Large Facilities Financial Data Collection Tool Customer Satisfaction Survey

The National Science Foundation (NSF) conducts a cost-incurred audit for large facility awards above $100M at the end of the award and potentially during execution of the award based on an annual large facility risk assessment conducted by the Large Facilities Office and the Cooperative Support Branch. In preparation for a cost-incurred audit, recipients are required to submit financial expenditures (incurred cost) data to NSF on a frequency to be determined by the Grants and Agreements Officer and the Cooperative Agreement’s Terms and Conditions. It will be no less frequently than annually. The Large Facilities Financial Data Collection Tool, created by NSF to assist recipients in preparing and recording financial expenditure information for its cooperative agreements for large facilities, is required for submission of the financial expenditures data.

The Large Facilities Financial Data Collection Tool is a macro-enabled Excel workbook that provides recipients a single, standardized method for submitting direct and indirect expenditure data with minimal effort and help to ensure data quality and accuracy. It will enable NSF and independent auditors to more easily and consistently collect the financial data required to maintain proper oversight and stewardship over funds and facilitate recipient compliance in meeting its reporting requirements.

NSF is seeking your review of this tool and is interested to hear your feedback in how the tool can be improved in order to meet your report submission needs. It should take you approximately 60 minutes to complete the survey, and your responses will help our development team finalize the tool for your immediate use.

Questions for Your Review

1. Are you familiar with using Excel-based documents? Yes _ No __

2. If you responded “yes,” Is the tool easy to download (Y/N), open (Y/N), and populate (Y/N)?

3. Was the Instructions tab easy to read and understand? (Y/N)

4. Does any of the guidance throughout the tool cause you concern with what is being requested by NSF? (Y/N) – then, “If ‘yes,’ please provide your concerns: __________________

5. Do you believe the number of worksheets and data requests excessive or not relevant? (Y/N) , if ‘yes’ was selected, please let us know which ones and the specific rationale as to why this information should not be provided: __________________________

6. Do the data requests adequately mirror how expenditures are tracked at your organization? (Y/N)

7. Can all the data requested be provided with the source documents listed for reference? (Y/N) 7.a Would a recipient typically need to refer to any additional financial documents in order to complete the tool? (Y/N), if ‘yes,’ please let us know which documents: __________________

8. Was it clear that all yellow highlighted field cells are required for manual entry while the blue and gray field cells are auto populated? (Y/N)

9. Did the information you entered in the Setup tab carry over to the rest of the applicable worksheets? (Y/N) Example: If you entered that you have 3 Cooperative Support Agreements (CSAS), did the tool provide 3 data tables in which to enter expenditure data?

10. How much of a burden would it be to enter every subcontract associated with each CSA? _ Low _Medium _High. If you believe this requirement to be burdensome, what level of subcontract threshold do you consider appropriate and why? ___________________________

11. Are there any data requests missing from the tool which are needed for an incurred cost audit. (Y/N); describe if ‘yes’ _____________

11.a. Are there any data requests you feel are redundant or irrelevant? (Y/N); describe if ‘yes’:0 _______________________

12. What would you suggest NSF improve to make the tool more user-friendly or to reduce the burden on the recipient? Do you believe additional guidance could be provided? As a user, was there anything about the tool you found confusing? Please use the space below to include any other comments you may have about the tool.

Thank you for your time in completing this survey – we hope to make it as user-friendly as possible.