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Invoicing Procedures

**Note: the following information on invoicing does NOT pertain to Farmer/Rancher grant recipients.** 

Western SARE grants are issued as cost reimbursable subawards.  This means the subrecipient (grant recipient) will invoice Western SARE/MSU for allowable project costs incurred.  Per the terms of the Subaward Agreement, Western SARE/MSU subrecipients shall submit invoices not more often than monthly and not less frequently than quarterly for allowable costs incurred.     

Invoicing Instructions

Invoices must meet the requirements of the Agreement Terms and Conditions.  Invoices that do not meet these requirements will be returned to the subrecipient for necessary corrections.

All invoices submitted to Western SARE must include the following:

  • Reference to the MSU Subaward ID (see your Subaward Agreement; begins with G, e.g., G123-20-W1234)
  • Include current period and cumulative costs by budget category.
  • Signature, date and certified as to truth and accuracy. Invoices will include a certification, signed by an authorized official, which reads as follows (must be verbatim): "By signing this report, I certify to the best of my knowledge and belief that the report is true, complete, and accurate, and the expenditures, disbursements and cash receipts are for the purposes and objectives set forth in the terms and conditions of the Federal award. I am aware that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent information, or the omission of any material fact, may subject me to criminal, civil or administrative penalties for fraud, false statements, false claims or otherwise. (U.S. Code Title 18, Section 1001 and Title 31, Sections 3729–3730 and 3801–3812)."

All invoices must be emailed to:

invoices-wsare@montana.edu

Please note: 10% of total award budget is held pending receipt and approval of the final report.  Therefore, if an interim invoice exceeds 90% of the award budget, a partial payment of up to 90% of the budget will be made with the remainder paid with the final invoice.

Invoicing Tips

  • Invoice regularly (monthly or at a minimum, quarterly)
    • Irregular invoicing can be an indication no progress is being made on the project and will be reported to the Program Manager.
  • Invoice by budget categories that align with the approved project budget.
    • Invoice expenditures will be compared to the approved project budget found in Attachment 5 of the Subaward Agreement.
    • If the subrecipient cannot invoice by specific budget categories, eg., salaries, benefits, supplies, contracted services, etc., Western SARE will request backup documentation, e.g., a detail transaction report, in order to determine whether spending is in alignment with the approved budget. Providing such backup with invoice submission will expedite review.
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  • Indicate whether the invoice is “interim” or “final”. Final invoices must be marked “final”.
  • Follow all invoicing instructions.

Invoice Payment Delays

Payment of invoices may be delayed for any of the following reasons.

  • The invoice does not follow the instructions noted above and in the Subaward Agreement (Attachment 6).
  • An interim progress or final report has not been submitted.
    • Progress reports are due annually each year the project is ongoing (see Reporting Expectations above and in the Subaward Agreement Attachment 4A)
    • A final report is due no later than 60 days from the project end date.
  • An interim or final report was submitted, however, revisions were requested and not addressed – the PI should address these in a timely manner.
  • Backup documentation was requested but not provided.
  • Cumulative costs indicate over-spending in one or more budget category in excess of 10% of the total budget and/or a new budget category has been introduced.
    • Re-budgeting among budget categories in excess of 10% of the overall award amount and/or introducing a new budget category requires Western SARE pre-approval (see Requesting Project Modifications below).
    • Invoice payment may be delayed until a re-budget request has been submitted to and approved by Western SARE.
  • The invoice was sent to the incorrect contact.

For your convenience, a standard invoice template is provided.  Institutions may choose to use this template or their own so long as all invoicing requirements are met.