Hello, Everyone,
I wanted to summarize our procedure and the responses I received from fellow institutions on the issue of charging airline e-credits to grants in COVID-19-related cases.

Our School's procedure:
Flight charges may remain on the original account until the travel occurs. If charged to a university account, departments will track the e-credits. Preference is for the faculty members to use the e-credit for the same project before the airline deadline. If the traveler is unable to use the e-credit for the original project, the individual may potentially use the e-credit for other university travel. In cases when e-credits are used for a different project, the institution does internal cost transfer paperwork to the correct account. Documentation about the traveler's inability to use the e-credit on the original project, and documented communication with program officers and/or vendors must be kept with cost transfer documentation. If a PI has already charged the airline ticket to their own credit card, the university will reimburse via a discretionary fund tagged for COVID-19-related costs.

Summary of approaches provided by other institutions.
Method #1: Move the expense to a discretionary account tagged as COVID-19-related costs for now and then move onto sponsored fund when the trip reimbursement documents are processed.
-- Some are keeping spreadsheets of processed trip requests. The spreadsheet could track the original grant fund, the holding fund, and any other relevant codes or processing information. Once the airline credit is used, a journal entry can be processed to move the original airfare to the grant.
-- Reasons stated for choosing this path: centralized way of ensuring that the correct grant is charged; means of tracking COVID-19 costs and use of e-credits centrally; having a way to handle these credits when one doesn't know when the credits can be used.

Method #2: Charging directly to sponsored fund, then moving later if it doesn't apply.
--The travelers are encouraged to use the e-credit for the same project within the airline deadline to use e-credits.
-- If the traveler is unable to charge the original grant project, internal cost transfer paperwork is done to transfer to the correct account.
-- Reason(s) stated for using this method: reduction of journal paperwork upfront with emphasis on documenting communication.

Notes on other aspects of processing:
--One institution said that for costs that were non-refundable and non-cancelable, PIs are allowed to still charge the grant but the PI has to provide documentation from the vendor that they would not refund or cancel the expense.
--If the e-credit is used for personal use, the individual would have to reimburse the university if the university paid for the original ticket.

Thanks to everyone who responded and shared!

Patience

Patience Graybill, M.A., CRA
Manager, Research Development & Administration
Project Manager, Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB)
McKelvey School of Engineering
Washington University in St. Louis
ph. 314-935-8618 | f: 314.935.6949
xxxxxx@wustl.edu
One Brookings Drive |  Campus Box 1138 |  St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Washington University's COVID-19 sites:
Home: https://emergency.wustl.edu/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/
Research-related information: https://research.wustl.edu/covid19/

-----Original Message-----
From: Graybill, Patience
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2020 2:21 PM
To: Research Administration Discussion List <xxxxxx@LISTS.HEALTHRESEARCH.ORG>
Subject: RE: [RESADM-L] Travel reimbursement on federal grants

Hi, All,

How are how people are handling "e-credits" for COVID-19-related cancelled flights paid by sponsored funds?

The COGR FAQ on COVID-19 from 3/20/2020, questions #1 and #2, were very helpful in referencing 2CFR200 guidelines about this. I am sharing with administration the information about a) charging cancellation fees to sponsored funds for grant-related travel; b) documenting denied requests for refunds; c) making sure that credits are applied to the sponsored fund.

But, since airlines typically credit the individual with "e-credit," how is your institution tracking and planning use of the "e-credits" originally paid by the sponsored fund?

Patience Graybill, M.A., CRA
Manager, Research Development & Administration Project Manager, Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB) McKelvey School of Engineering Washington University in St. Louis ph. 314-935-8618 | f: 314.935.6949 xxxxxx@wustl.edu One Brookings Drive |  Campus Box 1138 |  St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

-----Original Message-----
From: Research Administration List <xxxxxx@LISTS.HEALTHRESEARCH.ORG> On Behalf Of Larry Waxler
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 1:40 PM
To: xxxxxx@LISTS.HEALTHRESEARCH.ORG
Subject: Re: [RESADM-L] Travel reimbursement on federal grants

Cancellation fees are generally considered to be an allowable expense provided there is a legitimate reason e.g. a canceled conference or the medical emergency of the traveler. Not sure how the Feds would view a broad-based cancellation initiated by an institution in this case. Let's hope the Feds provide some timely guidance.

Larry

On 3/10/2020 1:13 PM, Johnson, Charlotte wrote:
> Has anyone developed a plan for reimbursing investigators and staff
> for cancelled meetings and travel?  Or, is everyone waiting to see an
> announcement from the feds?  My first thought is that these meetings
> and travel were not cancelled because of anything that we did so costs
> already incurred should be reimbursable.   Thoughts?
>
> Thanks, Charlotte
>
> *Charlotte A. Johnson *
>
> *Director, Office of Sponsored Programs*
>
> *Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Inc*.**
>
> 401 Park Drive, Suite 401 EAST
>
> Boston, MA 02215
>
> 617-867-4929
>
> xxxxxx@HarvardPilgrim.org
> <mailto:xxxxxx@HarvardPilgrim.org>
>
> The information contained in this email message and any attachments
> may be privileged and/or confidential. It is for intended addressee(s) only.
> If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that
> any review, disclosure, reproduction, distribution or other use of
> this communication is strictly prohibited. If you received this email
> in error, please notify the sender by reply and delete the message
> without saving, copying or disclosing it. The information contained in
> this email message and any attachments may be privileged and/or confidential.
> It is for intended addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended
> recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, disclosure,
> reproduction, distribution or other use of this communication is
> strictly prohibited. If you received this email in error, please
> notify the sender by reply and delete the message without saving,
> copying or disclosing it.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
>
> To unsubscribe from the RESADM-L list, click the following link:
> http://lists.healthresearch.org/scripts/wa-HLTHRES.exe?SUBED1=RESADM-L
> &A=1
>

############################

To unsubscribe from the RESADM-L list:
write to: mailto:xxxxxx@LISTS.HEALTHRESEARCH.ORG
or click the following link:
http://lists.healthresearch.org/scripts/wa-HLTHRES.exe?SUBED1=RESADM-L&A=1

############################

To unsubscribe from the RESADM-L list:
write to: mailto:xxxxxx@LISTS.HEALTHRESEARCH.ORG
or click the following link:
http://lists.healthresearch.org/scripts/wa-HLTHRES.exe?SUBED1=RESADM-L&A=1