Research Accounting

The Mission

The mission of the Research Accounting Team is to provide accurate financial information and support to all segments of the university in a timely and professional manner. The Team is here to ensure that Researchers receive the support they need in regards to managing their grants and awards in compliance with Tri-Council, and other external funders, policies. Support and Assistance provided includes:

Communicating with researchers regarding any financial considerations related to their research projects and suspension of such projects;
Interpreting Trent University and External agencies financial policies and procedures for researchers and answer queries by phone, email, or by providing information and advice, in relation to them;
Preparing and producing financial reports as required for funding from external agencies to ensure compliance of grant expenditures with the funding agency's guidelines or budget parameters;
Administering restricted fund accounts by establishing the account numbers, monitoring revenue and expenditures, as well as maintaining the research project database, which in turn, provides grant holders to have the necessary financial tools available to accomplish their research;
Preparing the monthly journal entries for restricted funds accounts where corrections are necessary to reflect an accurate balance in each account and aiding in the monthly distribution of the statements for restricted funds accounts on a timely basis.
Providing assistance when unspent funds need to be returned to the sponsor by confirming the actual balance to be transferred after ensuring all related expenditures have been allocated to the account and preparing the journal entry once the transfer has been authorized;
Responsible for the reconciliation of University receivable accounts for funding and research invoicing and ensuring the timely remittance of funds from various agencies;
Responsible for recording research overhead and reconciling overhead accounts; and
Works closely with the Office of Research on pre-award financial budgets and ensures proper valuation of in-kind contributions included in applications being submitted for funding approvals.

Updates from the Research Accounting Team

Please check this page frequently for any updates from the Research Accounting Team.

The new Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration (TAGFA) is here!

The new guide came into effect April 1, 2020 and is a Principle Based Guide. The purpose of the new guide is to streamline and simplify the administration and use of grant funds and move to a less directive and burdensome approach for institutions and grant recipients. The guide focuses on Principles and Directives rather than requirements.

We are in the process of transitioning to the new guide and have been providing brief information sessions. Please review the guide on the Tri-Agencies webpage.

Expense Reimbursement Policy Revisions

The Travel and Business Expense Policy and Guidelines have been revised and is available in the Policy Library.

A Summary of policy changes is also available on the financial services website.

NEW Chrome River – Trent University's New Expense Reimbursement platform is now Live!

Benefits of Chrome River Travel and Expense reimbursement:

Expense reimbursement requests are quick and easy to submit using a secure website
Approval requests for different departments are routed simultaneously, saving time
Approvals may be submitted via Smartphone, Outlook or on-line, improving accessibility and reducing processing delays
Receipts are scanned and submitted for payment electronically with your reimbursement request and original receipts are sent to finance for filing
All submitted and draft expense reimbursement reports are available for viewing at any time on the Chrome River website
Track and monitor every step of the reimbursement process from your device
Retrieve historical expense reports (and receipts) for your records at any time

Instructions on how to use the new Chrome River Expense reimbursement system has been provided on the Financial Services Webpages.