VA Funding

VA FUNDING NOTES: For all lab members to have the ability to purchase VUMC core service, each lab member must be granted access to the VA billing number.  Contact VUMCcores@vumc.org for assistance.

Labs using VA funds can monitor the total spend against the VA billing number to prevent the funds from being overspent. The PI or Lab Manager can use the reporting module to report on the total spend against a VA billing number.

Guide:  Using VA Funds in VUMC iLab​

 

 

VA FUNDING NOTES

The VA Billing numbers are managed centrally by the Office of Research in collaboration with the VA. We received the new contract starting Oct 1 of each year. At that time, the VA will send a list of investigators authorized for use of VA funds and include the annual spending limit for that contract year.  Investigators can contact the VA for increases or new authorization requests. Once the VA notifies the VUMC Office of Research, we will set up the funding in iLab.

  • VA funding is external to VUMC. The Office of Research submits all VA invoices to the VA Research Administration office for payment each month.
  • Approved investigators will use an assigned iLab VA Billing Number (999999xxxxx). Note, this is a billing reference number in iLab only. This is not a cost center or worktag in the Workday system.
  • Each lab member must be granted access to the VA billing number to submit iLab service or reservation requests. 
  • Labs using VA funds will need to monitor the total spend against the VA billing number to prevent overspending VA funds.

Contact VUMCcores@vumc.org for assistance with VA Funding.

Division of Animal Care Use Note:

Please note, if you plan to use VA funds for use in the Division of Animal Care, you will need to use a different VA billing number. This number will follow the same 999999xxxx format but will be unique from your assigned VA number for use in other VUMC core facilities.  The DAC usage is managed on a separate contract with the VA and the funds are tracked separately. Please let us know if you need additional details.

How to view VA Fund Balance & Control Lab Member Access:

PIs and Lab Members can view the remaining VA fund number balance directly in iLab.

  1. Navigate to any VUMC core iLab module.
    1. In the left-hand menu, click core facilities.
    2. Open any of the VUMC core groups (This must be a VUMC core, not a VU core). You may have to change your view to ‘cores at partner institutions'.
  2. Once one of the VUMC core iLab sites is open, click the purchase order or PO tab.
  3. The VA billing numbers that you have access to will display.
  4. Click on the number directly for additional information.
  5. Once the detail view is open, you can then see the following item:
    1. Allocated amount for the year.
    2. The remaining balance (note, this may also take into account encumbered activity that the core has not yet invoiced, such as pending equipment reservations or open project requests.
    3. List of lab members that have access to the number.

Contact our support team at VUMCcores@vumc.org to update which of your VU lab members have access to use this billing number.

How to request services using VA funds (999999xxxx):

Each investigator that has been authorized for use of VA funds will be assigned a "VA-TVHS" lab group in the system. When paying for a core service with VA funds, the PI or Lab member will select the VA Lab Group on the new reservation or service request. The payment drop-down menu will then display the assigned VA Billing number (999999xxxx).

Instructions:

  1. On service or reservation requests, select the investigators VA Lab Group: "Last, First (VA-TVHS) Lab.
  2. Complete the service request or reservation request.
  3. In the payment section, select the PI's VA Fund Number (999999xxx).

Troubleshooting:  If you do not see your VA billing number, email the Office of Research at VUMCcores@vumc.org. 

How to report on Total Spending (total invoiced amount) on your VA fund number or VA rebate voucher:

Use the reporting module to review charges against your VA billing number directly in the iLab application. Both the PI and any lab staff with ‘lab manager’ access in the application can generate the reporting data.

Review the total amount invoiced to your VA Fund Number:

  1. In the left-hand navigation panel, click Reporting.
  2. Selected Report on all labs I manage to open the reporting module.
  3. Click Build New. 
  4. Enter the report settings:
    1. Select the date range.
      1. Start Date: Day funding started for the current VA fiscal year.
      2. End Date: Today's date
    2. In the date field, change to billing date
  5. Click Run Report

To refine the report to only view your VA spending history:

  1. Using the filter panel on the left, adjust the filters  (i.e., payment number) to refine the report to just your VA fund number (999999xxxx) or VA Rebate Voucher (V00000xxxx)
  2. After selecting the payment number, click apply filters.
  3. The report will update.

To review expense activity, download the data by exporting the "Source data".

  1. Click Export
  2. Select Source data as CSV/XLS
  3. An excel document will download. All activity invoiced to your VA payment numbers will be included.
  4. Sum the Total Price column to calculate the total amount spent on your VA payment number within the specified date range.