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Creating a Project & Grant and Applying a Payment

Learn how to create a project or grant, configure subrecipients and funding sources, associate GL strings, and track activity through tagging and reporting.

The Projects and Grants Form is used to set up and manage individual projects or grants in Aclarian. It helps track budgets, expenditures, and related financial activity in one place.

Aclarian uses a transaction level tagging approach for projects and grants. This means transactions continue to use your existing chart of accounts, and then those transactions are tagged to a specific project or grant.

This approach allows you to:

  • Track budgets and activity without changing your General Ledger structure
  • Use existing GL account strings
  • Run detailed project and grant reports directly in the Projects and Grants module
  • Further classify activity by subrecipient, funding source, and task

Where to find the form

Go to Projects and Grants > Forms > New Project and Grant Form.

How project and grant numbering works

When creating a new project or grant, you do not enter the project or grant number manually. The system assigns the number automatically after the form is approved.

Numbering differs based on the type:

  • Grant numbers begin with 5
  • Project numbers begin with 1

Note
If you are transitioning from a legacy system and already use a familiar project or grant ID, you may want to include that legacy ID in the title field.

This can make searching easier while still allowing Aclarian to assign its own number.

Step 1: Create the project or grant

When you open the form, start by identifying whether the record is a Project or a Grant.

Then complete the main setup fields.

Common setup fields

  • Project or Grant Title
  • Use of Grant Funding
    • Capital
    • Operating
    • Both Operating and Capital
  • Grant Contract ID, if applicable
  • Project Start Date
  • Project End Date
  • Project or Grant Award Amount
  • Responsible Department
  • Personnel Costs Charged
  • Tasks to Individually Track
  • Matching Requirement
  • Source of Grant Funding
  • Match Description
  • Additional Comments
  • CFDA Number
  • CSFA Number
  • Granter Name
  • Pass Through Entity

Note
The Start Date and End Date are informational.

These dates do not automatically close the project or grant.

A separate close process is used to close projects and grants.

Note
The Award Amount is also informational.

The system does not prevent transactions from exceeding that amount.

Step 2: Configure subrecipients and funding sources

Before assigning subrecipient or funding source budgets, make sure those options exist in Data Management.

Go to Projects and Grants > Data Management > Funding Source and Subrecipient Listing.

In this area, you can:

  • View existing subrecipients
  • View existing funding sources
  • Add new subrecipients
  • Add new funding sources

These records become available for:

  • New project and grant forms
  • Existing project and grant forms that are edited later

Note
In Aclarian, Forms are used to create or initiate new records.

Data Management is used to manage supporting configuration and dropdown options.

Step 3: Add subrecipient and funding source budgets

Once your subrecipients and funding sources are available, return to the project or grant form.

In the budget sections, you can add:

  • A subrecipient
  • A fiscal year
  • A budget amount

You can repeat this process for:

  • Multiple fiscal years
  • Multiple subrecipients
  • Multiple funding sources

Each row can be edited or deleted after it is added.

Step 4: Attach supporting documents

Attach any documents related to the project or grant at the bottom of the form.

Examples may include:

  • Grant applications
  • Award agreements
  • Supporting documentation

You can continue selecting Add Attachment to upload multiple files.

Step 5: Associate GL strings

Associating GL strings is one of the most important parts of project and grant setup. This is what allows Aclarian to tag transactions to a specific project or grant.

To associate GL strings:

  1. Select an Account Type
  2. Select a Department
  3. Choose from the available GL account strings
  4. Add a budget for the current fiscal year
  5. Add additional years if needed
  6. Save the associated GL string

You can repeat this process for as many GL strings as needed.

You can also use the import option to add multiple account strings and budgets more efficiently.

How GL string budgets work

Each associated GL string can have its own yearly budget under the project or grant.

When you review the project or grant later, you can:

  • View the years and budgets assigned to the string
  • Edit budget amounts
  • Reuse the same GL string across multiple projects or grants

This allows Aclarian to reduce clutter in the chart of accounts while still supporting detailed tracking.

Important
Aclarian allows the same GL string to be associated with multiple projects or grants.

This is one of the main advantages of transaction level tagging.

Step 6: Save and submit for approval

After completing the form:

  1. Click Save
  2. Review the form in Draft status
  3. Click Submit for Approval

The form follows the normal workflow process. Once approved, the project or grant becomes available for use in transactions and reporting.

Reporting for projects and grants

After a project or grant is completed, you can review related activity in the Projects and Grants reports.

Common reports include:

  • Project Grant Budget Report
  • Project Grant Transaction Report

Project Grant Budget Report

The Project Grant Budget Report shows budget and spending details by GL string for each project or grant.

For each row, you can review:

  • Budget
  • Actuals
  • Encumbrances
  • Remaining balance

Each associated GL string appears on its own row.

Project Grant Transaction Report

The Project Grant Transaction Report shows transaction level detail for activity posted to projects and grants.

This report can show:

  • Expenses
  • Revenues
  • Liabilities
  • Tagged transactions by GL string and project or grant

How transaction tagging works

Once a GL string has been associated with a project or grant, that project or grant becomes available as a selectable option on forms that use that GL string.

For example, on a Check Request:

  1. Select a GL string
  2. If that GL string is associated with one or more projects or grants, a dropdown appears
  3. Select the applicable project or grant
  4. Optionally select a linked task, if tasks are configured

When the transaction is saved and approved, it appears in the related project and grant reports.

How actuals appear in reporting

Once a tagged transaction is completed:

  • The transaction appears in the Project Grant Transaction Report
  • The amount updates the Actuals in the Project Grant Budget Report

From the budget report, you can often drill into actual detail and open the source transaction for review.

How to associate transactions with subrecipients or funding sources

After the project or grant form is completed, additional options become available in the subrecipient and funding source budget sections.

You can click Add Transaction to associate a transaction with:

  • A specific subrecipient
  • A specific funding source
  • A specific fiscal year

When adding the transaction, you can specify whether it is:

  • A linked transaction already in the system
  • An external transaction being recorded manually

If it is a linked transaction, you can select:

  • The related transaction
  • The amount to associate
  • Whether to include it on SIFA, if applicable

This allows for more granular reporting by subrecipient and funding source.

Tasks and compliance tracking

Projects and grants can also support:

  • Task level tracking
  • Compliance activities

If tasks are configured, transactions can be tagged to both:

  • The project or grant
  • The individual task

Compliance activities can also be tracked through related forms and task areas.

Note
Task setup, compliance setup, reporting details, and project or grant close processes may be covered in separate articles or training materials.

Summary

The Projects and Grants Form in Aclarian allows you to create and manage projects and grants without changing your existing General Ledger structure. By associating GL strings and using transaction level tagging, you can track budgets, actuals, subrecipients, funding sources, and transaction detail in one place. This makes it easier to manage project and grant activity while keeping the chart of accounts clean and flexible.

Need help?
If you have questions about setting up projects and grants, contact the Aclarian Client Support team for assistance.