Managing Sponsored Project Funds: Multi-Campus Awards

Find out how to determine balances for Multi-Campus Awards (MCAs, formerly known as “intercampus subawards”).

Multi-Campus Awards (MCAs)

Multi-campus awards are used when a sponsored project involves more than one UC campus. The campus receiving an award from an external granting agency is the prime campus, and the other participating campuses are recipients of sub-awards from the prime. Payment procedures for intercampus sub-awards vary from normal procedures and use unique accounting codes.

General guidelines

• Payment is received or transmitted via a financial journal process between campuses, not an "interlocation transfer of funds" or a check.
• Payment is not made via an intercampus recharge or an expense transfer.
• Payment entries are recorded financially in a transfer account (7208xx) for each recipient campus, not as revenue.

Incoming MCA (UCSD is the recipient campus)

• To monitor expenditure balances, review the budget balance in each respective direct and indirect expenditure account.
• To monitor payments from the awarding campus, review the intercampus transfer account budget and financial entries:
  • The financial credit entry reflects payments received.
  • The debit budget balance reflects either an unspent balance or if award is fully spent, unbilled amount or outstanding payments from the other campus.
  • SPF receives the  initiating journal from other campuses (payment)
  • UCSD SPF accountant no longer process the responding journal
  • SPF creates a SNOW ticket requesting the payment be applied to the Intercampus Reimbursement Request (IRR)
  • UCSD ARCO Department applies the payment to the related IRR (invoice)

Outgoing MCA (UCSD is the prime campus)

• To monitor expenditure balances, review the budget balance in each respective direct and indirect expenditure account. 
  • To monitor payments to the recipient campus, review the intercampus transfer account budget and financial entries:
    • The financial debit entry reflects payments to the other campus.
    • The credit budget balance reflects either an unspent balance or payments owed to the other campus.
• The MCAs will have unique Subaward numbers (PO number)
• Other UC Campuses have to submit their Intercampus Reimbursement Requests (IRR) through Payment Compass:
  • Payment Compass requires at least 1 login per campus (supplier).
  • Users are able to create their own login and password with an invitation
  • UCSD will send 1 invite to the listed emails of each sub award
  • If the other UC Campus is using SPARCM, UCSD will be sending additional individual emails to the other UC Campuses
  • UCSD IPPS Department will process the payment for IRRs.
  • Payment notifications will be submitted by UCSD AP system. UCSD SPF accountant no longer will create/submit a journal.
  • SPF accountant will process the EIA journal for items greater than 50k and email it to the other UC Campus