Jun 30th, 10
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Recently, Jim Wrenn, President and CEO of IT Works and Rebecca Vandall, Director of New Program Development and Strategic Partnerships at SRA International, held a seminar entitled Managing Re-charge Centers and Research Service Facilities. The next several blog posts will provide an outline of material that was covered during the seminar.
Understanding the Center
When discussing the recharge center and its overall role, it is important to remember that the recharge center is a business. According to recent statistics, businesses with fewer than twenty employees only have a 37% chance of surviving more than four years. Additionally, only four percent of businesses in the United States will gross above $1 million in revenue each year. That said, what is the main item separating the successful businesses from those that are unsuccessful?
Other questions to keep in mind when thinking about recharge centers include:
- What goods and services are being provided?
- Who provides the service? (There are some self operating centers where people operate machines, but these people need to be trained, etc.)
Capital Equipment Needed
When discussing the type and quantity of equipment needed, the following items need to be taken into consideration:
- Risks to the research project (to people..safety issues, HIPAA, etc.)
- Seasonal (i.e. environmental labs, marine biology groups, etc.)
- Identifying Costs (in order to set billing rates)
- Production Costs (can be divided into time and materials)
- Time (i.e. equipment operation, identifying the steps, accurate time estimates, preparation, training, scheduling issues, etc.)
- Materials (i.e. supplies, losses, expiration, theft, non-billable work, etc.)
For more information about Facility/Re-Charge Center Management or for questions regarding this seminar, contact Rebecca at rvandall@srainternational.org or Jim Wrenn at wrennj@itworks-inc.com.
Jun 23rd, 10
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Recently, Jim Wrenn, President and CEO of IT Works and Rebecca Vandall, Director of New Program Development and Strategic Partnerships at SRA International, held a seminar entitled Managing Re-charge Centers and Research Service Facilities. The next several blog posts will provide an outline of material that was covered during the seminar.
Establishing and Revising Billing Rates
- Defining cost recovery: “The recoupment of the purchase price of a capital or qualified asset through depreciation over a prescribed period” [source]
- How long would it take the work to reach its maximum level?
- How much work will be performed by that facility? (This will depend on the type of research being done at the facility.
- Look at what your budget expenses are (prior year under/over recoveries) divided by expected volume of work performed.
- Billing units may be expressed in units of output, labor hours, machine time or other measurement.
- Rates for external users may include costs associated with facilities and administrative (indirect costs).
- Track internal versus external charges separately in order to avoid the perception of overcharging.
- Use a separate Direct Charge account for subsidized users.
Standard Billing & Collection Procedures
- Complete invoice only after work is completed.
- Work is charged according to predefined billing rates: University Rates; Outside University Rates; Track Rates Historically.
- A detailed invoice should be generated, including the following: Itemized list of charges and rates; Track who received the work; How to pay for it: info@b5media.com
- A monthly billing cycle should also be generated.
Example of How to Track Billing Rates:
Item/Service | Rate Group | Rate | Start Date | End Date
Invoices Should Include the Following:
- Billing address for facility
- Date invoiced
- List of items or services that were performed
- Instructions on how to pay for invoice (which will vary from university to university, regarding how the accountant will pay for work that is charged)
- Identifying direct account prior to purchase
- Past due invoice collection: [Frequency; Who collects (better to have administrator collect because he has better access to the university accounting system, and it also has to do with a quality assurance issue); Discontinuation of services
Dates to Monitor
- Work scheduled, started, and completion dates (month that invoice is completed is what is going to drive the invoice)
- Invoice date
- Payment date
- Past due date (Unpaid invoices are an audit problem!)
Managing money is a critical factor in any Re-Charge Center structure, and one which should not be overlooked. Establishing billing rates will assist recharge centers in retaining accurate documentation as well as assist them in processing any billings in a timely manner. Setting up a system that supports any charges that are made, including documentation of various expenses and uses should be retained by the recharge center in the even of an audit.
For more information about Facility/Re-Charge Center Management or for questions regarding this seminar, contact Rebecca at rvandall@srainternational.org or Jim Wrenn at wrennj@itworks-inc.com.
Jun 16th, 10
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Recently, Jim Wrenn, President and CEO of IT Works and Rebecca Vandall, Director of New Program Development and Strategic Partnerships at SRA International, held a seminar entitled Managing Re-charge Centers and Research Service Facilities. The next several blog posts will provide an outline of material that was covered during the seminar.
Justifying a Re-Charge Center
In order to justify whether or not a recharge center needs to exist, the following questions must be addressed:
- Does the service fit the mission of your organization?
- Are there other units providing the same or similar services?
- How long will the products/services be in demand?
- What is the expected level of activity, and when will it be reached?
- What is the financial plan for the center?
- Can your organization survive without it?
University Requirements
- Complex and specific services not otherwise readily available
- Minimum annual billing requirements and charges to grants
Government Requirements
- Billing rates should recover direct and indirect costs of providing products or services
- Billing rates cannot discriminate between federal and non federal sponsors. Outside customers may be billed more.
- Operate on fiscal year basis
- Calculation and review of billing rates
- Establishment of operating accounts
Operating the Center
- Department administrator responsibilities (typically responsible for coordinating with Principal Investigators, the Department Head/Chair and other administrative personnel in order to provide financial and administrative advice on various projects.)
- Preparing and administering budgets
- Developing and supporting billing rate schedules
- Record keeping
- Determining allowable costs
- Invoicing requirements
- Support audit requests
- Allowable working capital
- Separation of multiple services (i.e. You cannot take the profits from one recharge center and use it to supplement losses from another one. You cannot merge one with the other.)
For more information about Facility/Re-Charge Center Management or for questions regarding this seminar, contact Rebecca at rvandall@srainternational.org or Jim Wrenn at wrennj@itworks-inc.com.
Jun 9th, 10
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Recently, Jim Wrenn, President and CEO of IT Works and Rebecca Vandall, Director of New Program Development and Strategic Partnerships at SRA International, held a seminar entitled Managing Re-charge Centers and Research Service Facilities. The next several blog posts will cover material which was outlined during the seminar.
Purpose of Seminar:
- To identify and monitor facility costs
- To identify problems that undermine standard business practices (such as inconsistent billing practices, delinquent payments, and inaccurate financial reports) and explain how to handle them.
- To develop and implement scheduling, billing, and collection systems for the facility.
- To design consolidated profit/loss and other financial statements to aid in the management of the facility.
Who is This Seminar For?
- All levels of research administration professionals in research intensive institutions
- Administrators in basic science departments
- Specialized research labs and centers (i.e. cancer centers, marine biology labs & genome science institutes)
Re-Charge Centers Defined:
Also known as “Charge Back Centers; Cost Centers; Service Centers; and Research Service Facilities, Recharge Centers are defined as organizational units that provide goods and services to investigators and other users within the research community. Users are primarily other university operational units and secondarily external users. Services are often highly specialized and involve the use of capital equipment specifically designed for a particular research purpose. Some examples of Re-Charge Centers include the following:
- NMR Scanners
- Immunohisochemistry
- Transgenic Mice
- Confocal Microscope
- And others
Uses for Re-Charge Centers
In addition to providing goods and services to investigators, a recharge center charges users for its goods and services and is frequently housed within a university department. Because recharge centers are usually funded by a combination of funds stemming from such places as infrastructure grants, and revenue collected from the services provided, the management of these facilities requires administrators to implement business practices that cover the following in order to ensure the successful operation of the facility:
- Complex personnel
- Quality assurance
- Billing
- Collection
- Accounting Issues
For more information about questions regarding this seminar, contact Rebecca at rvandall@srainternational.org or Jim Wrenn at wrennj@itworks-inc.com.
Jun 2nd, 10
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As you can tell by looking at the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) latest information on the federal funding of the research and development and R&D plant components of the US federal agency programs, you will find that managing money is a precise and sometimes complex job. And especially where college administrators are involved, the scrupulous use and allocation of grant funds is often the backbone of successful research and development projects that are ongoing at colleges, universities and research hospitals around the United States.
Today, colleges and universities around the United States (as well as the world) are extremely dependent upon their college administrators to help keep the day-to-day campus functions running smoothly. College administrators have many responsibilities and often oversee budgeting issues that range from financial aid matters to employee compensation. With that said, IT Works offers university and college administrators the following highlights from their College Administrator’s Accounting Module:
10 Ways IT Works is Helping College Administrators
- Provide easy to interpret reports to faculty and senior administrators
- Obtain better control of account and project expenditures
- Increase office efficiency
- Set quality control standards
- Project and encumber personnel costs from multiple funding sources
- Manage special commitments & information unique to your department, with user-defined coding systems
- Electronically interface to your college or university financial system
- Allow simultaneous data access to multiple users
- Comprehensive, multi-level security system
- Obtain training, continuous user support, and software modifications to meet unique departmental needs
For more information about accounting and financial management, visit our website.
May 26th, 10
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Last week, we looked at some of the initial steps involved in managing a grant from the planning process. This week, we continue with a closer look at the planning process as well as what is involved in designing a grant scheme for accountability purposes. The following is a list comprised of 15 questions to consider when planning a grant. [adopted from the Best Practice Guide for the Administration of Grants]
Grant Management Accountability & Planning Checklist [source]
- Are the aims and objectives of the grant properly articulated?
- Are the eligibility criteria clearly and easily understood?
- Have appropriate input/output/impact performance measures been established?
- Are the performance measures generally accepted, comparable and sufficient for users needs?
- Are the performance measures quick and economic to produce?
- Have the total costs been estimated?
- Have administrative and other costs (as well as possible consequential changes) been taken into account?
- Has sufficient time been allowed to set up the grant scheme?
- Are there any special local circumstances or constraints?
- Are there other grant schemes with are likely to conflict?
- What consultation is necessary and what can be learned from other grant schemes?
- Do the basic rules avoid waste and fraud?
- Does the grant scheme comply with Government and agency policies?
- Who is accountable for what, how and to whom?
- Is there adequate access being provided to all interested groups?
Next week, we’ll take a look at how to better manage grant monies. If you have a topic you’d like to hear us discuss in depth or to voice your thoughts on grant management, leave a comment below. For more information about software for grant management, visit our website.
May 19th, 10
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A while back, we briefly introduced what sorts of questions you might ponder when managing a grant pipeline. To briefly review; a grant pipeline consists of both new/pending grant proposals as well as existing grants. And in the areas of research and higher education institutions where many programs are dependent upon grant funding, it is even more important that we are able to discern the various complexities of what is involved in the process.
Planning
In the planning phase, it is important to set goals as well as determine whether or not there is a valued need for a grant scheme. Look for alternatives (if there are any) as well as any possible economic consequences to the grant. Because the ratio of grant applicants to available grants is usually high, the decision to allocate specific grants inherently intimates the decision not to use other grants for other research purposes.
Communication
Of the grants that are received and reviewed, there is an increased chance that the applicant has already applied for multiple versions of the same grant. Therefore, any and all information about the grant recipient should be obtained, as long as it is pertinent.
In order to more effectively manage a grant, all grants should operate under clearly defined operational objectives, which should then be documented. At this time, relevant performance measures should be set so as to ensure the accountability of the grant as well as its intended purpose of use. Some of these performance measures include items such as the following:
- Input- This indicates the financial and physical resources utilized by the grant with a focus on addressing economical/efficiency issues.
- Grant scheme output-This demonstrates the extent to which the predetermined goals of the grant have been achieved.
- Impact- This measures the outcome of the grant with regard to the grant’s aims and objectives.
Next week, we’ll take a look at grant management accountability as well as go through a checklist of points to remember when planning a grant. If you have a topic you’d like to hear us discuss in depth or to voice your thoughts on grant management, leave a comment below. For more information about grant management, visit our website.
May 6th, 10
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Our last article looked at “how” a research administrator can help a research scientist discover and develop a complete vision. We talked about displaying an authentic life style in order to build trust. I would call this a personal investment on the part of the research administrator. The importance of this cannot be understated. It is only through the door of trust that you can begin to understand the scientist’s past and personality. And, an understanding of both is critical when identifying core values and purpose.
Building trust is somewhat mysterious in that there is no set formula for it. There is time involved, but also comparisons to other people in the life of the scientist. Do you know who you are being compared too? The most likely answer includes the scientist himself and key people in his past. These people will have had varying degrees of trustworthiness. You are also likely to be compared to institutions. For example, one of the jobs of most administrators is to provide financial information or statements about ongoing research budgets to the scientist. Do you know who else in his life performs a similar function? Most likely, it is a bank. While the reputations of banks have taken a severe hit recently, they do a remarkable job in delivering accurate financial statements in a timely manner. How many times have your bank statements been late? How many times have they contained errors? How would your scientists compare their experiences with their bank statements to their research accounting reports? We will discuss this more in a future article.
Posted by Jim Wrenn, December 10, 2009, blogger@itworks-inc.com
