FAQs

Accounting units are generally serviced by the Financial Services division by range.  You can reference the accounting unit ranges and types at the Chart of Accounts Structure page.  An abbreviated guide is listed below.
 

Click on this link for a Chart of Accounts listing.

Our tax ID number is 36-1408475.  You can see a list of other important numbers and designations on our Legal Codes page.

Use the Grant Balance Tutorial (PDF) for step-by-step instructions on how to use BI reports to access available balance information.

*Please note* Access is not automatically granted - please check our Obtaining Access section to find instructions for accessing web reports. Individuals who already have reports access can check their level by clicking Detail Reports\Security Access Check. 

Use the Gift Balance Tutorial for step-by-step instructions on how to use BI reports to access available balance information.

*Please note* Access is not automatically granted - please check our Obtaining Access section to find instructions for accessing web reports. Individuals who already have reports access can check their level by clicking Detail Reports\Security Access Check. 

The current fringe benefit rates are available on our rates page.

The current indirect cost (facilities and administration) rates are available on our rates page.

The current mileage rate is available on the finance department's website on their mileage reimbursement page.

The current daily meal allowance or "per diem" is linked to the Finance department's travel policy page. The allowance per meal and list of the cities that are considered exceptions are also noted.

https://www.luc.edu/finance/expensepolicy.shtml

https://www.luc.edu/finance/perdiem.shtml

The University is a non-profit entity and typically cannot pay sales tax on purchases made in the state of Illinois. Out of state sales tax may be reimbursable. Please contact the Purchasing department for more information regarding the University sales tax exemption and see the policy at https://www.luc.edu/purchasing/purchmanual/univpolicies/index.shtml.

SPA mailing address & other contact information:

820 N. Michigan Ave
Lewis Towers 1300
Chicago, IL 60611

Phone: (312)915-8730
Fax: (312)915-8745

General Inbox: GRNTCON@luc.edu
Webpage: LUC.edu/spa

Click here to go to the general financial services FAQ page.

Grant expenditures follow posted University policies in addition to sponsor-specific policy.  Sponsor-specifiy policy may be either more restrictive than University policy or less, however, grant expenditures should follow the more restrictive guidelines, sponsor or University.

Grants are also reliant on timing.  Timeliness of posting charges, reviewing for correctness, and requesting adjustments within a reasonable amount of time is important to successfully manage a grant.

A good place to get started to learn about grants is to review the Policies & Procedures posted to the SPA site and materials provided by the grant sponsor to determine the requirements to manage the funding.  Additionally, you may request training from SPA for yourself or a group by clicking the Training Request button located on the left side of the SPA homepage.

Unlike your personal credit card, charges with a University ProCard are not automatically viewable on your accounting unit.  ProCard charges are collected each billing cycle, downloaded, and posted to your AU on a fixed schedule determined by the ProCard Office.  ProCard "swipes" on the last few days of the month may skip posting the following month and instead post to your AU the month after that, 2 months (approx 5 weeks) after the "swipe".  The billing cycle ends on the 27th of the month or if the date falls on a weekend or holiday, on the next business day. 

***See sample calendar below. ***

If ProCard was swiped on April 28^th the charge will not post in April or May, but will post the first week of June on June 2nd and will be viewable on ad-hoc reports at that time.  The charge will be backdated into the month of May and will be included in the May AU Summary reports.  Simply, charges on the 27th or before will post to your AU on the 1st instance of DL#2 (in dark blue) and charges after the 27th will post to your AU on the 2nd instance of DL#2 (in dark blue) as noted on the ProCard Calendar of Events.  Here, the neon blue highlighted days are all the same billing cycle that will post June 2.

Find the current ProCard Calendar of Events online at https://luc.edu/finance/procard.shtml.  If you have questions about when your ProCard charge will post to your AU, please contact the ProCard office directly at ProCard-Admin@luc.edu.

ProCard charges are downloaded from the PNC system on a set schedule. If you do not make changes in the PNC system before the download occurs, the updated information stored in the PNC system will not be incorporated into the download. Further, changes made in the PNC system after the download occurs will never be automatically reflected on your reports. If changes need to be made after the download occurs, an expense transfer form will need to be submitted.  Please see Online Forms https://www.luc.edu/finance/forms.shtml for the expense transfer form to move a charge to the correct place.

In order to be in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines, Loyola cannot allow the deposit of personal miscellaneous income checks into University accounts.  These transactions distort the financial reporting of revenues and expenses.  Miscellaneous checks received by departments and/or PIs should only be deposited into an Accounting Unit (AU), if that AU incurred the expense to generate the revenue. 

Further, there may be personal income tax implications when a check issued to an individual is paid over to Loyola & subsequently deposited at Loyola.  If an individual can designate where and how to get paid, especially if he/she will be in control of the funds later, this is a potential case of Assignment of Income, as explained in IRS Publication 525 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p525.pdf.  When Loyola University Chicago is not the beneficial owner of the income, the individual is responsible for all reporting and tax obligations on the income as required under applicable Federal and State tax laws.  Please consult your personal tax advisor regarding personal income tax questions.

See our “Obtaining Access” link https://www.luc.edu/spa/obtainingaccess/ for help finding some of the most common access request locations.  Access is requested from the granting department for that system, function or resource and is not managed by SPA.

Once SPA establishes the Accounting Unit, it will then be included in HSD's AU run which occurs every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night. An AU will appear in the Portal the following morning after the overnight job completes. For more information on Portal access, please see the Portal section under Obtaining Access.

The Principal Investigator must sign the line below the certification statement. This ensures that the PI is aware of his or her responsibilities regarding the fiscal management of their grant. The PI should also sign the top line that says PI/Budget Administrator signature, and print his or her name where indicated. This Sample Signature Card is a PDF sample of a completed Signature Authorization Form, where “Jane Smith” is the PI.

Loyola's Accounts Payable department maintains this form. It can be obtained by contacting the AP office at Payables@luc.edu. For general information on the W-9, please visit the IRS site.

To set up Loyola as a vendor, please forward the appropriate document(s) to GRNTCON@luc.edu. SPA Accountants complete these forms in coordination with the Treasury department and submit them on behalf of the University. Any questions about this process can also be directed to GRNTCON@luc.edu or 312-915-8737.

Loyola's Accounts Payable department has launched a new electronic W-9 form which can be found here. Detailed instructions are provided here.