Office of Sponsored Programs - 700.04, Procedure 1 - Requesting a Residual Balance Transfer

Title

Office of Sponsored Programs - 700.04, Procedure 1 - Requesting a Residual Balance Transfer

Corresponding with:

Purpose

Residual balances on a sponsored project may be transferred to an unrestricted department residual fund account to be used to further University academic, research, and service missions.

All of the following conditions must be met to process a transfer:

  • All direct charges and project revenue have been accounted for properly
  • All project deliverables have been provided and accepted by the sponsor
  • All project payments have been received from the sponsor
  • The applicable amount of indirect costs generated by the project’s expenditures have been recovered
  • The sponsored agreement terms do not require the University to return the residual balance
  • Justification is provided for residual balances greater than 25% of the Total Agreement Amount

Procedure

Requesting a Residual Transfer

I. Transaction Creation

On the Campus Journal Entry page, select "Office of Sponsored Research" for the Transaction Group and then select "RESIDUAL."

  • Journal entries should debit the residual amount from the project chartfield using account code 582110 and credit the same amount to an unrestricted department chartfield using account code 482110.
  • The following journal attachments should be included:
    • Award terms that do not require the University to return the residual balance.
    • Email from the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) confirming the residual balance remaining on the project.
    • Justification signed by the department head if the remaining balance exceeds 25% of the total project budget.
  • The justification should include why and how the scope of work was completed to the sponsor’s requirements utilizing fewer funds than initially thought.
  • If the journal has an error in budget checking, create a ServiceNow help ticket to request an override. Please include the journal ID, error message, and your contact information. Once the journal and budget check are valid, you may submit the journal into the workflow approval process.

II. Approval Process

  • An OSP Manager or Post-Award Financial Analyst will review the journal for completeness, allowability, and accuracy in the residual transfer amount.  The OSP Manager uses the query NC_OSP_PREAUD_RSDL_TXF_MNGMT2 to see the outstanding residual transfers.

Contact Information

For questions regarding this procedure and its related operating standard, please contact SponsoredPrograms@unc.edu.

For questions regarding Pre-Award management or Post-Award administration, please contact the assigned Sponsored Projects Specialist (SPS).

For invoicing, reporting and other financial matters, please contact the assigned Sponsored Projects Accountant. OSP Staff assignments are found in RAMSeS or on the OSP website.

History

History Table
Date Revision
06/19/2024 Updated approval process.
08/16/2022 Updated review process.
07/01/2022 Revised to reflect the new office name.
03/20/2020 Updated OSPHelp@unc.edu to ServiceNow, new request system.
10/03/2018 Policy revised to provide clarity on indirect calculations, exclusions, and required justifications.
05/15/2018 Revised to coincide with the release of the new OSP Website.
10/17/2017 Procedure revised to match changes made to Operating Standard.

The operating standards in the Office of Sponsored Programs Operating Standards & Procedures Manual supersede any OSP operating standards, procedures and appendices previously included in the University Business Manual, a publication of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Division of Finance.

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