SB Express Help Center

Grant Management Overview

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Activating Grant Management

Grant Management must be activated by BIAS support to use the available features.

Grant Control Panel

Go to Grant Management > Grants

Setup

Click Setup in the top right corner.

Main tab

  1. Overhead Vendor - Default vendor for overhead transfer adjustment transactions.
  2. Wage Settings - Used for Basic Payroll to determine which pay types use the regular or overtime composite rate, disabled for Adv Payroll.
  3. Pay Card - This is the default pay card format for printing.  Styles 3-6 generally are used.  
  4. On - Sets beginning day for weekly hours totals  shown on pay card entry screen.
  5. Use Adv Payroll - Payroll screens/pick lists will refer to Adv Payroll Employees and display alternate pay card entry screen.   If switching from basic, put Effective Date in.  Pay card lines prior to that date will be formatted as originally entered for basic payroll.  Setting can only be changed by BIAS support.
  6. EL Options - Grants typically have a default BAS or OB and the pay card line may have varying EL values based on what the employee is doing.  This list is the default options for the client, by default all possible options are written, and it can be edited to the entities requirements.  Each option should be separated by a comma.  User rights group needs to include Grants_InputPayrollClass to have this option visible on the pay card screen.  Since the auditors office no longer cares about this level of detail, you might want to consider simplifying your chart of accounts.
  7. Voucher Classes - Used to report the cash activity type in vouchers.  (Ex:  payroll, supplies, travel, overhead)  On new installs, the default options that the state conservation commission prefers are created, after completing the list, they need to be attached to the chart of accounts.  Vouchers will show 'Unknown' in the 'Group' column in the Voucher Detail printouts for any BARS expense code that does not have a class assigned to it.  At a minimum, '0 All' can be used. The number determines the order on the report.
  8. Activities - Optional item(s) to select when entering pay cards.  Basic Payroll shows in all pay card lines,   Advanced - The user can select an activity and number of units in a timecard entry if the 'Program' Activities option is set to 'Yes' or 'Require'.  There is an option of putting the number of units of the selected activity as well.  Not used in vouchers, for reporting only.
  9. Agencies tab - is a list used as a filter and supplies default entries when selected on grant creation.  IMPORTANT!  This is where you format the header for voucher formats 5&6 by selecting the 'Form' option in the toolbar.  If the format is the same for each agency, set one up then use the 'Copy From' option to update the other agency forms.
  10. Time Periods tab - (same as going to: Grant Management > Time Card Periods) Composite rates are kept by month, this screen allows you to update them as needed.  If rates are changed, the pay card entries for that period will be updated when the grant is opened.  (Composite Rate, Salary & Benefits, Hours Worked - values can be overridden manually).  These are the values used when generating vouchers NOT the employee settings!
  11. Expense Setup tab - Assign Voucher Classes in the Expense Category column, vouchers that use expense codes without an assigned Voucher Class will display 'Unknown'.
  12. Default Task Codes tab (not shown below) - pick list of default task codes you can select from when setting up new programs.  Was formerly in the menus, has been moved to here.  When creating new 'Programs', you have the option of writing this list as the default tasks and editing from there.

 

Audit Trail

Click Audit Trail

Click Audit Trail to call the audit trail control panel with Grants selected, shows all audit trails for the selected date, Primary, and Secondary Tables ranges.  It can be slow to open so if you click on it, be patient!  Only visible if the user has the Grants_AdminAdvanced'RIGHT.  Use the Dates, Primary Table, Secondary Table (Only available if any tied to selected Primary Table) to narrow the search if required.  Use 'Print' in the results toolbar and sending to PDF is a good way if auditors want to know who has changed what.

Grants Tab
Add New / Edit

Add New and  Edit buttons.  Double clicking on the grant line opens the grant Programs list so use these buttons to add/edit the grant basic info.  See Grants Add/Edit

Delete

Click Delete to delete a grant.  Are You Sure must be checked before it will delete the grant.  This process deletes all the associated Programs and their Tasks.  If any one of the Programs associated with the grant is used in a PO, AP, GL entry or a paycard, BIAS will not allow the user to continue.

View Programs

View Programs displays the Program edit screen.  Clicking on this is the same as double-clicking on the grant.  

Tasks Tab
  1. Select a Task Code, only has to be unique within the associated Program.  If a consistent list is needed; 'Grant Management' &  Default Activity Code' allows the creation of a pick list for consistency.
  2. Enter a task Description
  3. Check if task is Active
  4. Select Enforce Budget  Yes/No/Warn.  This can be decided on a case by case basis.  Some can be enforced while others are not.
  5. Enter a specific EL code for the task.  The choice options are populated from Setup.
  6. Click Update Budget to budget each task.  By default, the totals do not roll up to the program level.   BIAS must be in modify mode (Ctrl+M) for this button to be enabled.
  7. Click Write Defaults to write the complete default list.
Restrictions
  • Restrictions - By Default, this table is empty and is not required for time cards to function.  Generally, this is only used if restrictions are required.

This option is available from Grants/Programs/Tasks.  Where it is called from dictates the level of granularity.

  • This will popup a list of employees which can then be selected to determine who cannot use the grant.  If selected from the grant, the user will not be allowed to use any Program or Task associated with the grant.  If selected from Program, the program and any task associated with it is restricted.  If called from a task, only that specific Program/Task combination is restricted.
Notes
  • Notes - This functions like work orders in Utilities and notes in Payroll.  Notes that have 'Action Required' will show up in the 'Notes' tab.  The note is tied to the level it is called from when created.
Chart Of Accounts
  • Chart Of Accounts - calls up the chart of accounts filtered by the fund assigned in grant setup.
Financial Rep
  • Financial Rep - Calls financial reports with filters set to fund assigned in the grant setup.
Print
  • Print - Calls the grant printing program with highlighted grant/program/task preselected.
Programs Tab
Notes Tab
Add New / Edit
  • Add New / Edit buttons - both are set up the same.  Add new adds a new note.  Edit will allow editing an existing new.  This functions like work orders in Utilities and notes in Payroll.  Notes that have 'Action Required' and has 'Is Complete' unchecked will show up here.  This is the same view as from the Notes button under the Grants tab.
Vouchers Tab
Grants - Add/Edit
Add New / Edit
  1. Grant - Grant code (max of 10 characters)
  2. Description - Description of grant
  3. Grant Number - Used in voucher as a number for the granting agency
  4. Source - Optional, if selected will update grant to default agency settings, also used as filter.
  5. Starting Voucher # - used when starting BIAS, but the entity has an existing grant and older vouchers that have never been entered into BIAS.  This allows for a starting voucher number other that 1.
  6. Date Range - Enforces date selection in pay cards and PO/AP/GL entries.  Once the grant has reached it's ending date but you have a few cash items to put in a following period, extend the ending date, then use the 'Restrictions' option to prevent users from selecting it.
  7. Active - Indicates if the grant is active or not.
  8. Show Miles - if checked, the user will have a 'Miles' option visible to put in the number of miles traveled for this line entry. 
  9. Use Tasks - if checked, programs can have multiple tasks.  If not checked, 'All Activities' are assigned by default and 'All is supplied as the default task in paycard entries.  Unchecking this after the Programs/Activities have been established will remove all tasks and replace them with one 'All Activities' tasks, be careful!  A pop up will ask before changing.
  10. Use Match - Will allow another 'Match' grant to be attached in pay card lines.  For Ecology grants, determines whether the B1 or C1 header prints.
  11. Allow As Match - Can be selected in the 'Match' section of other grants.
  12. Allow Overtime - Determines if 'Overtime' pay types can be selected in the pay cards.
  13. Overhead - Determines which type of expenses are eligible for overhead:  None, Payroll, Cash, Both.
  14. Rate - Overhead Rate
  15. Exclude Benefits - If checked, overhead will only be applied to the wage portion of the composite rate.
  16. Overhead Offset - The overhead account in the chart of accounts to credit when applying overhead expenses.  In general, this should be the same for all grants.
  1. Invoice Vendor - Vendor assigned to invoices tied to vouchers.
  2. Format - Printing format for vouchers.  Formats that include  'By Program' subtotal on the Program level, 'By Task' at task level.
  3. District Name - Used when printing WCC vouchers.
  4. 2nd Heading - Second line at top of WCC vouchers.
  5. Billing Method - 'Composite Rate' uses the Wage and Overtime rates,  'Contract' just the Contract rate.
  6. Schedule 16 - Use to attach voucher expense to Schedule 15/16 list.  Multiple grants can belong to the same reporting grant.  Schedule 15/16 reporting will use the vouchers data if attached to a grant and ignore all other entries (except Manual Entries).
  7. Invoice Type - Invoice type assigned to voucher invoices.  If you use the invoicing option for other billings in addition to the grant vouchers it would be a best practice is to setup a specific invoice type for grant invoices in case there are other uses for Invoicing. [Cash Receipting][Invoice Control Center], select Setup.  This list selects from the types listed under the INV source.  If you leave this blank, the 'Invoice' option will not be displayed when editing vouchers.  This prevents on from accidentally being created.
  8. Invoice Line - Create a line for your selected Invoice Type.  It does not need a default BARS code, it will use the 'Revenue' code you select in the next line.
  9. Revenue - Revenue BARS number to be used in the invoice line.
  10. Def Payroll - Basic Payroll users, put the default BAS, EL, OB codes of the payroll account, the EL can dynamically be changed in the pay card lines and the LA code is determined by the' Fund'.  Advanced Payroll ignores this setting.
  11. Fund - Enter the Fund number of the grant, this will be put in the LA portion of the pay card BARS line.  A fund number match may not be required, this would be the case if you use 4 digit LA codes.  Advanced Payroll ignores this setting.
  12. Write BARS code - When creating a new grant and a new fund, the BARS list from another fund can be copied.  Clicking on this will prompt for the fund to be copied from.  BIAS then creates an account with the same BAS, EL, OB and substitutes the 'Fund' from the previous entry.  Save a lot of data entry.
  13. Skip Cost Calculation - for grants that are not really 'grants' and have no budgeting or vouchering needs, set this to 'Yes' and BIAS will skip verifying the grant totals.  Useful for used accruals, there is no budget or costs associated with it.
Programs/Tasks - Add/Edit
Add/Edit Programs
  • If a new grant has just been created, the list will be empty.  Clicking Add New, creates a new line and assigns the initial Program code to be the same code as the grant.  Grants can have one or multiple programs.
  1. Program - Program codes must be unique across all grants.
  2. Desc - Program Description
  3. Active - By default, only active programs are displayed.
  4. Restrict - If checked, only users with the Grants_UseRestrictedPrograms right can use them.  This is an older option that still works, but to make the restrictions more granular, use the 'Restrictions' option in the toolbar.
  5. Use Accruals - Yes/No/Only.  In Basic Payroll, non qualifying pay types are disabled on screen.  In Advanced Payroll, the available pay item options are built based on this setting.  (In Basic Payroll only, clicking on the magnifying glass allows the selection of what pay fields to allow if you need granular control.)
  6. Exclude - If checked, vouchers for this program will not create/write an invoice its charges.  This is typically used for the internal tracking of grants.  This is early logic, you can also disallow invoicing by not selecting an invoice type in the grant setup.
  7. Enforce - Yes/No/Warn.  Tells BIAS how to enforce (or not) budget figures.
  8. Outcome - Used for WCC grant vouchers that are printed by program.
  9. Grant/Desc - (only visible when viewing Programs from the Grant Control Panel) Shows the associated grant and it's description.
  10. Distribution - Advanced Payroll Only, allow you to select a pre-defined distribution rather than use the optional EL/LA combinations from the grant setup.
  11. Activities - Advanced Payroll Only, determines whether the employee can select an activity for this program and if it is required.
  12. Memo - Advanced Payroll Only - determines whether the employee is required to enter a memo for this program.
Program Status Tab
  1. Program - Enter the Payroll and Cash budgets, overhead will be estimated based on the grant settings.  If it is desired to limit the budget for the first half of the year, half can be entered initially and then update the totals when the cap needs to move to the maximum.  
  2. Grant Totals- Displays grant totals associated with the program.
Tasks Tab
  1. Task Code - Only has to be unique within the associated Program.  If a consistent list is needed; 'Grant Management' &  Default Activity Code' allows the creation of a pick list for consistency.
  2. Description - Task description
  3. Active - If the task is active
  4. Enforce Budget - Yes/No/Warn.  This can be decided on a case by case basis.  Some can be enforced while others are not.
  5. EL - Enter a specific EL code for the task.  The choice options come from Setup.  Leave a zero
  6. Update Budget - By default, the totals do not roll up to the program level.  To budget each task, click on 'Update Budget'.  The program must be in modify mode (Ctrl+M) for this button to be enabled.
  7. Write Defaults - Will write the whole default list.
Other Tabs
  1. AP Tab - Shows current unpaid Accounts Payable for the selected program.
  2. Transactions Tab -Shows all GL detail entries for the selected program.
  3. Invoices Tab - Shows all invoices associated with the Grant.
  4. Vouchers Tab - Shows generated Vouchers.  (Vouchers combine activity from all programs).
  5. Voucher Detail Tab - Shows all the detail lines from all the vouchers.
  6. Paycards Tab - Shows all paycard lines for the selected program.
  7. Payroll Match Tab - Shows all pay card entries that used this program as a match.
  8. AP Tab - Shows all unpaid AP's for the selected program that use this program as a match.
  9. Cash Match Tab - Shows all GL detail lines for this program that use this program as a match.
Receipting Invoices

Because many invoices may be unpaid at one time, it is easier to leave them all unselected during a cash receipt and selecting the ones you want rather than the other way around.  To make BIAS operate in this manner, go to [Cash Receipting][Setup Tables][Accts Rec Setup Data] and check 'Do Not Select Invoices As Paid On Create:'

Employee Setup
Basic Payroll

Go to Basic Payroll > Payroll Control Center

Tax Defaults tab

  1. Set Import Time Cards? to 'Yes'

Wages & Accruals tab

  1. Set Composite Rates.  This is the default value written when a new time period is entered.  Vouchers look at the time period values not the employee values.

If the composite rate needs to change fore a specific period, do not change them here.

  1. A default EL code can be added.**
Advanced Payroll

Go to Advanced Payroll (v2) > Payroll Control Center > view specific employee

  1. Setup Composite Rates
  2. Setup default EL options
  3. Pay Cycles must have the 'Imp Hrs' box checked if you want the time card lines to import on creation.

**Default EL Codes

In Basic payroll, the L&I tables have a default EL code.  When entering a pay card entry the initial EL value looks to the Grant EL first, Employee EL second, L&I class third.  In Basic, if the user puts hours in the office bucket and it has a different L&I class, it will switch the EL code, to be the same with 'Field'.  Advanced can only select one pay item at a time vs basic having 15 possible buckets to enter hours in.

When the user selects a task, if it has a default EL, it will overwrite the current entry.

In Basic, when the time cards are entered, each line has the BAS, OB, and LA code from the grant, EL code from the selection on the screen, then it writes the pay card lines in the payroll entry.

Advanced uses the default distribution assigned to the program, after vouchering is complete, BIAS uses a routine to transfer the cost to the associated funds.

Overhead Adjustments

After vouchering for a period is complete, this program will write an adjustment transaction for the month.  It charges the overhead account in the grant and credits the same account substituting the grant fund (LA) code.  Make sure there is an overhead account in each grant fund that matches the Overhead Offset BAS EL OB Grant Fund for LA.

If an adjustment has already been written it will show,  if you have changed some of your vouchers for the period, 'Write Adjustment' will overwrite the existing transaction so you don't need to worry about a duplicate entry.

Time Card Periods

These are the time periods used when entering time cards.  The reimbursement rates are written to the last day of the Period End date.  APR2 selects from the pay cycle list that matches the employee default, i.e. if an employee is monthly it will pick from the Monthly Pay Cycles, Semi-monthly same thing.

If/when the values changes when a grant resets, it will replace the stored value in the pay card lines and update the total charged to the grant.  This is not unusual because entries are being made before the employee has been paid.

Grant User Rights

BIAS has various rights to control access to the various sections of the grant management and are listed in alphabetical order

1.  Grants_Admin

  • Allows user to Add/Edit Grants, Programs, Tasks
  • Allow user to view the ‘Invoices/Vouchers/Voucher Detail’ tabs in the Programs screen

2.  Grants_AdminAdvanced

  • Displays Overhead Adjustments, Adjustment Transactions in Grant Menu tree.
  • Allows override of budget warnings in AP/GL
  • Displays ‘Audit Trail’ and ‘Setup’ options at the top of the Grant Control Panel
  • Allow user to view the ‘Invoices/Vouchers/Voucher Detail’ tabs in the Programs screen
  • Allows user to Delete Vouchers, Close/Open Vouchers,Generate Vouchers, Edit Voucher number.

3.  Grants_AdminBasic

  • Displays Program and Task columns in PO/AP/GL/Invoices programs.

4.  Grants_AllowDeptPassword

  • Allows supervisor to 'Zoom' to employee list to select employees ID assigned to their profile to review pay card information

5.  Grants_InputPayrollClass

  • Allows user to view/edit the ‘EL’ code in grant paycards.  If using Advanced Payroll NA

6.  Grants_MenuAccess

  • Shows option in menu tree

7.  Grants_PayCardAccess

  • Allows Access to Paycard menu in Grants menu tree.

8.  Grants_PayCardSupervisor

  • Pay Card super users, allows all rights related to pay cards
  • Shows the  ‘Time Card Periods’, ‘Reimbursement Rates’ in the main Grants Menu

9.  Grants_UseRestrictedPrograms

  • If a Program has the ‘Restrict’ option selected, this right allows an employee to enter time against it.  While the newer ‘Restrictions’ feature allows better granularity of use, still there for backwards compatibility.
Grant FAQ

What do I do if the agency does not pay the full amount of the Invoice from a voucher?

If the agency does not intend to pay any more on the voucher, add a manual adjustment line to the voucher to make it match what was paid, BIAS will then mark the invoice paid and it goes away.  (You may need to uncheck the 'Close' box in the voucher list before editing)

If more may be paid later if match or other requirements are met, apply the amount paid and leave the invoice unpaid so additional payments can be applied when received.

Next Article How do I process grant vouchers?
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