Overview: SIMBA Grants Management

Welcome to the SIMBA: Grants Management Learning Path

SIMBA is Penn State’s System for Integrated Management, Budgeting, and Accounting and uses SAP S/4HANA as it Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.  SAP S/4HANA is a cloud based ERP and  was developed by SAP SE.

SIMBA integrates financial information from across Penn State’s campuses, colleges, and business areas into a single platform so data can be shared in real-time allowing Penn State’s faculty and staff access to the most current financial data. It also provides access to analytics allowing for improved financial decision-making. 

This Learning Path will introduce how grants and contracts are managed in SIMBA, including  sponsored research accounting, controlling, and billing. Only the post-award activities are managed in SIMBA. Pre-award management will continue to be managed in the Strategic Information Management System (SIMS), which is not a part of SIMBA. The systems are integrated, however, for the purpose of award setup.  To effectively administer, monitor, and report on grants, it is critical to understand the entire process.