Reporting and supporting evidence

Activity reports

The requirements for PromoScience activity reports are outlined in the notification of decision letters sent to all new grantees after each competition. Payment of future instalments or future grants may be contingent upon receipt of satisfactory activity reports. Reminders and updates on the requirements for reports will be sent to organizations by email at least three months before the report is due.

Financial reporting

Organizations are required to submit to NSERC an annual statement of account, signed by a financial officer designated by the organization, for every grant for the period ending March 31 of each year, using NSERC’s Grants in Aid of Research Statement of Account (Form 300). Send it by email to NSERC’s Finance division at awards.reconciliation@nserc-crsng.gc.ca.

• Note: The PromoScience grant period is from January to December; as a result, the first Form 300 will only report expenses for a three-month period (January to March).
• Organizations may be required to submit other financial reports as requested by NSERC.

Supporting evidence

For each grant, the organization and/or the principal applicant must keep complete and accurate records on the use of NSERC funding, including verifiable audit trails with complete supporting documentation for each transaction, for a minimum of seven years.  

The principal applicant is responsible for authorizing expenditures from their PromoScience grant account in accordance with NSERC’s requirements and conditions of grants and with the organization's policies. No other party may initiate or authorize expenditures from a PromoScience grant account without the principal applicant’s written delegated authority. All claims must have the principal applicant’s or delegate's signature. The signatures certify that:

• all expenditures on the claim are for the purpose for which the grant was awarded
• all expenditures on the claim are eligible expenses
• all goods and/or services have been received
• the charges included have not been claimed for reimbursement from other sources
• reimbursements for expenditures received from other sources or institutions must be disclosed to the administering institution

Grantees must be able to provide supporting documentation for all expenditures charged to their grant accounts. Such documentation includes:

• salaries paid to personnel
  • signed records regarding personnel paid from grant funds—including names, categories and salary levels
  • length of time supported in each case
  • details of employee benefits charged and relevant calculations
• equipment and supplies
  • supplier invoices indicating details of purchases
  • prices paid
• internal expense allocations or shared expenditures
  • documentation indicating the exact charge made
  • the method of calculation or attribution
  • the grantee’s authorization for those assigned to the agency account
• hospitality for networking and science promotion-related activities, counter-signed by the department head or dean if claimed by the principal applicant
  • the date(s) of the event(s)
  • the number of participants
  • the purpose of the event

Individuals claiming travel-related expenses from a grant must prepare a separate claim for each trip. These claims must also conform to the standard travel policies and procedures of the grantee’s organization. For claimants other than the grantee, the affiliation with the grantee’s organization must be specified. If the traveller is a student, the claim must be signed by the grantee. In the event that the traveller is the grantee, the claim must be countersigned by the supervisor or department head confirming the relevance of the travel to the grant.

The travel claim must include:

• the purpose of the trip
• dates and destinations (person or location visited)
• official supporting documentation (e.g., prospectus or program, indicating the dates of conferences and workshops)
• details of daily claims for expenditures relating to those visits
• details of any vehicle used
• receipts, such as hotel invoices and car rental agreements (credit cards slips or confirmation of reservation are not valid receipts)
• air travel ticket receipts and boarding passes (if available) or any other evidence that support travel expenses claimed (e.g., a written attestation from the grant holder)