Billing/Invoicing

Billing and Invoicing

SPA prepares billing materials, including letter of credit draws and invoices, in accordance with award terms and conditions. SPA works with the following payment terms:

• Cost Reimbursement Payment Schedule—Cost billed only after incurred and posted in Banner.
• Fixed Payment Schedule—Set payment amounts which may be tied to deliverables or milestones.

Accounts Receivable

SPA monitors and conducts follow-up consultations on unpaid invoices. These consultations may involve the department and PI in elevated attempts and when payment issues relate to technical aspects of a project.

Departments should manage expenditures and cost transfers in a timely manner. It's also important to ensure that costs are reasonable, necessary, allocable, allowable, and within the award budget and project period. Make sure to review your overdraft report and remove any outstanding overdrafts. Banner cannot run cost reimbursement billings for awards in overdraft. Departments should also review an award's Aged Accounts Receivable Report.

Notify SPA Award Management immediately if

• the sponsor requests backup documents or detail for invoiced charges,
• the sponsor requests invoice prior to award execution,
• technical issues or delays are delaying payment,
• the sponsor contact information or invoicing address changes, or
• if PIs need assistance for submission of progress and technical reports and other project deliverables.

PIs are responsible for submitting technical reports, progress reports, and other deliverables in accordance with award terms and conditions. PIs also need to manage expenditures by ensuring that costs are reasonable, necessary, allocable, appropriate, and within the award budget and project period. Additionally, they should certify all expenditure confirmation statements.

The award document describes the billing terms for the award. Expenditures-to-date, periodic payments, project milestones, a fixed billing schedule, or other terms may serve as the basis for billing and payments.

Billing for most awards happens on a monthly basis based on the expenditures to date recorded in Banner. For many federal awards, cash is "drawn" from the U.S. Treasury based on the expenditures recorded in Banner. It is important to reflect expenditures accurately in Banner. Additionally, it is not possible to bill sponsors while an award is in overdraft. SPA Award Management is responsible for submitting bills and collecting payments. The SPA Award Management staff who manages your grant can provide further guidance.

Many award documents set a date for receiving the final bill. In the case of late submission, or if there are expenditures not reflected on the final bill, the sponsor may refuse to pay for these costs. In this case, the department may be responsible for the costs.