When a research or innovation award finishes, several steps need to be taken to close the award. Find out what you need to do when an award has ended.
Once a research or innovation award has been completed, our Award Services Post-Award team will initiate the award closure process in MyFinance and Worktribe. As a first step, they will confirm with the Principal Investigator(PI) and department that:
- The final scientific report or equivalent has been submitted on time
- Any overspend, disallowed costs, or surpluses have been cleared and any open purchase orders have been closed
- Final payments have been received from the funder.
Check thefunder's terms and conditions forany requirements that need to be met and the timescale for completion. Theaward and related contractual documents can be found in the 'documents' tab in Worktribe.Our Funder Golden Rules pageprovides usefulinformation on key terms and conditions for UCL major funders.
Several reports are also available in Axiom to assist researchers and departments with the financial management of awards. Visit our Financial management pagefor further details.
Checklist for departments and researchers
PI and departmental research support staff should use the table below to ensure closure tasks and deliverables are completed 3 months before the award end date. Awards should be closed in MyFinance and Worktribe no later than 12 months after the end date.
| Task | Who | Guidance links |
|---|---|---|
| All costs are appropriately charged to the award (to avoid any under/overspends) | PI and Department research support staff | Axiom |
| All expense claims are processed and approved | PI and Department research support staff | |
| Charged expenditure is eligible and justifiable to the funder. | PI and Department research support staff | Funder Golden Rules |
| Written funder justifications/approval obtained for any unbudgeted expenditure. | PI and Department research support staff | Funder Golden Rules |
| Equipment purchases finalised. | PI | |
| Funder approval obtained for equipment purchases made near the grant end date. | PI and Department research support staff | |
Salary charges reviewed:
| PI and Post-Award |
|
| Notify partners/collaborators of final invoice date – to be clearly marked 'final' - liaising with Post-Award for any additional information needed (if required). | PI and Department research support staff | |
| All outstanding purchase orders are valid and will be completed by the end of the award. | Department research support staff | Purchase Order Process |
| Submit closure requests for purchase orders no longer required to the Accounts Payable team by emailing accountspayable@ucl.ac.uk | PI, Department research support staff, and Post-Award | Purchase Order Process |
| PI to sign off Final Financial Statement (if applicable). Post-Award to provide copy of final statement for sign-off. | PI | |
| Submit Final Scientific/Technical Reports. Refer to your funder's terms and conditions and award documentation for further information. If the scientific report includes financial data, contact Post-Award for support with providing the financial element. | PI | Award Services Contacts |
| Ensure all outstanding balances are resolved promptly. Any remaining funds will be transferred to the department's main core account. For further details, please consult the managing residual balances process outlined below. | PI, Department research support staff, and Post-Award |
Final scientific reports
Some funders may request a final scientific report. Refer toyour funder's terms and conditions and award documentation for further information.
If the scientific report includes financial datacontact ourPost-Award team for support with providing this.Final payment is usually subject to receipt of the scientific report.
You can also find further information on funder reports on our Project reports and outputs page.
Managing residual balances
Once the final payment has been received and all scientific reports submitted to the funder the awardshould be closed in MyFinance and Worktribe no later than 12 months after the awardend date.
Transfer of balances to departmental accounts
Where there is no requirement to return unspent balances to the funder, our Post-Award team will transfer residual balances to the department’s main core account once final payment has been received from the funder.Expenditure type 33 will be used for transferring any residual balances, specifically:
- 33036 End of grant balance deficit
- 33035 End of grant balance surplus.
Any queries about returning funds to a PI should be reviewed by the Head of Department and managed by the department following completion of the transfer.Departments can run Axiom Transaction Reports to view transfers and manage them appropriately.
Small award balances (deficit and surpluses up to £10k)
Once the final payment has been received from the funder, our Post-Award team will transfer small balances (deficit or surplus) up to a maximum of £10,000 directly to the departmental core account. For any surplus balance, Post-Award will review the terms and conditions and contract for the awarded grant and, where required, return the surplus to the funder.
Large award deficit balances (greater than £10k)
For deficit balances over £10,000, our Post-Award team will work with the PI and department to ensure the deficit is charged against an appropriate account code at the end of the award. If that is not possible, the deficit balance will be transferred to the department’s main core account.
Large award surplus balances (greater than £10k)
Our Post-Award team will check that all costs have been charged to the research award, the final report has been submitted and accepted by the funder,and there is no requirement to return unspent balances to the funder under their terms and conditions. The residual surplus balance will be transferred to the departmental main core account.
Early termination
If your award is at risk of early termination you should inform ourPost-Award team as soon as possible. OurContract Servicesteam will review any contractual obligations and commitments in consultation with the PIand negotiate a preferred solution with the funder.
Page last updated: May 2024
