RBSA Administration, Management, and Responsibilities

 

RBSA Management

RBSAs are not centrally managed by the university. Once an RBSA is set up, the Principal Investigator (PI) in conjunction with their unit assumes full responsibility for its ongoing financial management and operational compliance. These responsibilities are collectively referred to as standard RBSA maintenance.

Mismanaging an RBSA can have serious consequences for the university and can lead to:

  • Jeopardizing CU’s intellectual property
  • Risking current and future federal funding
  • Damaging CU’s overall reputation with the community
  • Exposing the Principal Investigator (PI) to potential personal liability
  • Creating unnecessary and preventable risk for the home unit

RBSA Responsibilities

Department Research Administrators (DRAs) and Finance staff, along with PIs, hold distinct responsibilities that are essential to the efficient operation of RBSAs. While each group has unique roles, their responsibilities are interdependent, and effective collaboration between DRAs/Finance staff and PIs is necessary to ensure smooth and successful operations.

Primary Responsibilities of Finance and Department Research Administrators

If your role is Finance or DRA related, you play a vital role in the ongoing management of RBSAs. Your responsibilities help ensure smooth operations and compliance with university policies.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Monitoring and managing RBSA financial activity
  • Ensuring rates are applied correctly and consistently
  • Assisting with journal entries, invoicing, revenue recognition, and account code correction
  • Coordinating with BFP, OCG (if selling to external customers), and CCO
  • Maintaining documentation for audits and internal reviews
  • Supporting the PI and unit in meeting compliance standards

Primary Responsibilities of Principal Investigators

As a PI overseeing an active RBSA, you are responsible for maintaining the RBSA and ensuring that all related operations comply with campus policies and procedures.

This includes:

  • Overseeing the financial and operational integrity of the RBSA
  • Certifying rates with BFP annually (some exclusions may apply)
  • Ensuring compliance with university regulations and guidelines
  • Collaborating with unit staff, BFP, OCG (if selling to external customers), and CCO
  • Maintaining documentation for audits or reviews
  • Completing OCG RBSA setup processes (if selling to external customers)
  • Ensuring that services provided align with the approved scope and rates
  • Submitting DEPA annually

Your leadership is essential to the success and sustainability of the RBSA.

RBSA Feedback Form

Do you have ideas, questions, or feedback on the RBSA program? Please share your thoughts to help us improve and better serve you.

RBSA Feedback Form

Communication and Compliance

If there are any changes made to the RBSA, such as updates to services, rates, equipment, or scope of work established in an accepted/signed contract, the PI in conjunction with the unit are responsible for notifying OCG Services and BFP of those changes.

Adding New Services or Equipment

OCG Services must conduct determinations for each service offered utilizing any piece of capital equipment in an RBSA. Additional services and equipment can be added after the initial RBSA setup, but a new determination must be completed when:

  • New services are added to the RBSA
  • Adding new or existing equipment that was not previously determined to be used for the RBSA
  • Replacing equipment in the RBSA

Changes to a RBSA

OCG Services must update compliance checks and documentation when certain aspects of the RBSA are changed. Email OCG Services when any of the Following Changes are made to the RBSA:

  • A foreign national holding a visa will be working on services
  • The PI of the RBSA changes, leaves CU, or goes on extended leave
  • A previously determined service is no longer being offered
  • You wish to close/deactivate the RBSA

Being a Good Steward for Your Services

PI’s are responsible for maintaining and ensuring that all employees participating in their RBSA operations are also good stewards. This means,

  • Ensure campus policies are being followed. This means having oversight of your RBSA. You cannot be hands-off!
  • Employees have been informed of their responsibilities in fiscal roles and responsibilities in APS #4014.
  • Regularly reviewing your finances with your unit to ensure that expenses are aligned with your operations, and that no inappropriate or unallowable expenses accrue.

Invoicing and Payment Collection

Units with RBSAs are responsible for invoicing and payment collection, including maintaining and documenting all issued invoices (for both internal and external customers). Depending on the terms and conditions established in conjunction with OCG Services, different payment terms for external customers may be established.

  • Advanced or Upfront Payment:

    Units may choose to request full or partial payment before services are performed for external customers. If you prefer this option, be sure to inform OCG Services during the RBSA setup process so the payment terms can be reflected accurately in the contract. BFP recommends this if the customer is able to agree to those terms.

    If you opt to do advanced or upfront payment, you may need to consider recording this as unearned revenue until the goods or services have been provided. Please reach out to your campus accountant for the proper accounting steps.

  • NET Payment Terms:

    For external customers. The standard term is NET 30 (payment due 30 days from the invoice date). However, units may select a different NET term that suits their needs. Communicate your preferred terms to OCG Services during the RBSA setup process.

Certifying and Recertifying rates with Budget and Fiscal Planning

Uniform Guidance and the Office of the State Controller prohibits the university from subsidizing external customers. This means BFP must ensure all service activities are at a minimum cost recovery rate. To do this, the unit must certify rates with BFP by the beginning of each fiscal year (July 1st). There are a few exceptions, see below.

To ensure rates are certified by the beginning of each fiscal year, BFP conducts an annual rate certification in the spring of every year, starting in January. The rate sheet submission deadline for the annual rate certification is April 30th of every year.

Any RBSA that does not recertify would be considered delinquent and out of compliance and may be shut down.

 
Graphic showing the lifecycle of an RBSA

The RBSA Lifecycle

Annual Recertification Based on Customer Type and Annual Sales

If there is a mix of customer types, use the guidelines below for the highest risk level for when you should be recertifying your RBSA.

Note: Sales are revenue coming into the RBSA, not the net profit. Net profit is defined as (Revenue – Expenses) and is not the same as annual sales.

If rates are added at any time, the RBSA must be re-determined by OCG service contracts and the rates recertified by BFP.

Annual
Sales		Internal CustomersFederal CustomersExternal Customers
Less than
$10K		Risk: Low
No rate submission
required		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually
$10K -
$500K		Risk: Medium
Rate submission is
required at least every two
years		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually
Greater
than $500K		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually		Risk: High
Rate submission is
required annually

Quote Authority Delegation

If the unit wishes to be set up for quote authority delegation, the unit will have additional responsibilities as well as the standard RBSA maintenance.

"Quote authority" is the authority to issue quotes without going through OCG Services. This is an optional delegation made by OCG Services, and not every RBSA is eligible. More information can be found on OCG’s Service Quotation Authority page.

Closing Out an RBSA

When you have determined it is time to close your RBSA, it is important to ensure that proper steps are taken to ensure a successful close-out of your RBSA.

Important: If you want to deactivate an RBSA, the speedtype should not be repurposed for other uses. It should always be tied to your RBSA, even if it was inactivated!

RBSA Closeout

More information can be found on the Chapter 13 Departmental Financial Guide.

Step 1 – Notify BFP and OCG

Notify BFP and OCG to let them know you no longer want to keep your RBSA active. This will start the inactivation process.

Note: RBSA’s are not tied to a specific project. So even though one agreement comes to an end, the RBSA can stay active and sell the same services to other customers. All OCG setup processes have to be re-done when closed RBSAs decide they want to reinitiate sales to external customers.

Step 2 – Ensure No Outstanding Charges

Double-check that the SpeedType will not incur outstanding charges for the following month, including Fringe, GAIR. A good way to check if a SpeedType will have an incoming expense for Fringe and GAIR is to look at the encumbrances by using the m-FIN Outstanding Encumbrances report.

If the SpeedType is in deficit, you will want to account for any potential PIE charges. For more details about campus PIE, visit CCOs website

Step 3 – Resolve Any Cash Surpluses or Deficits

Remaining balances (positive or negative) cannot be closed out by CCO. All SpeedTypes need to net zero before it is closed out. Because RBSAs may not charge internal customers more than the cost of the goods or services they provide and are intended to break even, they cannot be shut down if a surplus or deficit balance exists.

Resolving Deficits

If your RBSA has a cash deficit, the department must resolve the deficit before having the SpeedType deactivated. There are a couple of ways you can do this:

  • Transfer in cash from the Fund 78 reserve (if available).
  • Transfer expenses from the Fund 28/29 to a discretionary SpeedType (like a Fund 10 or 11).
  • Transfer in cash from another Fund 2X SpeedType, like a 20 or 26.
    • Federal cost principles prohibit the use of a surplus in one internal RBSA to fund the deficits of other internal RBSAs or other operations.

Resolving Surpluses

If your RBSA has a cash surplus, the type of customer from whom the revenue came will dictate how the money is handled.

External Profit:

Any surplus generated from external customers is considered external profit. This can be transferred over to another Fund 29 or 78 for discretionary use.

Internal Surplus:

Any surplus generated from internal and federal customers is NOT considered external profit and should not be moved to another SpeedType outside of its Fund 28/78 pair.

After all applicable profit transfers have been made, the balance that is in excess of the 60 day reserve should be refunded to the internal customers on a pro-rata basis. The refund should be allocated based on charges to all internal customers in the last 12 months.

Step 4 - Check the SpeedType Balance Sheet

Using the m-FIN Balance Sheet Summary, run a report for your RBSA SpeedType and ensure there are no remaining assets or liabilities. Any remaining assets or liabilities can prevent your SpeedType from being closed out.

  • If there are non-cash assets like Accounts Receivable or remaining Liabilities, such as Accounts Payable. Contact your campus accountant for assistance in resolving those account balances.

Step 5 – Notify CCO Accounting to Close Your RBSA SpeedType

Email CCO Accounting to close out the Fund 28/29 RBSA SpeedType and its associated Fund 78.

Step 6 – Update BFP and OCG

When the SpeedType is closed out, update BFP and OCG to let them know that the SpeedType is fully closed out.

FAQ

Unfortunately, this does happen from time to time. If this does occur, please contact OCG Services for guidance. Since a lot of RBSAs have worked for internal or federal customers, many RBSAs don’t think about asking for payment up front with external customers. When dealing with external customers, you have the option to set up advanced payment terms. We recommend using advanced payment terms with external customers. You can also ask for partial payment up front, or payment at various milestones before work can continue, and have it incorporated into the contract. This is to help manage the risk of the customer not paying.

Also, depending on how far in advance the payment is made, you may need to consider recording this as unearned revenue until the goods or services have been provided. Please reach out to your campus accountant for the proper accounting steps.

Yes. Equipment valued over $5,000 that was used for a sponsored project and you now want to use it in your RBSA, OCG must complete a determination, regardless of whether the equipment is new or already in your lab.

Why is this required?

There may be existing terms and conditions tied to the equipment that could conflict with your intended use. For example:

  • The equipment might be on loan from another institution or organization where the intended use is for sponsored research
  • There could be a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) in place that restricts non-research or commercial use
  • The sponsored research for which the equipment was purchased for might have terms and conditions in its agreement, like property deposition terms, or it might become federal property after the conclusion of the grant

It depends.

  • If you remove services:

    You should notify OCG to let them know that changes were made to the RBSA. You should contact BFP to recertify your rates to reflect the removal of services.

  • If you’re adding new services:

    You should submit a redetermination with OCG. You should contact BFP to recertify your rates to reflect the addition of services after the redetermination is complete.

  • If you are changing or consolidating your rates, and the rates provide the same service as originally approved by OCG in the determination (with no new rates added outside of that determination):

    You do not need to involve OCG. However, BFP will need to recertify the new consolidated rates.

If you’re unsure, please contact OCG Services for guidance.

You’re welcome to submit an updated RBSA sheet to rates@colorado.edu at any point during the year.

Yes, but that does not relieve you of your responsibility for overseeing the RBSA. According to Regent policy (APS #4014 – Fiscal Roles and Responsibilities), Fiscal Principals, also known as Chairs & Directors (or equivalent) and Principal Investigators, are entrusted with fiscal responsibility for their assigned units.

Each sponsored project (including RBSAs) has an identified PI or Faculty member charged with the responsibility for the administration and fiscal oversight of the sponsored project, and is entrusted with the fiscal responsibility for their assigned services.

If you’re unable to submit your annual rate certification by April 30, the RBSA review team in BFP cannot guarantee your new rates will be certified in time for the start of the new fiscal year. You should still submit the rate sheet even if it is late. BFP will still need to certify your rates, even if that falls after the new fiscal year.

You’re welcome to submit a new RBSA sheet to rates@colorado.edu at any point during the year.

No.

Quote authority is assigned to specific individuals. For example, if the PI of the lab has quote authority, only the PI is the one that can submit quotes.

Only the individual who has been formally granted quote authority may issue quotes. This ensures accountability and compliance with university procedures.

Reach out to OCG Services for more information about Quote Authority.

No. If a customer requests to use their quote contract template, you must send it to OCG Service Contracts for review and negotiation. Units are not authorized to sign customer generated standard terms and conditions. See OCG's website for further instructions.

The University of Colorado fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 each year. Service quote reports are due to OCG two weeks after each fiscal quarter.

Quarter 1 (July – September): Due second week of October

Quarter 2 (October – December): Due second week of January

Quarter 3 (January – March): Due second week of April

Quarter 4 (April – June): Due second week of July

See OCG’s website for further information.

It depends on the type of encumbrance that is listed.

Payroll Encumbrance – This means that you have an employee who has funding distributed to your SpeedType. You should submit a Funding Change in HCM or work with your department's HR Liaison or Finance Staff to submit the Funding Change for the affected employee.

PO Encumbrances – This means that you have an open purchase order where a vendor has not submitted an invoice for payment in CU Marketplace. This can occur because:

  • Vendor cancelled the order, and the PO was never closed with the PSC.
  • Goods or services were received, but the vendor never submitted an invoice for payment to apinvoice@cu.edu.
  • Purchase order is still active and goods or services have not been received yet.

Reach out to changeorder@cu.edu for assistance.

SPO Encumbrance – This means that you have an open standing purchase order (blanket purchase order (BPO)). If the SPO/BPO is no longer needed, or needs to be established on another SpeedType, reach out to changeorder@cu.edu for assistance