In situations requiring work to begin before an award’s official start date, you have two mechanisms for incurring costs early: Advance Spending and Pre-Award Spending.

Advance Spending

Use when: The sponsor has not yet issued the official award (it is still being negotiated).

This mechanism creates an early award fund to allow work to begin and prevent the need for cost transfers. It is also used for awards with restricted carry-forward that receive an annual Purchase Order (PO) from the sponsor.

How to Request: Work with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) to submit a Pre-Award/Early Setup Request via Cayuse.

• You will need to specify the exact amount of direct and F&A costs needed and provide a rationale.
• Risk Note: If the award is not granted, is for a lower amount, or has a start date outside the 90-day pre-award window (for federal funds), the responsible Dean’s office will work with the department and PI to identify an alternate fund to cover any unallowable charges.

Pre-Award Spending

Use when: The sponsor has already issued the official award.

Most federal sponsors allow recipients of grants and cooperative agreements under Uniform Guidance to incur costs up to 90 calendar days before the official start date without prior approval. For non-federal sponsors, you must provide written approval from the sponsor.

If your OSP-received federal award has allowable costs that fall within this 90-day window, you may request Pre-Award Spending.

How to Request: Work with OSP to submit a Pre-Award/Early Setup Request via Cayuse to adjust the award’s official start date.

Note on Travel Expenses

Rice/Oracle (iO) posts actual travel costs after a travel expense report is completed.

Therefore, if travel is booked before the award start date but the travel itself occurs during the period of performance, the final cost (posted when the expense report clears) will be allocable to the project.

• Should this rare scenario occur, the cost must be initially posted to a departmental COA. Once the award period begins, the cost can be transferred to the sponsored project and must be clearly documented to confirm its allocability.

[Post Updated on 10.16.25]