Advancing Grant Closeout and Financial Reconciliation at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital - Oakland

Project at-a-Glance

Supporting Sponsored Research Operations Following a Hospital Merger

Following the merger of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital with Children’s Hospital Oakland, UCSF engaged Attain Partners to support grant closeout activities and stabilize sponsored research operations. The engagement included closing more than 700 grant accounts, providing staff augmentation during a vacancy in sponsored project management, and leading the cleanup of sponsored accounts that converted from Meditech to PeopleSoft.

Managing Dual Systems and Complex Grant Histories

The converted grant records presented three main challenges for the team in PeopleSoft.

Legacy System Reconciliation

Prior to the engagement, sponsored accounts were initially converted into the PeopleSoft general ledger module only. These 700+ awards needed to be reconciled in the legacy Meditech system to validate the converted balances in PeopleSoft.

Manual Financial Processing

Sponsored accounts that continued in PeopleSoft were managed largely through manual journal entries, including expense generation, invoicing, and cash application. As with any manual entry, the potential for errors is high, and this effort required significant manual reconciliation.

Recycled Project Accounts

Due to system limitations, the Oakland-sponsored project accounts were sometimes recycled, requiring additional research and reconciliation to determine all corresponding cash and expense components, often affecting both Meditech and PeopleSoft entries.

Establishing a Path to Accurate Closeout and Balance Validation

The engagement focused on several key objectives.

Applying a Collaborative and Immersive Approach

The Attain Partners team employed a highly collaborative and immersive approach throughout the 3.5-year engagement, working in close partnership with leadership and staff from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. The team prioritized building a deep understanding of the organization’s operational culture, institutional priorities, existing business processes, and system capabilities.

This approach allowed the team to design recommendations and solutions that were technically sound, practical, and realistically aligned with how the organization operates day-to-day.

Each component of the strategy was developed in collaboration with UCSF stakeholders. This enabled early validation of assumptions, refinement of approaches based on real-world feedback, and delivery of outcomes that were sustainable and integrated into UCSF’s operational environment.

Implementing a Structured Reconciliation and Closeout Process

Attain Partners developed a reconciliation template and process for each converted project, based on Meditech and PeopleSoft data. Consultants examined Meditech data and available reports to design a working template to determine final balances.

The team conducted final reviews for each project to determine appropriate overhead, residual, and deficit adjustments. They delivered a converted portfolio summary to each faculty member or project team and reconciled any perceived or actual discrepancies.

The team completed final adjustments to every converted project in PeopleSoft to record each net position and close out the projects. Attain Partners consultants also processed and posted the necessary journal entries in PeopleSoft.

In parallel, Attain Partners provided embedded support for day-to-day operations during the closeout effort. The team assisted with post-award activities during staff turnover and shortages, including payroll and expense allocation and posting, sponsor billing, collections, and cash posting.

The engagement concluded with the successful completion of closing all expired fund accounts for the Oakland ledgers, with ongoing projects shifting to UCSF-sponsored research management.

Operating as an Extension of the Sponsored Research Accounting Team

The Attain Partners team was embedded within the UCSF-sponsored research accounting office, learning and understanding the historical context, culture, and processes. Once well-versed and acclimated, the team worked with leadership to design the solutions necessary for the cleanup, supported daily operations, and carried out much of the work.

Outcomes Across the Sponsored Research Portfolio

The Attain Partners team and UCSF achieved several outcomes.

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About the Authors

Nadia Kikilo is a Principal with Attain Partners with over 17 years of experience serving Higher Education clients within various research administration areas. She has extensive experience in major post-award reconciliation and cleanup engagements. Nadia holds an MBA and an MS in Business Technologies.

Mrs. Kerri Borys, MAcc, is a Senior Associate at Attain Partners based outside Charlotte, North Carolina. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in research, healthcare, and nonprofit administration, with a focus on post-award grants management. Her expertise includes financial management, internal controls, grants accounting, grant closeouts, federal, state, and private sponsor financial reporting, pre- and post-award budgeting, finance and grants office integration, tech transfer/intellectual property financial management, and the development and testing of internal controls for grants management at both the central and departmental levels.

Ms. Linda Buchanan is a Senior Associate at Attain Partners based in Sarasota County, Florida, with more than 20 years of experience supporting higher education, public, and private-sector organizations in financial operations, grants management, and research administration. She specializes in post-award accounting, grant closeouts, sponsor billing, F&A rate development, complex reconciliations, and compliance oversight for research-intensive institutions. Ms. Buchanan has successfully led sponsored project closeouts, recovered aged receivables, resolved complex financial and compliance issues, and improved research administration processes. Her experience includes supporting Facilities & Administrative rate proposal development, conducting comprehensive research space surveys, and creating tools and documentation that enhance operational efficiency and consistency across organizations. Her collaborative approach, deep financial expertise, and commitment to practical solutions help institutions strengthen compliance, mitigate risk, and enhance the effectiveness of their sponsored research programs.

Ms. Liz Hamm, MBA, CRA, CFRA, is a Senior Associate at Attain Partners based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with 12 years of experience supporting higher education and nonprofit organizations in grants management and research administration. She is an experienced post-award leader who partners with institutional stakeholders to address complex financial, compliance, and operational challenges across the research lifecycle. Ms. Hamm works closely with departmental, central, and executive leadership to enhance research administration operations, optimize processes, and drive successful outcomes for clients. She is dedicated to mentoring and developing research administration professionals, helping organizations build capacity and achieve long-term sustainability. Having supported several different clients with diverse operations, Ms. Hamm brings deep expertise in managing multifaceted award portfolios and guiding organizations through challenging post-award environments. Her collaborative leadership style, strategic perspective, and commitment to excellence enable clients to improve efficiency, mitigate risk, and advance their research administration programs.