What This Does
Support budget execution for research funds after adoption, including purchases, orders, travel expenses, honoraria, outsourcing, and fiscal year-end processing. In light of the call for proposals guidelines, grant conditions, and institutional regulations, organize the points to confirm before ordering and the information to retain as vouchers.
- Target Users: Researchers, URA, laboratory secretaries, departmental administrative staff, project managers
- Issues to Solve: It is difficult to judge whether a purchase can be made with research funds, which expense category it falls under, by when an order should be placed, and what should be retained as vouchers
- Expected Effects: Reduce inappropriate expenditures, delays in execution at fiscal year-end, insufficient vouchers, and inability to explain during accounting audits
Required Inputs
- Funding Type: KAKENHI, JST, AMED, NEDO, private grants, joint research funds, etc.
- Details of Expenditure: Goods/services to be purchased, travel expenses, honoraria, employment, outsourcing, etc.
- Amount and Timing: Estimated amount, desired order date, scheduled delivery/implementation date
- Relationship with the Research Plan: For what research purpose or work it will be used
- Accounting Regulations and Operations of the Affiliated Institution(Optional): Ordering rules, acceptance inspection, travel expense regulations, honorarium unit prices
- Current Budget Balance(Optional): Balance by expense category and fiscal year
- Progress Information(Optional):
project-progress-trackermonthly progress, milestones, delay/risk information
What It Produces
- Pre-Order Check Results: Whether expenditure is allowed, expense category, points of contact, pending items
- Voucher Checklist: Quotations, purchase orders, delivery notes, acceptance inspection records, business trip reports, honorarium records, etc.
- Execution Schedule: Internal deadlines, delivery deadlines, acceptance inspection deadlines, payment deadlines
- Risk Comments: Points likely to require explanation during accounting audits/inspections
Procedure
1. Confirm the purpose of the expenditure
First, make it possible to explain in 1-2 sentences how the expenditure relates to the research plan.
この支出は、研究計画の [作業項目] において [目的] のために必要であり、
[成果物・実験・調査・解析] に直接使用する。
For expenditures whose relationship to the research purpose cannot be explained, reorganize the use before determining whether they are allowable.
2. Confirm funding rules and institutional rules separately
Even for the same expenditure, it is necessary to satisfy both the rules of the funding agency and the accounting rules of the affiliated institution.
| Rule | Details to Confirm |
|---|---|
| Funding Agency | Restrictions on use, non-eligible expenses, expense categories, fiscal year, carryover, combined use |
| Affiliated Institution | Ordering authority, competitive quotations, acceptance inspection, travel expense regulations, honorarium unit prices, contract procedures |
| Research Plan | Consistency with the purpose and budget breakdown in the application form/grant application form |
| Contracts and Ethics | Joint research contracts, ethics review, personal information, intellectual property, export control |
3. Confirm by expense category
3a. Purchase of goods
- Relationship to the research purpose
- Whether it is a consumable or equipment/fixtures
- Quotation and contract procedures according to unit price and total amount
- Delivery timing and inspection deadline
- For highly versatile goods, can research-specific use be explained?
- If purchased at fiscal year-end, can it be delivered and put into use within the fiscal year?
3b. Travel expenses
- Does the purpose of the trip correspond to the research plan?
- Distinction among conference participation, joint research meetings, surveys, and presentation of results
- Are the route, daily allowance, and accommodation expenses in accordance with the travel expense regulations of the affiliated institution?
- Documentary evidence such as travel orders, reports, participation certificates, and receipts
- Apportionment and explanation when personal schedules are mixed in
3c. Personnel costs and honoraria
- Are the work content, hours, unit price, and recipient clear?
- Which applies: employment contract, commission, or honorarium?
- Is the recipient not someone who cannot be paid, such as the principal investigator themselves or a relative?
- Are work schedules, work records, deliverables, and payment records retained?
- Is there no conflict of interest with education/evaluation when paying students?
3d. Commissioning and outsourcing
- Are you not outsourcing the essential part of the research entirely?
- Are the commissioned specifications, quotation, contract, deliverables, and inspection method clear?
- Does the contract include the handling of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property?
- Have you confirmed whether subcontracting and overseas commissioning are permitted?
4. Confirm the fiscal year and deadlines
List the following deadlines and use the earliest internal deadline as the standard.
- Order request deadline
- Contract conclusion deadline
- Delivery/service completion deadline
- Inspection deadline
- Payment document submission deadline
- Deadline for reporting to the funding agency
- Deadline for carryover/change applications
So that fiscal year-end expenditures do not appear to be "budget consumption," make it possible to explain the research necessity and the actual use after delivery.
4b. Confirm the gap between progress and budget execution
If there are monthly progress reports or milestones, do not judge solely by budget execution; compare them with the state of research progress.
| Situation | Risk | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Progress is slow but execution is early | The explanation of correspondence to the research purpose becomes weak | Confirm the purpose of expenditure and the usage plan after delivery |
| Progress is smooth but execution is late | Fiscal year-end execution and delivery delays | Confirm the order deadline, inspection deadline, and whether carryover is necessary |
| Personnel costs unexecuted due to delayed hiring | Research plan delays and budget surplus | Confirm the hiring plan, budget category changes, and whether FA consultation is necessary |
| Execution by collaborating institutions is not visible | Insufficient documentary evidence at reporting and audit | Establish the execution status of collaborating institutions and where to confirm documentary evidence |
5. Organize the documentary evidence
Before spending, decide in advance which vouchers will be necessary for later explanation.
| Expenditure | What to keep |
|---|---|
| Goods | Quotation, purchase order, delivery note, acceptance record, invoice, memo on purpose of use |
| Travel expenses | Business trip application, itinerary, participation certificate, receipts, trip report, outcome memo |
| Honoraria | Details of request, basis for unit price, work record, receipt record, deliverables |
| Contracting | Specifications, contract, deliverables, acceptance record, invoice |
6. Output the judgment result
Create a memo in the following format that can be handed to the researcher or administrative staff.
## 発注前確認メモ
- 支出内容:
- 資金種別:
- 研究目的との関係:
- 想定費目:
- 支出可否: 可 / 要確認 / 不可
- 根拠:
- 追加確認先:
- 必要証憑:
- 期限:
- 注意点:
Judgment criteria
- Can you explain not just that it is "related to the research," but its direct relationship to the adopted research plan?
- Does it satisfy both the rules of the funding agency and the accounting rules of the affiliated institution?
- Can delivery, completion of services, and acceptance be done within the fiscal year?
- Can the purpose of the expenditure be explained to a third party using only the vouchers?
- Check especially carefully for highly versatile goods, fiscal year-end expenditures, honoraria, and contracting
Common mistakes and countermeasures
| Mistake | Countermeasure |
|---|---|
| Judging that "because it could be purchased before, it can be purchased this time too" | Check the funding type, fiscal year, research plan, and institutional operations every time |
| Consulting about the expense category or whether it is allowed after placing the order | Start the procedure after creating a pre-order confirmation memo |
| Delivery crosses into the next fiscal year | Confirm the delivery date before ordering, and if it is difficult, consider a carryover or change application |
| The research purpose of the travel expenses is vague | Leave the purpose of the trip, destination, outcomes, and relationship to the research plan in the trip report |
| The actual work for the honorarium cannot be explained | Record the work dates, hours, content, and deliverables |
Quality standards
- Whether the allowability of the expenditure, the expense category, and the point of contact for confirmation are distinguished
- Whether it is clearly stated whether the basis for the judgment is the call for proposals, grant conditions, affiliated institution regulations, or the research plan
- Whether unclear points are left as "requires confirmation," with the point of contact and deadline indicated
- Whether the risks of fiscal year-end, high cost, versatile goods, contracting, and honoraria have been checked
- Whether the voucher list is one that allows a third party to explain the purpose of the expenditure even when viewed later
Available Tools
- Read: Reading the call for proposals, grant conditions, budget table, accounting regulations, and quotations
- Write: Creating the pre-order confirmation memo, voucher checklist, and deadline table
- WebSearch / WebFetch: Confirming the latest rules of the funding agency and affiliated institution
- Bash: Calculating the remaining budget, formatting the deadline table, and CSV aggregation