ACS PRF Salesforce Grant Management Help

Grant Management Overview

PRF implemented a new system for proposal submission and grant administration in 2021.  Grant administration activities such as fulfulling grant requirements (e.g, financial and personnel reports) or submitting change requests--which includes time extensions, budget revisions, title changes, transfers, etc.--are performed by accessing the detail screen of the application that resulted in the awarded grant.  Requirements--Financial, Personnel, and Narrative Reports--can also be accessed directly from the menu bar at the top of the screen.  Citations, another grant requirement, are submitted in a section on the application detail screen.

Access to the PRF Portal requires a ACS ID and an approved registration.   To gain access to a specific grant at your institution, please submit an email request to PRFSupport@acs.org.   Please include the name of the Principal Investigator and the PRF grant # in this email.

The menu bar at the top of all screens provides quick access to the home screen (house icon, Figure 1, Item #1), organization, contacts, applications, and grant requirements.  Clicking on the {Applications} menu option (Figure 1, Item #2) will open a view that lists applications or grants that you have been given access to and application/grant status.  Clicking on the {Grant Requirements} menu option (Figure 1, Item #3) will open a view that lists requirements based on status. Additional information on managing your grant is available from the links on various portal pages (e.g., Figure 1, Items #5 & 6).   Tabs containing information on each of the PRF Grant Programs are accessible on the PRF Portal Home Page (Figure 1, Item #4).  Sign-out and other user profile information is accessible from the pull-down located at the upper right corner of the screen (Figure 1, Item #7).

Figure 1. PRF Portal Home Page
Figure 1. PRF Portal Home Page

1.  Select the Application/Grant:

Click on the {Applications} option on the Menu Bar at the top of screen (Figure 1, Item #3) to see a list of applications associated with your registered account.  The Applications List screen (Figure 2) displays applications or grants on the basis of status.  Use the pull-down list (Figure 2, Item #2) to select the status for active grants.  Click on the Application ID hyperlink (Figure 2, Item #3) to open the detail screen for the application/grant.

Figure 2. PRF Application Portal:  Applications List View
Figure 2. PRF Application Portal: Applications List View

2.  Perform Grant Administration Activities:

The Application Detail Screen is shown in Figure 3.   Three buttons (Figure 3, Item #2) located in the upper rightside of the screen are used to perform administration activities such as uploading files (e.g, Grant Administration Form, etc.),  submitting a Change Request for a grant (e.g., Title Change, etc.), or revising the grant budget.  All change requests and budget revisions must be submitted via the ORG/PRF portal and  approved by PRF.  See Section 8 below for more information on processing change requests.   For Grant Requirements, the detail screen for the requirement must be opened to enter information or upload a file (See Section 4 Below).  Review excerpts can also be downloaded from this screen (Figure 3, Item #3). 

Figure 3. PRF Portal: Application Detail Screen
Figure 3. PRF Portal: Application Detail Screen

3.  Upload Files:

Step 1.  Click on the [Upload Files] button (Figure 3, Item #2) to initiate the file upload process.  A pop-up screen (Figure 4) with a field requiring a selection of a document type.

Figure 4. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 1
Figure 4. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 1

3.  Upload Files (Continued):

Step 2. Select the document type--W9, W8, Grant Administration, or Other--that matches the document you are uploading.

Figure 5. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 2
Figure 5. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 2

3.  Upload Files (Continued):

Step 3. Click on the [Upload Files] button or drag and drop the file to select the file to upload  (Figure 6, Item #2).   If the [Upload Files] button is selected, a File Explorer window will be displayed.

Figure 6. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 3
Figure 6. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 3

3.  Upload Files (Continued):

Step 4. Select the file as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 4
Figure 7. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 4

3.  Upload Files (Continued):

Step 5. The name of the selected file will appear below the [Upload Files] button.  Click the [Upload] button to transfer the selected file as shown in Figure 8.   There will be a very brief message indicating that uploading is occurring as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 8. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 5
Figure 8. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 5

Figure 8. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 5
Figure 8. PRF Portal: Upload Files Step 5

Figure 9. PRF Portal: Updating Message
Figure 9. PRF Portal: Updating Message

3.  Upload Files (Continued):

Step 6. Confirm that file has been properly uploaded by viewing the Files section on the Application detail screen as shown in Figure 10.   Use the scroll bar on the right side of the screen to locate the files section.  Once the file is uploaded, PRF staff will be able to review and approve the document.

Figure 10. PRF Portal: Application Detail - Files Section
Figure 10. PRF Portal: Application Detail - Files Section

4.  Grant Requirements Overview

Three reports--Financial, Personnel, and Technical--must be submitted each year for active grants.  When a grant is awarded,  requirement records with a status of "New" are created for each of these reports and listed in section on the Application/Grant detail screen (Figure 11, Item 1).  The Activity Type column (Figure 11, Item 2) indicates the report type and grant year.  The Due Date  and Status for the report is listed in separate columns (Figure 11, Item 3). and  (Figure 11, Item 4), respectively.  Click on the Grant Requirement hyperlink (Figure 11, Item 5) to access the detail form and perform submission actions.  Although the submission process is similar, there are different detail forms for each report.  There is a separate section on the Application/Grant detail form for Citations (Figure 12).

Figure 11. PRF Portal: Application Detail - Grant Requirement Section
Figure 11. PRF Portal: Application Detail - Grant Requirement Section

Figure 12. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Form Sections
Figure 12. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Form Sections

5.  Grant Requirements: Financial Report

The detail form for the Financial Report includes fields for all budget categories as shown Figure 13.  Additional guidance for a data field is available if a Help Bubble is present (Figure 13, Item 1).   Click on the grey pencil to the right of a data field to edit it (Figure 13, Item 2) and initiate an editing session (Figure 14).  Click the [Save] or [Cancel] button to complete the editing session (Figure 14, Item 1).  If the [Save] button is clicked, form data will be validated and a red error message will be displayed if problems exist as shown in Figure 15.  Click on the [X] in the upper right corner of the error message and correct errors.  After all data fields have been entered and validated, click on the [Submit for Approval] button to transmit the report to PRF (Figure 13, Item 3).  Enter comments for the Financial Report after submitting as shown in Figure 16.  The Financial Report will be reviewed by PRF Staff and if issues exist they will be noted in the Approval History section at the bottom of the Financial Report form as shown in Figure 17.

Figure 13. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement : Financial Report
Figure 13. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement : Financial Report

Figure 14. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Edit Session
Figure 14. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Edit Session

Figure 15. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Validation
Figure 15. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Validation

Figure 16. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Submit for Approval
Figure 16. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Submit for Approval

Figure 17. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report:  Approval History Section
Figure 17. PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Financial Report: Approval History Section

6.  Grant Requirements: Personnel Report

The detail form for the Personnel Report includes sections for individuals supported and those not supported but working on the project funded by a PRF grant as shown Figure 18.   For Personnel Reports, provide any additional information to further explain or supplement responses for Parts 1 and 2. Student support is a requirement of ACS PRF grants. If no students were supported during the reporting period, provide explanation in Part 3, Comments/Notes.   The sections can be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the V or > symbol, respectively, at the beginning of the section header.   Use the slider bar on the right side of the screen to access information fields for individuals (Figure 19, Item 2).

Figure 18 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement: Personnel Report
Figure 18 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement: Personnel Report

Figure 19 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Personnel Report Navigation
Figure 19 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Personnel Report Navigation

7.  Grant Requirements: Technical Report

The detail form for the Technical Report is shown Figure 20 which includes fields for the report period and comments.  The technical report requirement is satisfied by uploading a pdf file using the [Upload Files] button (Figure 20, Item 1).  Narrative Progress Report or Technical Report is submitted as a PDF of no more than 2 pages in length, including images.  Narrative progress reports will be published as submitted in the PRF Annual Report.  Technical Reports submitted by Principal Investigators are aggregated into the PRF Annual Report and made available to the public via the PRF website.  When uploading the technical report, it is critical to select "Narrative Report" option for the document type (Figure 21, Item 1).

Figure 20 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement: Technical Report
Figure 20 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Grant Requirement: Technical Report

Figure 21 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Technical Report: Upload Files
Figure 21 PRF Portal: Application/Grant Detail - Technical Report: Upload Files

8.  Administrative Change Requests

All PRF Grant Administrative Change Requests (e.g., budget revisions, time extensions, transfers, etc.) must be initiated by pressing the [Create Request] button located at the top of the Application (Grant) detail screen as shown in Figure 22, Item 1.  Select the appropriate Change Request Type (e.g., time extension, budget revision, etc.) from the pull-down list to create the change request form and open it for editing.

Figure 22. PRF Administrative Change Request: Change Request Creation
Figure 22. PRF Administrative Change Request: Change Request Creation

After selecting the change request type, a pop-up, abbreviated version of the form specific to that type of change request will be displayed; the detail change request form for a time extension is shown in Figure 23.  When a change request is created, the status is "New" (Item 2, Figure 23).   Provide entries to the form fields and click the [Save] button at the lower right corner of the change request screen.  After saving, a full version of the change request form will be displayed where additional functions can be performed (Figure 24).

Figure 23. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Create Screen
Figure 23. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Create Screen

Click on the light, grey pencil located to the right of a data field to make edits (Figure 24, Item 1).   If reference material is needed to justify your change request, click on the [Upload Files] button to link a pdf document to the change request (Figure 24, Item 2); the file will be listed in the Files section after upload (Figure 24, Item 4).  After the change request is complete, click on the [Submit for Approval] button to transmit it the PRF Financial Management staff for review.  Please Note:  You must perform a submit in order for the change request to be reviewed. When the change request is approved, the check box "Approved by Finance" located in the Internal Review Comments section will be marked (Figure 24, Item 5). A running history of actions related to the change requet will be displayed in the Approval History section (Figure 24, Item 6).

Figure 24. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Detail Screen
Figure 24. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Detail Screen

After a change request is submitted, the status will change to "Under Review" (Figure 25, Item 1) and activities related to the review process will be displayed in the Approval History section (Figure 25, Item 2).

Figure 25. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Submission
Figure 25. PRF Administrative Change Request: Time Extension Submission

All change requests--and their status--are listed in the Administrative Change Requestion section of the Application detail screen as shown above in Figure 26 (Item 2); if you have a large number of change requests, you may need to click the [View All] hyperlink located in the lower right corner of the section.  Budget Revision change requests are more complicated and the process is slightly different.  When the change request form for a budget revision is created, new budget records are created to provide for revised entries with a budget type of "Revised" as shown in Figure 26, Item 3.   Each of the revised budget years must be updated by clicking on the hyperlink of the budget record to display the Budget Year detail screen (Figure 27).  After each budget year is revised, click on the [Validate and Submit Revised Budget] button located at the upper of the Application detail screen (Figure 26, Item 1) to transmit the change request to PRF Finance Management staff.

Figure 26. PRF Administrative Change Request: Budget Revision
Figure 26. PRF Administrative Change Request: Budget Revision

Figure 27. PRF Administrative Change Request: Revised Budget Editing
Figure 27. PRF Administrative Change Request: Revised Budget Editing