Grant Management System State Administrators Manual About the new Grants Management System The Propane Education & Research Council s Grant Management System (GMS) is based on a commercial product, EzGrants, which is a web-based grants tool developed and marketed by Altum, Altum clients include the National Institutes for Health, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. The standard EzGrants system has been customized to meet PERC-specific needs. Rebate Requests and Grant Funding Requests must be submitted and managed via the Grants Management System. What you will need to get started: > A web browser, such as Internet Explorer > Acrobat Reader software. If you don t have it, Download the free Adobe Reader. > A username and password. These will be mailed to you. > The URLfor the EzGrants system: www.percgms.com. Note: If you note any errors missing rebates, rebates assigned to an incorrect organization, etc. please notify the IT staff and we will correct the data. You can contact us at 202.452.8975. Please report any errors or omissions to the PERC IT staff at: 202.452.8975 or email IT@propanecouncil.org. GMS State Executives User Guide Last updated 10/27/2010 8:06:01 AM IT@propanecouncil.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. LOGGING IN.3 2. YOUR HOME SCREEN.4 3. UPATING YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION.4 4. VIEWING THE REBATE FUNDS SPREADSHEET.6 5. SEARCHING REBATES.7 6. REPLICATING A REBATE.8 7. REQUESTING A NEW REBATE 11 8. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING THE REBATE REQUEST 12 8.1 Completing the Contact Information 12 8.2 Completing the Project Information 13 8.3 Completing the Project Timeline 16 8.4 Uploading Documents 17 8.5 Reviewing the Completed Request 18 8.6 Final Step Submitting the Request 18 9. SUBMITTING A FINAL REPORT...21 APPENDIX A How to Set Your Web Browser Settings To Allow GMS Pop-ups APPENDIX B Rebates Final Accounting Report Narrative Template 25 28 Page 2
1. LOGGING IN The new Grants Management System (GMS) is used for both grants and rebate requests. It is a web-based system, which means that you do not need to install any additional software on your local computer (as with the old VTR system.) To access the GMS, type the URL/web address into your browser window. The URL is: www.percgms.com You can also access GMS via the link on the Grants and Rebates page on the PERC website. The login screen for GMS is shown below. Your Login ID is the email address of the director of your PERC/Foundation. The password is your PERC ProNet password. If you do not know your password, click on the Forgot Your Password? link and a temporary password will be sent to the email address you entered for the login ID. You will be required to change the temporary password after you login. You can also call or email the PERC IT staff and they will assist you - 202.452.8975 or email IT@propanecouncil.org. You can have GMS remember your email address by clicking on the check box next to Remember Me. Page 3
2. YOUR HOME SCREEN When you have successfully logged in, your Home Page screen will be displayed. From here you can update your profile information, change your password, view the help file, and logout. Also, once you begin submitting rebates, this page will provide information on tasks that may be due. In the section titled: Apply for a New Grant, you can view the rebate funds spreadsheets, search for rebates, replicate a rebate, request a new rebate, and apply for grants. 3. UPATING YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION To view your contact information, click the VIEW YOUR PROFILE link on your Home screen. The Contact Information screen, as shown below, will open. To add an Address, Phone Number, etc. (such as to add a mailing address that is different from a business address), click on ADD. To change an address, phone number, etc., click the EDIT button. Page 4
When you click the ADD or EDIT button, an Editor screen will be displayed. Complete the fields that need to be updated. Fields with a red asterisk are required. When you have finished your inputs, click SAVE to save the changes, then CLOSE to close the window and return to the previous screen. Note the down arrow on many of the text boxes. Click on the arrow to display the list of options. For example, when adding a phone number, select the type of phone number from the list. Options include Business, Home, Mobile, Main Office, Main Fax and Other. For each phone number you want to enter click the ADD button. On the Telephone/Fax Editor screen select the type of phone number, enter the phone number (numbers only, no dashes, periods, or parenthesis) and extension, if applicable. Click the SAVE button, then the CLOSE button to continue. Page 5
4. VIEWING THE REBATE FUNDS SPREADSHEET On your HOME PAGE, click on View Rebate Funds or Partnership Funds The Rebate and Partnership Funds window will be displayed. To open the spreadsheet (a PDF), click on the link. The PDF will be displayed in a new window from there you can use the Acrobat reader tools to enlarge, print, or save the file. When you have finished viewing the spreadsheet, close the ADOBE window to return to EzGrants. Then CLOSE the Rebate and Partnership Funds window to return you your EzGrants HOME page. Page 6
Note: If you experience problems opening the PDF, make sure you have the Acrobat reader installed on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have the Acrobat reader, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. If you have the reader installed, check to make sure your browser allows Pop- Ups from the GMS application. See Appendix A for further instructions. 5. SEARCHING REBATES From your HOME page screen, click on Search for Rebates or Request a New Rebate. Page 7
The Search Rebates screen will be displayed. From here, you can create a new rebate or search approved rebates. Note that the Docket # is the EzGrants grant number, and this may not be same as the Docket # generated by the old GMS. You can narrow your search by selecting a specific state and/or specifying a project title and/or key word. When you have entered your search criteria, click on FIND. In the following example, all approved rebates were searched for the keyword state fair. EzGrants: Note that for rebates submitted prior to March 2008, the docket # is the EzGrants docket number, and not the old GMS docket number. You can view a rebate request, and/or replicate a request. The view will open a new window and you can view the PDF via the Acrobat Reader. Note: When you are viewing PDF s of the rebates, please note that all the searchable rebates are approved and were awarded. Due to an error in the GMS system, the status for the Rebates is displayed as Review Pending. This will be corrected soon. Note: If you experience problems opening the PDF, make sure you have the PDF reader on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have the PDF reader, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. If you have the PDF reader installed, check to make sure your browser allows Pop-Ups from the GMS application. See Appendix A for further instructions. 6. REPLICATING A REBATE Page 8
To replicate a rebate, click on the REPLICATE button on the Search Rebates screen. Click on the down arrow on the Program text box and select REBATES. Click on the down arrow on the State/Association text box and select your state. Click on the Funding Cycle text box and select the appropriate funds (2009, 2010 etc.) Note that this creates a TASK: Rebate Request Application. Click CONTINUE to save the task and to open the main Submit Rebate Request page. On your Main Submit Rebate Request Screen you will notice the following; your contact information is pre-populated, the Project Information, Project Timeline and Uploads are prepopulated from the rebate you are replicating. Page 9
You have the option to view the pre-populated supporting document in its original document format or its converted PDF format. You can also delete the document and upload your own supporting document. The PROPERTIES button allows you to see the document formats that are acceptable for uploads. Click CONTINUE after completing your upload to get to the Review and Submit Screen. Page 10
7. REQUESTING A NEW REBATE (not to replicate a rebate) On the Search Rebates screen, click on Request a New Rebate On the Request a New Rebate screen, click the appropriate State / Association funding cycle, then click CONTINUE to continue. Proceed to Section 8. Page 11
8. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING THE REBATE REQUEST (New Rebate or Replicated) Note: The following steps are applicable, regardless of whether you are replicating or submitting a NEW rebate. On the Submit Rebate Request screen, you can track your progress in completing the request. You can exit at anytime, and return to complete the submission. The screen provides completion status information on the parts of the rebate request. To go to any of the parts of the submission (Contact Information, Project Information, Project Timeline, or Uploads) you can click on the Page Name or click on the item on the left navigation bar. There are 4 steps to complete the submission: 1) Contact information 2) The project information (description, budget, evaluation, etc.) 3) The timeline (milestones and deliverables) 4) Uploads (supporting documents, media plan, partnership plan, etc.) 8.1 Completing the Contact Information Complete the required Contact Information. Note that you will need to enter the Organization. To do this, click on the SELECT button Page 12
A popup window will be displayed. Enter a few letters of your organization, and click FIND. EzGrants will return a list of all organizations that match the string you entered. To view all the matches, click on the down arrow. When you locate the organization you want click it, then click on SAVE. Page 13
When you have completed the Contact Information, click on the CONTINUE button to move to the next submission step, completing the Project Information. 8.2 Completing the Project Information Enter the requested information in the text boxes. You can cut and paste from Word documents, however formatting often does not translate correctly. (This will be addressed in the next software release.) For the start and end date, once you ve selected the month and year, select the date and then double-click the date. The information will auto-fill in the date block. Page 14
Page 15
8.3 Completing the Project Timeline (Optional) You can enter milestones and key deliverables using the Project Timeline Editor screen. All rebates must have at least one entry Final Report. Therefore the deliverable should be clicked as YES for the Final Report. Click SAVE and CLOSE to complete the milestone. The Add Milestone screen will be displayed. You can add more milestones if needed. You can also edit/delete a milestone on this screen. When you have entered all your milestones, click CONTINUE to move to the Upload screen. Page 16
8.4 Uploading Documents You can upload supporting documents, such as budgets. To upload a document, click on the down arrow on the TYPE box. Select the type of document you want to upload. You can upload most file types:.doc, pdf,.xls,.ppt, etc. There are NO required uploads for a Rebate Request. You may optionally upload a Supporting document; for example, to provide an attachment or additional information about your rebate request. To do so, select Supporting Document as the UPLOAD TYPE. Optionally, you may also upload a Partnership with States Plan document if your Rebate Request includes funds from the Partnership with States program and you have been asked to provide a Plan as part of your rebate request. To do so, select Partnership with States Plan as the UPLOAD TYPE. To upload a document: 1) Select the Upload Type from the drop-down and click Upload. You will be taken to the Uploads Editor page. 2) Follow the directions on the Uploads Editor page to upload the document. Use the BROWSE feature to locate the file you want to upload. Click UPLOAD to upload the file. The UPLOAD EDITOR screen will update and display the name of the file uploaded. From here, you can click VIEW to review the file to make sure the upload was successful, or DELETE the file. To upload another file, click BROWSE and then UPLOAD. When you are finished with your uploads, click CONTINUE. Page 17
8.5 Reviewing the Completed Request When you have completed all the information, the REVIEW AND SUBMIT screen provides a checklist of all the required information and their status. A red x indicates missing information. You can review the list of required items to see what is missing. In this example, co-funding is selected but the Partnership State Fund amount was not entered. To complete the section, click on Project Information, to open the PROJECT INFORMATION SCREEN. You can complete the information, then click CONTINUE, or on the left navigation bar, you can go directly to Review and Submit. 8.6 Final Step Submitting the Request When all the information has been entered, you can submit the Request. At anytime during the process of preparing the request you can exit EzGrants. Your work progress will be saved, and you can log in later to complete or edit an in-progress submission. It is a good idea to VIEW the PDF of the request before you SUBMIT. To do this, click on the VIEW PDF button. A new window will open to display the PDF. Close the Acrobat window to return to the EzGrants REVIEW AND SUBMIT REBATE screen. Note: If you experience problems opening the PDF, make sure you have the PDF reader on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have the PDF reader, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. If you have the PDF reader installed, check to make sure your browser allows Pop-Ups from the GMS application. See Appendix A for further instructions. Page 18
When you are satisfied with your submission, click the SUBMIT button. You will receive and email notification to confirm your submission. PERC staff will also receive and email notification of the submission. You can view the PDF of the rebate request at anytime from your EzGrants HOME screen. Note: If you experience problems opening the PDF, make sure you have the PDF reader on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have the PDF reader, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. If you have the PDF reader installed, check to make sure your browser allows Pop-Ups from the GMS application. See Appendix A for further instructions. When the review of the request is complete, you will receive email notification of the status.. Page 19
You can view the PDF of the rebate request at anytime from your EzGrants HOME screen. Note that the task is now marked as COMPLETE. Note: If you experience problems opening the PDF, make sure you have the PDF reader on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have the PDF reader, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. If you have the PDF reader installed, check to make sure your browser allows Pop-Ups from the GMS application. See Appendix A for further instructions. Page 20
9. Submitting a Final Report Before you start the process of submitting your final report online via the Grants and Rebates Management System, you should complete the Final Accounting Report Narrative document using the template provided and save the document to your local disk. A copy of the template is provided in Appendix B of this User Guide. You can also download the template from the Uploads page of the Submit Final Report task in the Grants and Rebates Management System. When you have completed the Final Accounting Report Narrative, login to the Grants and Rebates Systems to submit the final report. On your Home Screen, the section titled To Do-Reports, provides a list of any tasks related to your rebate(s). In the example below, there are several tasks to submit the final report of a rebate. Note that some of the tasks are COMPLETE. The list displayed on your home screen includes the Project Title, the docket # assigned by the new GMS, and the Legacy #, which is the docket number assigned by the old GMS. Note: At this time some of the rebates do not have the Legacy # (old GMS docket #). We are working to Page 21
add all of the old docket numbers to the system and hope to have that completed shortly. Your Rebate Funds spreadsheet does list the old docket numbers, as well as, the corresponding EzGrants docket #. To view the spreadsheet, click the View Rebate Funds or Partnership Funds link on your home screen. To submit a final report, click on the task Submit Final Report for the docket for which you want to submit the report. The Submit Final Report Main page will be displayed. The Validation Summary shows the status of the tasks that need to be completed. Click on Contact Information to update information for the Primary Contact, if necessary. Project Timeline task information is optional for the Final Report. If you do not want to add or edit any Project Timeline information, continue to the UPLOADS step. Click on UPLOADS, the UPLOADS screen will be displayed. The Rebates Final Accounting Report Narrative upload is required for the Final Report submission. You may also upload supporting documents such as scanned copies of receipts, invoices, cancelled checks, and copies of the final work product. Select the Upload Type from the drop-down and click Upload. For the narrative document, select Upload Type: Rebates Final Accounting Report Narrative. Page 22
You will be taken to the Uploads Editor screen. Follow the directions on the Uploads Editor page to upload the document. On the Uploads Editor screen, use the Browse feature to select the file you want to upload, and then click UPLOAD to upload the file. You can view the document you uploaded in its original format or a PDF by clicking on the link. From this screen, you can DELETE the document and upload a revised document, if needed. If you have supplemental documents to the Final Accounting Report, please append them to the Final Accounting Report and submit a single document. Page 23
. When you have completed the upload, click CONTINUE. This will take you to the Verification Screen. You MUST check the box and then click on SAVE and CONTINUE. You will be returned to the Uploads screen. If you are satisfied with the final report, click CONTINUE to move to the Review and Submit screen. Page 24
You can review your report by clicking the VIEW PDF button. To submit the report, click on the SUBMIT button. You will receive an email confirmation that the report was successfully submitted. The task will display as COMPLETE in the To Do-Grants task list on your Home screen. APPENDIX A How to Set Your Web Browser Settings to Allow GMS Pop-ups This section provides instructions on how to allow pop-ups for the Internet Explorer 7+ browser. If you are using a different browser, please contact the PERC IT Staff for assistance (202.452.8975 or email it@propanecouncil.org.) 1) Make sure you have the Acrobat reader on the system you are using to access the GMS. If you do not have this installed, you can download it by clicking on the Download the free Adobe Reader link on the bottom of the GMS login screen. 2) GMS uses popup windows to display the PDFs this means that it opens the PDF documents in a new window. Some browsers block popup windows, so you may need to tell your browser to permit popup windows for GMS. To do this, you need to turn off popup blocker for the GMS application. To do this: a. On the browser tool bar, click on Tools Page 25
b. When you click on Tools, a drop down menu will appear. On the drop down menu, click on the down arrow for Pop-up Block. Then click on Pop-up Blocker Settings. The Pop-up Blocker Settings window will display. In the text box, enter: www.percgms.com, then click Add. This will instruct the browser to permit pop-up window when you are running the GMS application.. Page 26
Updates and Revisions This guide was updated 09/29/2008 to reflect the addition of the Propane Emergencies Partnership with States program. In addition screen images were updated to reflect changes to the Home screen, including new section titles, additional column headers, and display list sort rules. Task display lists were modified to include Project Titles and Legacy Docket #s. The Due Date was removed as a display list item for Applications. Applications and Reports tasks display rules were modified to list incomplete tasks before completed tasks. KH 09/29/2008 This guide was updated 6/24/2010 to reflect removal of the Consumer Education Partnership with States Program and the addition of the Partnership with States Program. The screen shots for the Project Information screen were updated to reflect this change. Also the Uploads screens and the instructions for rebate request applications were changed to reflect the removal of the requirement of an upload of the Media Plan document if Partnership funds are requested. If Partnership Funds are requested and optional upload type of Partnership with States Plan was added. This Gide was updated 10/29/2010 to reflect an upgrade to the GMS Application software. All screen shots were updated to reflect changes made to the process of applying for rebates and grants. Page 27
APPENDIX B. REBATES FINAL ACCOUNTING REPORT NARRATIVE TEMPLATE Cut and paste the text below into your document, complete the required information, and save the document to your local disk. You will upload the completed document as part of your Final Report via the Grants and Rebates Management System. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Docket # and Project Title STATE REBATE Final Accounting Report Narrative Download and complete this template to complete your Final Accounting Report. You should address each of the items in this template. You can provide as much information as needed; there are no character or page limits. I. Detailed timeline of the project, from organization to completion, including project stages and activities. II. Goals and objectives: A. Were the goals and objectives outlined in the original funding request achieved as a result of this project? Please explain. B. Were there any goals and objectives not achieved through the implementation of the project? Please explain. C. Statement of methods used to evaluate the success of the project. III. Complete a detailed statement of the cost of the project and final budget accounting. You may include this information in this document, or you may provide it as a Supporting Document when you upload your report via the Grants and Management System. Specifically include; direct costs, salaries, overhead and subcontractor costs, fees and expenses. Statement of how much the state contributed toward the cost of the project in cash, kind and services. V. Statement of plans to enhance and/or continue project with future rebate funds. If there is unused funding for this project, mail a check to the Council for the funding to be returned to your state or regional account. If there are written materials (i.e., newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, schedules, etc.) or audio or video tapes, or deliverables produced as project Work under the contract that are not appropriate to provide in digital form when you upload your report via the Grants and Rebates Management System, you should mail one (1) copy to the Council. Mail to: Propane Education & Research Council Attention: State Rebate Final Report 1140 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1075 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: 202-452-8975 Fax: 202-452-9054 or. Page 28
Page 29