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Retired SERA Guide

With the introduction of SAGE Central, all GCA functions are now done there. 

This guide has been “retired” but retained for now.

GCA staff use the System for Electronic Research Accounting (SERA) to manage SAGE-related items of the following types:

  • Advance Budget Number Requests (ADV): Campus users create these to request a budget number in advance of their award so that they can begin spending the award.
  • Funding Actions (FA): OSP staff create these to manage awards received by the UW.
  • Post-Award Changes (PAC): OSP staff create these to manage any award changes made after the initial receipt.
  • Other Forms (OTH): GCA staff create these to record and track forms related to setting up new budgets in addition to Advances, Funding Actions and Post-Award Changes.

Other: Assign/Confirm Budget Number

The Assign/Confirm Budget Number link appears on the left navigation menu.  Use it to either assign a new budget number to the item, or change the budget number listed.

Clicking the link opens a pop-up window. The read-only section provides information about the item you are working on.

sera other item assign confirm budget number

Field Description
Record ID Unique, system-assigned number
Form Type The type selected when you created the form
Budget Request Type(s) Lists the type or types selected
PI Name The Principal Investigator for this form
Responsible Department The Principal Investigator’s department
Budget Blank until assigned
Biennium Blank until a budget number is assigned

You can edit the following fields.

Field Description
Type of Budget Select the appropriate budget category from the drop-down menu
Budget Number When you select the Type of Budget, the system will automatically populate the Budget Number field with the next available budget number of that type.
Budget Biennium Once there is a Budget Number, the system will also populate the Biennium value.

Other: Make Inactive

To remove an item from the system, click on the Make Inactive button next to the item on the tasklist or open the item and use the link on the left navigation menu. A confirmation pop-up will appear. Click OK to remove the item, or Cancel to leave the item in the system.

sera other form make inactive confirmation

Other: Reassign

You can change the Other Form’s assignment by clicking the Reassign link on the left navigation menu.

Clicking the link opens a pop-up window. The read-only section provides information about the form you are working on.

sera other item reassign

  • Record ID – unique, system-assigned number
  • Form Type – New, Renewal, Extension or Supplement
  • Budget Request Type(s) – the type(s) chosen
  • PI Name – from the eGC1
  • Responsible Department – name and org code
  • Budget – the number assigned/confirmed for this form
  • Biennium – the budget’s corresponding biennium
  • Current Location – the Team/Desk or location the advance is assigned to

The editable fields are:

  • Comments – an optional field; any comments entered will appear on the History & Comments page
  • Assign Item…to Location – select the new Team/Desk or location from the drop-down menu

Click Reassign to complete the process or Cancel to return to the advance.

SERA Budget Number Setup

To create a new “Other” type form, hover your mouse over the Create New Record tab to see the menu. Click on Other.

The initial SERA Budget Number Setup page will display. Use it to select which Form Type you need. Once you have made that choice, the full form will display. You cannot change the form type selection once the full form is displayed.

sera create an other form item

Completing the Form

Basic Information Section

sera other item basic information section

Field Description
Form Type The type you selected when creating the new item.

Choices are:

  • Advance Report from OSP: Historical: GCA used to generate a monthly report of NIH grants that were close to expiration and, in partnership with OSP, set up advance renewal budgets on behalf of campus to ensure spending continuity.
  • Discretionary Memo: Campus submits a discretionary request memo to GCA where it is reviewed for compliance with University policy and signed when approved.
  • eFa/ePAC Sub Budget: Used when a sub budget needs to be set up based on information included in a Funding Action or Post-Award Change. FAs and PACs only allow one budget number to be assigned.
  • Lab Account: Set up based on a Notice to Establish Account (NEA) memo from CoMotion.
  • Royalty Account: Set up based on a Notice to Establish Account (NEA) memo from CoMotion.
  • TGIF: A Technology Gap Innovation Fund Account is set up based on a Notice to Establish Account (NEA) memo from CoMotion.
  • Transpasu: Used by campus and sent to GCA to either establish a new sub budget or transfer funds between a parent and a sub budget.
  • Other: Used for occasions that don’t fall into the other form types.
Record ID The system-generated, unique number for this item with a prefix of OTH.
Request Type
  • Carry-forward
  • Extension
  • New
  • Renewal
  • Revision
  • Supplement
Principal Investigator Use the Look Up button to search for and select the PI for this item. Once selected, the following fields will populate:

  • Name
  • PI HEPPS Name
  • EID
Department A link to change the PI will also display.
Short Title This is the title associated with the budget number in the financial system.
Parent Budget Number Appears for Form Types “eFA/ePAC sub budget” and “Transpasu” in place of the Organization Code look-up section. Once you enter the Parent Budget Number and save, the associated Organization Code displays in read-only mode.

example of parent budget number with organization code
Organization Code The field varies slightly depending on the Form Type selected. You will look up an Organization Code for these Form Types:

  • Advance Report from OSP
  • Discretionary
  • Lab Account
  • Royalty Account
  • TGIF
  • Other

The name and number of the organization selected will display, with a link to change the Organization Code if needed.

Budget Details Section

sera other item budget details section

Field Description
Budget Number The budget number assigned to the item and its biennium. The assignment is done through the Assign/Confirm Budget Number function.
Start Date, End Date The start and end date for this item.
Amount The amount for this item.
Future Award Click this check box if appropriate.
GCA Team, Assigned To When you select the Organization Code for the item, the team and assignment fields will automatically populate.
Date Desk Assigned The system automatically populates this field with the date the item is initially assigned or reassigned.
GCA Received Date The system automatically populates this field with the date the item was created.

Other Forms

An Other Form records and tracks information related to setting up new budgets in addition to Funding Actions and Post-Award Changes. These other forms include, but are not limited to, Transpasus from departments and new budget requests from units such as CoMotion.

History & Comments

This page displays for Funding Actions, Post-Award Changes and Other Forms. It varies in the information displayed in the upper, read-only section of the page. Additionally, you can add a comment to the page directly.

Funding Action and Post-Award Change

  • Admin Action Number or Funding Action Number
  • Current Status
  • Short Title
  • Principal Investigator
  • Sponsor
  • Budget Number
  • Budget Biennium

history and comments for funding actions and post-award changes

Other Forms

  • Record ID
  • Form Type
  • Budget Request Type(s)
  • PI Name
  • Responsible Department
  • Budget Number
  • Budget Biennium

history and comments for other items

The lower History section includes information about last actions taken, and status and assignment changes, with these values displayed:

  • Date/Time – when the change occurred
  • Entered by – who took the action
  • Last Action Taken – what process occurred, such as Campus Notified or Received in GCA
  • Location – where the item is assigned
  • Comment – system-generated comments and any user comment entered as part of the action

history and comments page comments section

Common Item Tabs

Funding Actions, Post-Award Changes, Other Forms, and Advance Requests have several tabs or header links in common.

There are separate articles for these tabs:

The tabs that appear for an FA, PAC, or OTH are History & Comments and Cost Share.

Funding Actions and Post-Award Changes both have the Cycle Details tab. Advances that are new or renewal have a link to the associated cycle in the item header.

Funding Actions also has tabs for Printable eGC1 and eGC1 Attachments.

Tab FA PAC OTH
History & Comments Yes Yes Yes
Cost Share (see note below) Yes Yes Yes
Cycle Details Yes Yes
Printable eGC1 Yes
eGC1 Attachments Yes

Note: The Cost Share tab connects to the eFECS system.