note: Many awards restrict the use of foreign vessels/air carriers. If an unauthorized air carrier is used, those costs are subject to disallowance. Please contact your Contract Manager /Contract Assistant if you are uncertain if this restriction applies to your award.