Responsibility: Units
Prepared by: Subawards Functional Group, Awards Management Team (AMT), Fiscal Operations Team (FOT)
Work Instruction Number: WI-MS-10
Updated: April 23, 2025
New subaward: included in proposal
New subaward: requested post-award
Monitor subaward progress and invoicing
For an overview of subawards and specific information about basic considerations, roles/responsibilities, as well as activities related to pre- and post-award activities, visit the Subawards sitelet.
New subaward: included in proposal
Subrecipients included at proposal time will be included in the prime award documents and initial award setup, notifying the Subawards Team of a new subaward upon award activation in ERA. Subawards GCOs will navigate to the ERA subaward budget Attachments page to download any documents included at proposal time to begin the review process and reach out to RA Contacts directly for any missing items.
Upon award notification, RAs should verify that all information and documents required at proposal time were completed. Any missing documents should be collected as soon as possible to avoid delays to issuing the subaward. If any subrecipient proposal documents have changed since proposal time, RAs should request revised versions. In the event that a subrecipient has human or animal subjects included in their scope of work, RAs should begin requesting IACUC/IRB approval from the subrecipient organization.
In addition to documents required at proposal time, the Subawards Team may need additional documents such as a payment deliverable schedule (for proposed fixed price subawards), SAM registration, Workday registration, fringe benefit/indirect cost rate agreements, PHS FCOI certification, and other items. Additional information about the documents required at award time can be found on the Subawards Sitelet.
Subawards will not be issued until these documents, any other additional documents requested by the Subawards Team, and required registrations are received.
Once all required documents are received by the Subawards GCO managing this task, the Subawards GCO will draft the subaward agreement, obtain the ASU PI’s approval, negotiate the subaward agreement, obtain the necessary signatures, and distribute the fully executed subaward agreement to all parties.
The new subaward action are not official until the Subawards Team has fully executed a subagreement and can create an SCON. Any work conducted by the subrecipient prior to a fully executed subagreement is considered at-risk of the subrecipient organization and is subject to rejection if completed outside of the period of performance or if an agreement is not reached.
New subaward: requested post-award
Subawards not requested at proposal time are requested through an Award Change Request in ERA. The Awards Management Team (AMT) will need a scope of work, budget, budget justification, and subrecipient commitment form typically collected at proposal time to review. However, RAs are encouraged to begin gathering all subawards documentation outlined in the Subaward Sitelet to avoid delays. AMT GCOs will request sponsor approval during the Award Change Request process, establish new subaward accounts, and create the ASU Subaward Contract # (prefix: ASUB).
Note: The Award Change Request Budget Template is structured from the view of an ASU account. When rebudgeting funds from the main ASU account to a new subaward account, the total subaward amount should be included under the “Subagreements – include in F&A base” or “Subagreements* – exclude from F&A base” lines rather than broken into cost categories that align with the subaward budget. The F&A rate information at the bottom of the column is related to ASU’s F&A rate that will apply to the subaward account, rather than the subaward’s F&A rate. This is necessary to ensure the new subaward account has sufficient funds for issuing the subaward – see Subaward Account Set Up for more information.
Once the Award Change Request is complete, the Subawards Team will receive a notification email with the task request which will be assigned to a member of the team to manage. The Subawards GCO assigned to the task will review the completed modification, download any subawards attachments from the modification, and review any information that AMT provides. Any missing documentation will be requested from the RA. The new subaward agreement will be drafted and issued once all documents and registrations are received.
The new subaward action (or subsequent subaward modifications) are not official until the Subawards Team has fully executed a subagreement or subaward modification and can create or amend an SCON. Any work conducted by the subrecipient prior to a fully executed subagreement is considered at-risk of the subrecipient organization and is subject to rejection if completed outside of the period of performance or if an agreement is not reached.
Subaward account set up
Each subaward will be established with an individual account. When carryover is restricted, AMT will create additional accounts for each new year of funding as funding is received. Accounts related to the subaward are listed within the specific subaward page found by navigating to the Subawards tab within an award and selecting the ASU Subaward Contract #.
The subaward account is structured from the view of an ASU account. All subaward funds available to obligate in an agreement are included under the “Obligated Direct” line within the subaward account. The “Obligated F&A” represents ASU’s F&A collected on the total subaward amount. Workday will not allow Subawards GCOs to establish a Supplier Contract (SCON) for the subrecipient with an amount greater than the “Obligated Direct” amount.
A Basis Limit may be applied to subaward grant accounts if the award is subject to sponsor policies that limit the amount of F&A institutions can charge to subaward expenditures (e.g. on standard federal awards, subaward costs after the first $50,000 are excluded from F&A charges).
Monitor subaward progress and invoicing
Non-payroll expenditures
Subaward invoices are normally received by the Award Management team and forwarded to the PI for review and approval. The RA or the unit’s public email box will be copied on the email. The Award Management team will ensure the invoice is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the subaward. The PI of the project is responsible for reviewing and approving invoices. When approving the invoice, the PI is certifying that they are satisfied with the progress/results of the subawardee.
- If the PI/RA receives the subaward invoice directly from the subawardee, the invoice should be forwarded to [email protected] for processing. If the PI has reviewed and approved the invoice, the PI’s approval should be forwarded along with the invoice to [email protected] to avoid duplication of effort.
PI oversight of fiscal and programmatic performance
The subawardee’s technical progress and invoicing should be reviewed on a quarterly basis at a minimum. Because each subaward is set up in its own account, the balance can be viewed in Workday using any of grant expenditure reports such as the Budget to Actuals – Grant.
- If the subaward account is not showing any expenditures for 3-4 months, the RA should contact the assigned GCO to confirm no invoices have been received by ASU.
- If no invoices have been received, the PI/RA staff should follow up with the subawardee to investigate why there is a delay and encourage timely invoicing.
Paperwork regarding potential expenditures should be kept together and organized for ready accessibility and in a way that is easily understandable by anyone who would require access in the event of an audit or the absence of a record keeper per FIN 103.
Closeout subaward
Principal investigator
If the project is ending within 60 days, PIs are advised to take the following actions based on the three scenarios below:
Additional time and/or funding is expected from the sponsor:
Contact the Unit/Department RA staff notifying that the plan is to extend or close the subaward once the award modification is received. The RA will initiate an Award Change Request in ERA on the PI’s behalf.
Additional time and/or funds is not expected from the sponsor but a No-Cost Extension is needed to continue work on the project:
Contact the Unit/Department RA notifying them of the need to extend or close the subaward once the no-cost extension is approved. The RA will initiate an Award Change Request in ERA on the PI’s behalf.
Additional time and/or funding not required:
Notify the assigned RA staff. The subaward closeout process will automatically commence 60 days from the subaward end date if a request for extension is not received.
Unit/dept administrator (i.e.. research advancement staff, business operations managers)
If the award is ending within 60 days, RAs are advised to perform the following actions:
- Confirm subawardees are current on submission of invoices
- Create an Award Change Request in ERA if subaward(s) need to be extended and/or additional funds added. (NOTE: subawards can be extended only if the parent project account will be as well.)