Responsibility: KE Contracting Services
Prepared by: Contracts Functional Group
Work Instruction Number:WI-SN-75
Updated: April 23, 2025
This work instruction consists of the following sections:
Agreement Finalization and Distribution
Subaward Finalization and Distribution
Signature process
Once the terms of an agreement are accepted by the Parties, the Grant and Contract Officer (GCO) will process the agreement for ASU signature.
- GCO may obtain ASU signature directly from an ASU authorized signatory by emailing the signature page to an authorized signatory. If hard copy signatures are required by the Sponsor, then this should be communicated to the authorized signatory so that a hard copy can be returned.
2. GCO may send the document that needs signature to the ASU authorized signatory by clicking on the “E-mail” tab on the column on the left and attaching it to the e-mail.
3. If a Sponsor of outside party requests use of DocuSign or Adobe Sign, provide the name, title and e-mail address of the ASU authorized signatory to the Sponsor or outside party.
4. GCO runs “Move to Signature Process” activity in ERA Agreements, follows the Instructions as required, and uploads a final copy of the Agreement or Subaward to be signed.
5. ERA Agreements will move the task to a state of “Signature Process”. This process is used when ASU is the only entity that needs to sign. GCO should not run this process until after the Sponsor or Outside Party has signed.
GCO can email the signed agreement to the sponsor for execution via regular e-mail or by ERA (if sponsor has not signed first; for subawards, the external party will usually sign first).
If the sponsor has already signed the agreement, proceed to the Agreement Finalization and Distribution section below.
Agreement follow-up: GCO will follow up with Sponsor at least every 5 business days on the status of receiving the fully signed agreement. PI and RA will be included in correspondence. GCO will update Negotiation Information page 2.0 Brief Task Status and 3.0 Internal Review/Negotiation Comments accordingly with current status.
Subaward follow-up: GCO requests the Subaward be partially executed within 10 business days. After the 10 day timeframe, the GCO will follow up at least every 5 business days on the status of receiving the partially signed Subaward. PI and RA will be included in correspondence. GCO will update Negotiation Information page item 2.0 Brief Task Status and 3.0 Internal Review/Negotiation Comments accordingly.
Agreement finalization and distribution
1. GCO uploads a copy of a fully executed agreement (including all agreement attachments) in Finalize Task Request question 1.0. GCO uploads a copy of the final agreement in pdf version and the last redlined Word version of the document (if available) here also. Prior to doing the following steps, the GCO should go to General Information tab and complete Item 5.0 by entering the dollar amount. For SPA tasks, GCO marks 5.0 Select Instrument Type, selects 6.0 Payment Type, adds 7.0 Terms and Conditions as appropriate along with any special terms and conditions, and checks if any special reviews were marked in ERA Proposals. 8.0 Initial invoice mark whether the invoice was sent out and add 9.0 Agreement Summary Notes for AMT.
2. GCO or student worker emails, via the ERA Agreements “Email” activity, the fully executed agreement to the PI, RA, and other internal parties as needed, and Sponsor. For agreements with industry sponsors or outside parties, send to [email protected] and note if an ASU Tech ID number is associated with the agreement.
3. GCO runs “Finalize Agreement” activity in ERA Agreements. GCO resolves all Error/Warning messages, if required, and re-runs “Finalize Agreement”. When there is an associated FP, the FP site must be moved to “Awarded” status prior to finalizing the task in ERA Agreements.
4. ERA Agreements will move tasks to “Executed/Awarded” or “Completed” state (depending on Agreement Type). Sponsored Project Agreements (SPA) tasks will trigger an ERA generated notification email to be sent to AMT. If the task is a MOD, the fully executed modification will be emailed to [email protected] for AMT to manage.
If an initial invoice is required for the agreement, access the invoice in the ERA Agreements at TEM00000020. Include completed pdf of initial invoice in the Outlook email to the Sponsor containing either the ASU signed agreement or the fully executed agreement and copy [email protected] on the email. GCO to upload a copy of the email containing the initial invoice under Finalize Task Request question 1.0 as well as uploading the invoice to the associated FP site.
Related content
Subaward finalization and distribution
1. GCO or Student Worker uploads copy of fully executed Subaward (including all attachments) in 1.0 c. Attach Fully Executed Subaward Agreement
1. GCO or Student Worker emails, via the ERA Agreements “Email(s) distribution” activity, in 1.0 b. the fully executed agreement to the PI and RA and Subrecipient POC.
2. Student worker will email the Subaward Inbox to request that the Supplier Contract be created in Workday for NCE agreements
3. Subaward GCO creates Supplier Contract in Workday
4. Once the GCO creates the Supplier Contract, the Subaward Summary Notes for AMT is are uploaded to 10.0 Financial Summary Report
5. If the task was for an NCE agreement, the GCO will reply to the Student worker that the Supplier Contract has been uploaded to the task
6. GCO or Student Worker runs “Finalize Agreement” activity in ERA Agreements. GCO or Student Worker resolves all Error/Warning messages, if required, and re-runs “Finalize Agreement”.
7. ERA Agreements will move tasks to “Executed/Awarded” or “Completed” state (depending on Subaward Type or task type). If “yes” is selected on question 56.0, AMT will be notified of the fully executed agreement by an ERA generated notification email. This can be noted in the 4.0 Subaward Summary Notes for the AMT section.
Distribution Note:
For all agreements requiring exchange of original copies of Agreements: If Sponsor requires original (“wet signature”) copies of the ASU signed agreement, obtain original non-electronic signature of ASU authorized signatory and follow FedEx Work Instructions. GCO to note FedEx tracking number in Negotiation Information page question 3.0 Internal Review/Negotiation Comments.