Topic

Funded Research Reports, Including RIS & FIS

Who is this for?

Understanding how to access and understand funded research reports is integral to the following roles.

  • Professors, Faculty Members
  • Librarians
  • Research Team Members
  • Research or Financial Administrators

What do I need before I can begin?

The MROL, RIS & FIS Systems

The Research Information System (RIS) and Financial Information System (FIS) systems are sub-components of the Administrative Management System (AMS).  My Research Online (MROL) is the web-based portal to access information pulled from RIS and FIS.
 

My Research On Line (MROL)

MROL is a web-based portal for viewing purposes only. MROL is the main self-service resource Principal Investigators (PI) use to access information about their research funding.
 

Research Information System (RIS)

RIS contains data on all research grants and contracts administered by the University of Toronto (U of T) and through the affiliated hospitals. The primary functions of RIS with respect to research funding include the following.

  • Organizes information used to administer the research funding, such as details about PIs, research sponsors, research projects, sponsor programs, and the Funded Research Digest (FReD)
  • Produces a range of award reports that summarize key research funding information, including the following.
    • Awarded Application Report – Researcher by Expertise
    • Awards by Faculty/Department
    • Awards by Sponsor
    • Co- PI’s Report by Faculty or Department
    • Award Report by Department / Researcher (PI and Co PI)a
    • Sponsor List
    • Award Report - Grant End Date
    • Funded Research Digest (FReD)
    • FReD Batch Report

For more information on each of these RIS award reports, please refer to the RIS Award Reports Tutorial.
 

Financial Information System (FIS)

FIS is the main repository of data used at U of T for financial management and reporting functions. The primary functions of FIS include the following.

  • Recording of all financial transactions in general ledger accounts
  • Generating financial reports to meet management and statutory requirements
  • Controlling overall spending through budgetary controls embedded in the system
  • Generating the university’s financial statements

For more details, please see Financial Services: Financial Information System

Commonly Used RIS Reports

Funded Research Digest (FReD)

A FReD is a summary document containing key details of a confirmed research award or agreement, such as the following.

  • Fund number and fund centre
  • Budget
  • Eligibility of expenses
  • Sponsor terms and conditions as research progress reporting deadlines, financial reporting requirements, and terms of payment
  • Contact information for the Funding Officer and the Research Accountant within the Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation (VPRI) responsible for the research award
  • Any amendments or changes to terms and conditions
  • Due dates and deliverables from the sponsor agreement, only shown in the AMS view, not the MROL view

Please see How to Read a FReD for more details on using this document.
 

How to Access a FreD

Business Officers (BOs) can access FReD via RIS

  1. RIS
  2. Display Funded Research Digest
    RIS file structure showing location of Display Funded Research Digest highlighted

For more details, see How to Read a FReD.

PIs can access FReDs via MROL.  For more details, please visit the MROL page.
 

Funded Research Digest (FReD) Batch Report

The FReD Batch report includes the following.

  • A group of FReD numbers and the related PIs
  • The entire amount of installments for each award
  • Research project title, and other significant details, such as the Sponsor Program Number, PI’s email and award completion date, related to the research project.
     

How to Access FReD Batch Report

BOs can access and run FReD reports via RIS.

  1. Awards Report
  2. FReD Batch Report
    RIS file directory with FReD Batch Report highlighted

To learn more about this report, please refer to the RIS Awards Reports Tutorial.

Commonly Used FIS Reports

Funding: Funds Centre or Fund Report

This FIS report includes the following details.

  • Total budget released for the research fund and fund centre combination
  • Total expense posting
  • Total revenue posted at the time the report is generated
  • Financial position of a research fund (e.g. if the fund is in a surplus or deficit position)
     

How to Access the Funding: Funds Centre or Fund Report

BOs can access this report via FIS by navigating through the following steps

  1. Accounting
  2. Funds Management
  3. Information Systems
  4. Fund Management Section (UofT Reports)
  5. Financial Summary Reports
    RIS file structure with Funding:Funds Center or Fund highlighted

Please refer to the Financial Summary Report Section for more information on how to run this report.
 

Revenue Received and Receivable View on the Funding: Fund Balance Report

The Revenue Received and Receivable view was added to the Funding: Funds Center or Fund Report to show if the payment had been received from the research sponsor when the revenue payment method is through an invoice. This is an option given to the report’s user to identify how much has been collected from the research sponsor as of a given time.
 

How to Access the Funding: Fund Center or Fund Report: Revenue Received and Receivable View

To access this report, please see How to Use the Received vs. Receivable View.
 

Research Fund Summary Report (RFSR)

The RFSR is a comprehensive AMS report providing a real-time overview of a unit’s research funding.

The report combines data contained in both the FIS and RIS modules and links directly to a number of other commonly used reports such as the Funding Fund Centre/Fund Balance Report and the FReD Batch Report. The expansive scope of the RFSR eliminates the need to run multiple smaller reports, and makes it an essential research funding reporting tool.

The RFSR contains the following details.

  • The number of active research funds administered by a specific department and the current balance of those funds
  • The end date of each fund and flags various conditions including upcoming fund end dates
  • The financial position of a restricted research fund (i.e. deficit or surplus)
  • Each award’s VPRI Funding Officer and Research Accountant
     

How to Access the Research Fund Summary Report

BOs can access this report via FIS by navigating through the following steps

  1. Accounting
  2. Funds Management
  3. Information Systems
  4. Fund Management Section (UofT Reports)
  5. Financial Summary Reports
    RIS File structure with Research Funds Summary Report highlighted

To learn more about this report, please refer to the RFSR user guide.
 

Status PI Monthly Report Review by PI

The Status PI Monthly Report Review by PI provides business officers with a simple and accurate way to verify which researchers are reviewing their monthly statements via MROL. It shows the specific accounts and periods that have been reviewed over the grant year.
 

How to Access the Status PI Monthly Report Review by PI

BOs can access this report via FIS by navigating through the following steps.

  1. Accounting
  2. Fund Management
  3. Information System
  4. Fund Management Section (UofT Reports)
  5. Month end reports
    RIS file structure with Status PI Monthly Report Review by PI highlighted

To access and learn more about this report please refer to the Status PI Monthly Report Review by PI report.

Other Reporting Tools

For instructions on other available reporting tools, please see RIS Award Reports Tutorial.

Forms & Downloads

VPRI Role

  • Identify tools, develop reports
  • guide and support users on how to access, use and generate reports

VPRI Contacts

Staff

Annaliza Co

Research Financial Systems Specialist
Portfolio Operations (PO)
(416) 978-1786

Staff

Other Resources