Frequently Asked Research Accounting Questions

• Access
• Accounts
• CFI
• Courier Charges
• Overhead
• Purchase Orders
• Queen's Portal
• Research Reports
• Salary and Benefits
• Transfers
• Travel

Q. How do I get access to use PeopleSoft or one of its components?

To get access to PeopleSoft, please complete the PeopleSoft Finance Security Access Request form, which can be found by scrolling to the table on the Forms page of the Financial Services website. The completed and approved form should be forwarded to the Financial Services Main Office.

Q. Has my Research Project been set up yet?

Research Accounting sets up projects in the PeopleSoft system only once all regulatory compliance requirements have been met and required documentation is forwarded to the Financial Services Main Office.

A Data Summary Sheet and an approved award agreement or contract is required for external funding. For internal funding a data summary sheet, as well as an approval letter from the appropriate department or faculty is required. Principal Investigators should contact the Office of Research Services if they require assistance completing the required documentation.

Once all required documentation is received, Research Accounting will set up a project in PeopleSoft. The turnaround time for the establishment of a new research project is approximately five business days. Once a project has been established, notification is sent to the Principal Investigator.

To inquire about a new research project, please contact Financial Services at extension 32050 and you will be directed to the individual within Research Accounting who would look after the grant.

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Q. What can I do if I am having trouble understanding my project budget amounts?

Please get in touch via email or phone with your research accounting finance contact. Please refer to the "Research Project by Finance Contact" PDF found within the Research Accounting tab of the Financial Services website for the project in question.

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Q. I need this salary minor mapped, which account ids are available to me?

The account ID's available to all Research projects (projects beginning with 3XXXXX) are:

Student Legacy	People Soft	Description
38	505001	Bachelor's Students - Canadian
48	505002	Bachelor's Students - Foreign
45	505101	Master's Students - Canadian
40	505102	Master's Students - Foreign
39	505201	Doctorate Students - Canadian
43	505202	Doctorate Students - Foreign

Post Doc and Non-Student Fellows:

Student Legacy	People Soft	Description
46	502301	Post Doctoral Fellows - Canadian
44	502302	Post-Doctoral Fellows - Foreign
42	502303	Non-Student and Non-Post Doctoral Fellows

In addition to the above account ID's - Specific to Funding Agency or Industry Project:

Student Legacy	People Soft	Description
20	550001	Fringe Benefits (can not be used in Tri-Council Projects)

For Tri-Council, the project benefits must be allocated to the salary account for financial reporting purposes.

Student Legacy	People Soft	Description
Canada Research Chair (CRC)
22	501101	Regular Academic Salaries
Ontario Research Fund/Research Excellance (ORF)
24	503001	Admin Prof. & TEch Salary

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Q. What is my account information?

Looking up your accounts can be done directly within PeopleSoft.

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Q. What is my balance, do I really have a deficit?

If your research project has an annual budget:

• to view your surplus/(deficit) balance you should look at the first line on your research statements called ‘Available Budget (Deficit)’ which is highlighted in Blue.

If your research project does not have an annual budget (ie: Special Research O/H project)

• refer to the ‘Project Summary’ box at the bottom of the Summary report, the line is called ‘Funded project position: surplus (deficit).

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Q. What is Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects?

Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects is a field that indicates the CFI Line Item number per the CFI Award Agreement and the Itemized List. (i.e. CFI Line Item #2 - Program ID 98002, CFI - 98015, etc)

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Q. Where is my new project?

Once the D.S.S is completed, it will be reviewed by the Office of Research Services (ORS). Once the D.S.S is finalized, O.R.S will send a copy of the D.S.S to Financial Services, so the project can be setup. If the D.S.S is not finalized, you must contact O.R.S at ext: 36081 to inquire about the status.

If O.R.S confirms that the D.S.S has been finalized and sent to Financial Services you may call the main line at x32635 to inquire about the project status. Financial Services requires 5 business days for the project to be setup, after the D.S.S is received.

There are several steps to setting up a new project. Once an award letter/agreement/contract is received, the Department must fill out a Data Summary Sheet (D.S.S) on the D.S.S system. The login page to this system can be found at https://eservices.queensu.ca/apps/dss.

Q. What is Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects?

Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects is a field that indicates the CFI Line Item number per the CFI Award Agreement and the Itemized List. (i.e. CFI Line Item #2 - Program ID 98002, CFI #15 - 98015, etc).

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Q. Do I have to enter a valid Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects?

Yes. Program ID is a required field for every transaction for CFI infrastructure projects in the range of Queen’s Project #301 001 - #301 499.

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Q. Is Program ID required for CFI-IOF (Infrastructure Operating Fund) projects?

No. Program ID is not a required field for CFI-IOF projects in the range of Queen’s Project #301 500 - #301 599. It is an optional field for the Departmental or Faculty use.

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Q. What do I do if I have a CFI project and can’t enter my Account ID and Program ID?

A CFI combo edit rule is one of edit functions in the PeopleSoft financial system. This rule stops a transaction without a valid combination of Account ID and Program ID set up in the particular CFI project. Please refer to the Q&A for What is Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects?, and Do I have to enter a valid Program ID for CFI infrastructure projects?

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Q. What are In-Kind contributions for CFI infrastructure projects?

In-kind contributions are defined as eligible non-monetary resources that external eligible partners (i.e. suppliers or vendors of goods or services) provide for CFI infrastructure projects.

Example:
List Price	$1,000
Normal Discount	($50)
Educational Discount	($100)
Fair Market Value (eligible cost)	$850
Net Selling Price (cash payment)	($700)
Special CFI Discount (eligible in-kind contribution)	$150

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Q. Is there a time limit for spending CFI-IOF (Infrastructure Operating Fund)?

No. There is no time limit for CFI-IOF as long as the CFI funded equipment is operational and being used.

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Q. What is the difference between the budget for current fiscal year and the total award for CFI-IOF (Infrastructure Operating Fund)?

The total award can be used over the life of the CFI-IOF project. However, you can spend the fund up to the amount that you have forecasted for the fiscal year. CFI releases funds periodically as much as the Annual Financial Report and the forecast submitted by Queen’s. CFI also requires a justification by project when a variance on project spending is 25% or greater.

Q. What are these courier charges?

If you have questions regarding your courier charges, please contact: UPS - Shannon Deline, FedEx - Kathy Asselstine.

If you have questions about your parcel, you can look up the tracking numbers on the courier websites, or call their 1-800 numbers if you require additional information. You must contact Ruth Lappan at extension 74236 to be set up to ship online with the courier companies and about using the courier envelopes, which is more cost effective.

The following are contact details for both courier companies:

FedEx
http://fedex.com/ca_english/track/                          
Tel.: 1.800.GoFedEx   (1.800.463.3339)
Learn how to ship online through the Interactive Help Guide
http://www.fedex.com/ca_english/helpguide/index.html
FedEx One Call Representative: Denis Desouza-Phone: 800 463 3339> hit#> enter 153166757
Email: ddesouza@fedex.com

UPS
http://www.ups.com/canada/engindex.html            
Tel.: 1-800-PICK-UPS (1-800-742-5877)         
UPS Internet Shipping offers shipping in one step and guides you through every stage of the shipping process--online.
https://www.campusship.ups.com/media/en/ca/CampusShip_shipping_QuickStart_Guide.pdf
UPS One Call Representative: Dial 877-376-6109, PIN# 3103
Email: castrategic@ups.com

Q. What is overhead, how does it work, what’s the distribution?

Indirect costs (overheads) are those University expenditures incurred in the conduct of research for which it is not possible to provide an accurate itemization of the cost of performing a specific research activity. Indirect costs are real costs to the University, including but not limited to such items as occupancy cost, building use, central administration, library costs and central computing services costs.

Below is a list of standard overhead percentages that would be charged to a project depending on type. These percentages are charged based upon expenses.

Summary: Minimum Indirect Cost Recovery Rates for Researcg Contracts/Agreements and Grants

Minimum Rates	Corp Contracts	CAD Fed Gov't	Prov Gov (except OCE at 35%)	Clinical Trials	CIDA	US Gov't		Spec. Testing Services	Sponsored (ie: Corp Research Grants)	Affil. Hospital Research Grants
						All with exception of DHNS	NIH
On Campus	40%	65% 2%	30%	30%	12%	54.1%	8%	15%	25%	10%
Off Campus	20%	30%	15%			54.1%	8%

The distribution of the overhead charged to the project will vary depending on the type of grant. Please see table below.  

Distribution	Granting Councils	ON & Fed Contacts	Canada Research Chairs	ON Research Chairs	Industrial Contracts and Grants	Clinical Trials
Researchers		25%			30%
Dept/Academic/ Unit/Centre	14%	25%			30%	33%
Faculty Office	14%	2%	60%	23%	2%
Primary Sited Hosiptal						33%
Space, Admin Services, Reporting, Library & ITS	58%	42%	40%	70%	33%	16.5%
Research Initiation/ Promotion/Regulatory	14%	6%	-	7%	5%	16.5%

Example: Corporate Contract on campus with a distribution that is Industrial contracts and Grants.  Expenses of $100.00.  The contract project will get charged overhead of $40.  That $40 will be distributed as follows 30% ($12) to the researcher in their overhead revenue project, 30% ($12) to the Department, 2% ($.80) to the faculty, 33%($13.20) to Central, and 5% ($2) to VP (Research).

Please note Overhead will be charged and distributed the day after the month closes, but will be posted back to the month it pertains to.  Ex:  March expenses will have overhead charged to them the day after March closes.  It will then be posted back to March along with the distribution for March overhead charges.

More overhead information can be found on the Office of Research Services webpage http://www.queensu.ca/ors/contracts/indirectcosts.html

Q. How do I check the status of a cheque requisition, travel expense claim, or invoice applied against a purchase order?

Accounts Payable requires 15 days to process an invoice or cheque requisition. For a travel expense claim, please first check with the individual responsible to approve the travel expense claim to ensure your claim has been approved and forwarded to Accounts Payable for processing.

If information is required, please contact the Accounts Payable representative supporting the first letter of the vendor or last name of the person paid for which the information is required and provide details of the vendor name and date the payment request was submitted to Financial Services. A full listing can be found on the Financial Services website at http://www.queensu.ca/financialservices/contacts/accountspayable.html.

Q. Who do I contact if I have suggestions/questions about the Queen’s Portal?

The Queen’s Portal is administers through ITS; please fill out their online help form at: http://www.queensu.ca/its/apps/forms/itsc/helpform/

Q. Where do I go to view my monthly research reports and when are they available?

Most recent monthly Research Financial Reports will generally be posted to your portal within 2 to 3 business days following the Financial Services month end. Month end schedules can be viewed at http://www.queensu.ca/financialservices/dates/monthend.htm

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Q. Is there a guide on how to read your research reports?

Information on how to read your Research Reports can be viewed at http://www.queensu.ca/financialservices/researchresources/researchreports.html

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Q. Will I be able to read my research reports on any computer?

Research reports will be available in both excel and pdf format and you have the choice to use either of these formats to review your research project financial reports.

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Q. How many months of reports will be available on the portal?

The portal has the capacity to have 13 months of reports and research reports.

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Q. How can I easily format a research report done in Excel to ensure it prints properly?

Navigate through the following steps within the print screen:

• Select File
• Select Page Setup
• Select Landscape
• Change the Fit to: 4 page(s) wide by 4 tall
• Select Print Preview, Select Close to exit Print Preview
• Change the Fit to: if you require more or less room when you view the document in print preview
• Click OK when you are satisfied with the page setup

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Q. I have a CFI project and I need to track expenditures by program code?

Currently only the detail report shows your expenditures by program.

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Q. What are these unknown items on my research reports?

If the item has “AP” in the journal number, please contact the Accounts Payable representative supporting the first letter of the vendor or last name of the person paid. A full listing can be found on the Financial Services website at: http://www.queensu.ca/financialservices/contacts/accountspayable.html.

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Q. Who do I contact if I have any suggestions/comments regarding the Research Reports posted online through my Queen’s Portal?

Please forward any suggestions/comments to Research Accounting at research.accounting@queensu.ca or extension 78477.

Q. How can I tell which salaries/benefits are paid to an individual?

The actual salary amount will show the individual’s name in the description line. The related benefits will not show the individual’s name.

If there is only one person being paid from the benefits, the benefits will belong to that individual.  If there are multiple individuals being paid from the fringe benefits account ID, you will not be able to relate the benefits to a specific individual.  You will need to ask your finance contact of that projectfor a query, you will need to provide the staff number of the individual you are inquiring about to your finance contact. 

Please contact the respective finance contact for the related project to obtain specific fringe benefits details.

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Q. Who is being paid out of Salary Commitments?

To determine who the outstanding salary commitments on a project are for, you must contact your Financial Services (Research Project Contact).

Q. How do I transfer Funds?

If it is your intention to transfer internal funding to a research project (i.e. department transferring matching funds to a project) you must complete a General Ledger (GL) Journal Entry form (Form #: FIN-FRM-001). When completing the chart field section of the form, account 480001 (Revenue University Funds) should be used on both sides (the debit and credit) of the journal entry. The net effect on account 480001 should be nil.

If it is your intention to recode expenses from one project to another, you should also use the Journal Entry Form (FIN-FRM-001), as mentioned above. When completing the chart field information, the account should reflect the type of expense which is being recoded (i.e. supplies, wages, travel, etc.).  You must ensure that the project being charged for the expense is debited, and the project being reimbursed for the expense is credited.

Transferring revenues between research projects is not permissible. Instead, expenses should be recoded, as noted above.  

Important Note: In all cases noted above, please ensure that sufficient supporting documentation is attached to the journal entry to support the adjustments being made.

Q. How do I check the status of a Travel Advance Requisition?

Before inquiring on the status of a travel advance requisition with Accounts Payable, please first check with the individual responsible to approve the payment to ensure the request has been approved and forwarded to Accounts Payable.

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