Financial Services

Selecting “Designate Alternate” allows you to add/change a person on multiple accounts or to add multiple people on a single account. The account executive will approve these requests as to who can authorize financial transactions for an account. 

To add one account to many alternates:  

• Search by org, activity or project. 
• The search results will share information like the type of transaction the alternate has access to, the dates when an alternate can authorize transactions and their status within the GFA system. 

A person can be added to multiple accounts by selecting “One Alternate to Many Accounts” from the menu. You will need the employee’s name or uNID to search for them in the system.  

• After selecting the individual you would like to add, search for the related org, activity or project.  

• The search results will share information like the type of transaction the alternate has access to, the dates when an alternate can authorize transactions and their status within the GFA system. 

• Select the rows you would like to change for this alternate before submitting the form.  

• Account executives will need to select approve or deny for each individual request.  

• Information will appear on the screen that shows the alternate’s name, funding source and the dates when they have the authority to authorize.  

• This function is used to view who can spend on a specific account.  

• You can search by org, activity, project or the dates they have the financial authority.  

• Please note that all individuals who have been granted authority within the org will be displayed in this section.  

An alternate’s term expires based on the original “Date to” information that was submitted. To extend an alternate’s authority, a new row will need to be added.  

• Updating one account to many expiring alternates:  
  • All of the assigned alternates will be displayed with their current end date information. To update, click the plus (+) sign and add in the new end date.  

• Updating one alternate to many accounts: 
  • Search for the alternate’s name or uNID. The alternate’s information should be displayed with a blank row at the bottom of the table. Enter the applicable information in that row and submit.  

• Updating an alternate across multiple orgs:
  • Select the “One Alternate to Many Accounts” option and search the user’s name or uNID.  
  • Click the “Update” button.  
    • This will display all of the activities and projects the alternate has the authority to sign. 
    • There will be a blank row at the bottom of each section – this is where you can add the new information before clicking submit.  

If an alternate no longer requires the authority to sign, you will need to update their information in GFA.  

• You will need to enter a new row, including the last date they had authority to sign for the activity or project as the “Date to”. Use the same date from the existing row as the “Date from”. The ensures the documents they signed prior to the change will still be processed.  

GFA is the system developed to manage approvals for many types of transactions as we transition to more online or paperless transactions. Capturing signatures and replacing the information on the signature cards is version 1 of this system. Future versions will assign role-based authority to individuals and allow delegations to be managed within GFA.

A reasonable facsimile of your signature is captured and it’s only used to verify a wet ink signature. As long as financial transactions use paper, we will need a way to verify wet ink signatures. We are not capturing a “digital signature”. This low resolution image is not used to sign anything, only to verify.

Anyone who approves expenditures must be in GFA. Account executives, PIs, and organizational heads must capture their signatures. Account executives and PIs then can designate alternates who must also capture their signatures.

See this HowTo on capturing your signature.

Although this method is not preferred, you can use this form to capture your signature on paper. Print the form, sign and initial it, scan it and email it to the address at the bottom of the form.

If you are the only one who signs on your Projects and activities, then you are done. If there are others who sign for you, then you will have to designate them as alternates.

An alternate is someone designated by the account executive or PI as authorized to sign for expenditures against a specific Project or Activity.

See this HowTo on designating an alternate.

Only an account executive or PI can approve an alternate request. If you are an AE or PI, see this HowTo on approving alternate requests.

Most likely the alternate has not captured his or her signature. Capture the alternate signature and then you can approve the alternate.

Anyone can make a request but only an account executive can approve an alternate. Note that when an account executive makes an alternate request, there is no need for an additional approval.

In the Financial Information Library, there is a folder called GFA. There, you will find a report called GFA Signatures by ORG, which will show which AE/PI/OH Signatures have been captured by ORG.

In the Financial Information Library, there is a folder called GFA. There, you will find a list of reports related to GFA that should address most of the questions.

This will have to be resolved by General Accounting. You can find your accounting contact listed at the bottom of your Management Reports or within a Chartfield Lookup.

This will have to be resolved by Grants and Contracts Accounting. You can find your GCA contact listed at the bottom of your Management Reports or within Chartfield Lookup.

No. The account executive and ORG heads are automatically approved. They do have to capture their signatures, however.