Research Finance Review

When award balances, PI reports, allocations or billing require repeated reconstruction, a scoped Research Finance Review can help clarify where the financial pieces are not working together. Receive a findings and recommendations report and a leadership debrief.

A closer look at the connections

What Is a Research Finance Review?

A focused, independent examination of selected financial processes supporting your research portfolio. We follow how information moves between people, systems, schedules, and reports to identify inconsistencies that may create risk.

Awards & Reporting

Balances requiring manual reconciliation, PI reports that do not agree with the ledger, incomplete budget visibility, and different financial information across teams.

Personnel & Agreements

Repeated payroll reallocations, incorrect project coding, and IPA/JPA activity that does not align with agreement terms or records.

Billing & Funding

Invoices that require reconstruction, restricted funding that is difficult to track, and incomplete or delayed reconciliations.

Closeout & Audit Trail

Award-period issues, documentation gaps, and federal award information that is difficult to compile for SEFA or Single Audit purposes.

Findings in plain English

Understand What Should Happen Next

Your Findings & Recommendations Report and leadership debrief connect observations to practical priorities.

What is workingWhat needs attentionWhy it mattersWhat happens next

Built around your research environment

Scope and fees reflect portfolio size, award types, funding complexity, systems, and depth of review. You receive the proposed scope and fee before the review begins.

What Is a Research Finance Review?

A Research Finance Review is a focused, independent examination of selected financial processes supporting your organization's research portfolio.

It is designed for nonprofit research organizations that need greater confidence in the financial information behind their grants, contracts, Principal Investigators, personnel activity, billing, reporting, and award management.

The review is forensic-minded: rather than looking only at whether a process exists, Pennies Count considers how financial information moves between systems, schedules, people, and reports—and where inconsistencies may be creating risk.

The exact scope is determined after learning more about your organization's research environment.

What Can a Research Finance Review Help Identify?

Depending on the agreed scope, the review may identify issues such as:

  • Award balances that require significant manual reconciliation

  • PI reports that do not readily reconcile to the general ledger

  • Budget-to-actual reporting that does not provide a complete financial picture

  • Payroll or personnel costs requiring repeated reallocations

  • IPA or JPA financial activity that does not consistently align with agreement terms or supporting records

  • Grant and contract billing that requires reconstruction before invoices can be prepared

  • Restricted funding that is difficult to track across systems or schedules

  • Research expenses recorded to incorrect projects, classes, awards, or funding sources

  • Reconciliations that are incomplete, delayed, or dependent on individual knowledge

  • Award-period issues that are not identified until closeout

  • Federal award information that is difficult to compile for SEFA or Single Audit purposes

  • Financial documentation that must be reconstructed when requested

  • Different financial information being maintained by Finance, Research Administration, and Principal Investigators

The objective is not simply to find individual errors.

It is to determine why the financial information is becoming difficult to manage, reconcile, explain, or support.

What You’ll Receive

At the conclusion of the agreed review, Pennies Count provides a Research Finance Findings & Recommendations Report summarizing the areas reviewed, observations identified, financial or process risks requiring attention, and practical recommendations for strengthening the research finance environment.

A leadership debrief is also included so the findings can be discussed in plain English and prioritized based on their significance.

The goal is to leave leadership with a clearer understanding of:

What is working.
What needs attention.
Why it matters.
What should happen next.

This Is Not a One-Size-Fits-All Review

A research organization managing three foundation-funded projects does not have the same financial environment as an organization managing dozens of federally funded awards, multiple Principal Investigators, personnel agreements, reimbursement billing, and Single Audit requirements.

For that reason, the Research Finance Review is not offered as a fixed-price standardized review.

Each engagement is individually scoped based on factors such as the size of the research portfolio, number and types of awards, funding complexity, financial systems involved, and the depth of review required.

You will know the proposed scope and fee before the review begins.

Experience Your Research Organization Need

No trial and error accounting, but an accountant who knows compliance and research environment.

20+

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Supporting nonprofit and research organizations.

FORENSIC PERSPECTIVE

Master’s degree in Forensic Accounting

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING & AUDIT EXPERIENCE

Experience in public accounting auditing nonprofit organizations

How It Works

1.Request Your Review

Complete the short request form below. No financial records are required at this stage.

2.Complete the Intake

A confirmation message appears after you submit your request. Pennies Count reviews your request and contacts you about intake and next steps so the review can be scoped to your research environment.

3.Scope the Review

Pennies Count reviews the intake information and, when necessary, schedules a brief conversation to clarify the organization's needs.

4.Receive Your Proposed Scope & Fee

You receive the proposed areas of review, documentation requirements, deliverables, and engagement fee before deciding whether to proceed.

5.Receive Document List & Upload Link

You will receive a secure document request and upload instructions. Documents are submitted through a secure upload link.

6.We Conduct the Review

The review is performed within the defined scope when all documentation is received.

7.Receive Your Findings

Leadership receives the Research Finance Findings & Recommendations Report and a debrief of the findings, risks, priorities, and recommended next steps.

Request a Research Finance Review

If your research financials require too much manual reconciliation, reporting does not consistently agree across teams, or you simply want an independent look at the financial infrastructure supporting your research portfolio, the next step is simple.

Complete the short request form below.

No financial records are required to request a review.