Grant Management Terminology

For easy reference, below are some common terms you will encounter when working in Grants Management:

Master Data

Fund - The source of funding, both external (from the Sponsor) and internal (cost-sharing).
Cost Center/Funds Center – A cost center is more permanent in nature than the other cost objects. A fund center is the same as a cost center but is used in Funds Management. All internal orders and Work Breakdown Structure belong to a higher level cost center/funds center.
Grant - Object used to maintain details that describe the terms and conditions of the funding and administration of a Sponsored Award. No posting is done at the Grant level (it is not a cost collector), but it serves to "group" all the sponsored programs which are using the funding under the agreement as well as sponsored programs capturing cost share, sub-awards, and/or participant costs.
NOTE: In the context of this Learning Path, grants is used as a generic term and refers to all sponsored programs whether they are grants, contracts, or other types of awards.
Cost Collector/Cost Object – Where revenue and expenditure transactions take place. It will either be a Cost Center, an Internal Order, or a Work Breakdown Structure Element.
Internal Order - Cost collector used for temporary projects including grants.
Work Breakdown Structure Element (WBSE) – Collects expenses and revenues related to ARL projects and accounts for their activity.
Sponsored Program - Represents the allocation of funds ("bucket" of funds) awarded to the PI, co-PI, subrecipients, cost share, etc., as determined between the Sponsor and Penn State for the administration of a Grant.
Sponsored Class - The sponsored class represents the sponsor's expense and revenue classification. It groups expenses and revenues to meet the sponsor's reporting requirements.
General Ledger (GL) – GL accounts are used to classify transactions, e.g. revenues and expenses. GLs are grouped under sponsored classes.
Sponsor – The company, institution, or organization that is financing the research.

Additional Terminology

Central Grant Maintainer – See Research Accounting Links to an external site. (PSU resource) below.
Research Accounting Links to an external site. (PSU resource) – Penn State’s research accounting office serves both the research departments and the sponsoring agencies. Their primary role is to invoice sponsored projects in a timely, efficient, and accurate manner.

Wrap-Up & Next Steps

After completing this module, you should be able to...

Explain the grant master data and the impact it has on transactions and postings to a grant.
Identify the Grants Management group tiles on the launchpad.
Locate the resources for Grants Management related terminology and definitions in SIMBA.

You are now ready to move on to the Grant Creation process.

Click the Next button to proceed.