Ask an ORCS:  How do I use an “OPAS” form to be able to begin spending when I’ve been told I received an award but the official paperwork has not officially arrived?

Scott Mills: 10/10/18

Problem and Question:  Suppose you just received great news rewarding your hard work.  After writing that proposal, filling out an EProp, and submitting everything on time, you’ve now just been told by the funder: “Congratulations – your proposal was recommended for funding!”  You are keen to get to work on that project, but there’s almost always that caveat along the lines of: “However, this will not be official until our award team has processed documents and your university has received them”.  Sometimes there’s a significant time lag between the “congratulations” and the official documents arriving at the university, and sometimes you feel anxious to get things going.  Can you start spending before the official award paperwork arrives, and if so, how? 

Answer: 

First, you should be super confident that the award is a certainty because if the award somehow does not materialize, then you (and/or your department/college) will have to reimburse the funds you spent in advance.

But let’s say you are willing to take that risk, and you believe strongly that the project will be best served by starting spending while you wait for the paperwork to arrive.  First, of course you should begin chatting with your departmentally assigned ORSP pre-award person. They will point you towards an OPAS, which stands for “Organizational Prior Approval System”.  Now, OPAS allows you to do other things, like change your budget and request a no-cost time extension.  Those are topics for another day.  Here, I’ll focus on using OPAS to get a project rolling before the actual funds or official award documents arise.

The OPAS and accompanying information can be found at the ORSP form page, or you can get to it straight through U-Approve. 

Once on U-Approve, click on “Forms”, then on “Sponsored Programs”, then on “OPAS”.    

OK, so now what?  Whether it’s a Federal or Non-Federal Grant, the first box is “Assign an Index prior to the receipt of formal award document.” Click that if you would like to begin spending before the official documents arrive, but after the designated start date for the grant.  You’ll fill in info on Sponsor, Award number, start date, award amount, etc.  Note, too, that this will be routed through your supervisor (eg Department/Center Chair, Dean, etc.) who will also be on the hook (along with you) if you spend the funds but the grant doesn’t come through.   Once you fill these few boxes in, simply submit, and within a week or so you should receive via email a “BUSTR” (Budget Status Report) that has your new Index Number to use for expenditures on that grant, starting on the designated start date.

NOW, what if the award was made faster than you expected, so that you actually want to begin spending on this award BEFORE the designated award date?  For example, when you submitted the grant you had used a September 1 start date.  But on June 15 you learned that you would be receiving the award.  You are confident that the award is a certainty, and you feel the project would be very much improved if you could and buy some supplies or hire a technician or graduate student before the September 1 start date.  Can you do it? For most sponsors, you will first need to get prior sponsor approval to spend before the start date (that’s the rules of the sponsors, not of UM).   But there’s one big exception: Some Federal Agencies have given universities “Expanded Authority”, which includes the authority to allow 90-day pre-award spending.  Several of our usual big federal funders are in this list (NSF, NIH, NASA), and your departmental pre-award person can confirm if your sponsor is on the list.  If so, then click that 3^rd box (Pre-Award Spending Authority) and then enter the desired start date.  This will initiate the processing of your BUSTR to start spending on that grant prior to the official start date.