Overview
This page provides background information and definitions for Boston Medical Center's (BMC) financial system (Infor), accounting structure, and financial reports.
Sponsored Programs in Infor
There are three key components to managing a sponsored program in Infor:
Posting Project
Project Contract
Funding Source
Posting project
The posting project is the primary accounting number that Principal Investigators/Program Directors (PI/PD) and Department Administrators (DA) will use. Posting projects are the “children” of a project contract. In some cases there will be only one posting project for a project contract. In other cases, there can be multiple. When there are multiple posting projects, each project will represent a separate budget year of a sponsored program.
Posting projects are required for requisitioning, invoice payments, and check requests.
The project number scheme follows this format:
Note: certain closed projects were converted from our old accounting system (Lawson V9) because the “parent” contract or grant was still active. The activity was converted in summary on a “consolidated balance” posting project. The detail for these projects must be retrieved from Lawson V9. These projects can be easily identified as they end in double zero: 43xxxxxx00.
Project Contract
The project contract is the “parent” record for a posting project. There is only one project contract for each posting project. But there may be one or multiple posting projects per project contract. For example, a five-year award will only have one project contract, but may have up to five posting projects.
Project contract number scheme follows the same as posting projects, except they all end in 00C: for example, 4xxxxxxx00C.
Note: some systems like Requisitioning Self Service (RSS) have the option to enter the project contract. Please always leave that field blank. It is not a required field for RSS, invoice payments, and check requests.
Funding Source
The funding source stores all the sponsor related information in Infor. There will only be one funding source for every project contract.
Funding source number scheme follows the same as posting projects, except they all end in 00F, for example 4xxxxxxx00F.
Note: some systems like Requisitioning Self Service (RSS) have the option to enter the funding source. Please always leave that field blank. It is not a required field for RSS, invoice payments, and check requests.
Other Key Terms for Infor
Cost Center
There is only one cost center for sponsored programs in Infor: 10201100. Infor has a “structural relation” that requires the cost center 10201100 for any expenses, billing, or revenue posting on a project beginning with 4.
Period of Performance (POP)
Every posting project has a preset POP based on its start and end dates. POP controls posting of expenses, billing, and revenue in Infor. POP is typically set to 90 days after project end to allow posting up to 90 days after a project ends. POP is adjusted according to sponsor requirements. If POP is “closed” (i.e. we are outside the period of performance) then Infor will prevent posting.
Posting Project Status
Posting project status, along with POP, controls billing and revenue recognition in Infor. The field is shown on Infor reports. The statuses for sponsored programs are:
RO-AC: Active project that allows for billing/revenue.
RO-AR: Project is reconciled but waiting on final payment. No billing/revenue allowed.
RO-CO: Budget period has passed. Allows billing and revenue for account reconciliation.
RO-IN: Project is reconciled and closed. No billing and revenue.
RO-PD: Project is pending fully executed contract. Allows for revenue but not billing.
RO-RE: Project is submitted for inactivation and is pending manager approval.
Billing Method
Every posting project has a billing method that defines how Boston Medical Center (BMC) invoices a sponsor. The billing method is determined by the notice of award or contract billing terms. There are only three billing methods in Infor:
Cost Reimbursable: These are sponsored programs that require BMC to incur costs and then invoice after. Invoices are created from posted expenses only. Federal direct awards that are invoiced through the Letter of Credit (LOC) Draw are cost reimbursable. For the LOC Draw, requests for payment are submitted directly through the Federal Payment Management System.
Milestone: These are sponsored programs that require billing based on deliverables or achieved milestones. These programs are sometime referred to as fixed price.
Installment: These are sponsored programs that require billing based on set time intervals at fixed amounts. For example, BMC may be required by a sponsor to invoice for 25% of an awarded budget on a quarterly basis.
Project Personnel:
Project personnel and project security are defined and explained here.
Account
All BMC companies share the same chart of accounts (COA). The COA has balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, and equity) and income statement accounts (income and expenses). The accounts reflected on Infor reporting for sponsored programs are primarily expense accounts. Here is a list of the most commonly used accounts for sponsored programs.
For more information on the financial structure overview please contact your Financial Analyst.