Frequently Accessed Pages
Effort Commitments and Payroll Certification
RAMP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
No-Cost Extension Request Procedures
Extramural Support Policies and Procedures
Research Education Development (RED)
Award Statistics FY24
Total Awards
$1912M
Federal Awards
$1008M
Non-Federal Awards
$904M
Research Expenditures
6th (FY23)
Related Links
WISER User Reference
Page Updated: December 7th, 2018
WISER is replacing WISDM as the new web-based reporting system. Data in WISER comes from the Shared Financial System (SFS), and the Human Resource System (HRS). This system contains transaction as well as demographic data on projects and grants and allows exporting of data into multiple formats for review and analysis.
Highlights of WISER Projects for Grants Management
Manage Tiles and Groups
1. When logging into WISER, if no tiles or groups have yet been added, this is the screen that will be visible to users:
2. To search for available items for Projects; click on Main Menu, then on Projects.
3. Available paths under projects are now viewable, and each includes an option to Pin to Dashboard. In the example below, this is clicked under the “Find Award/Projects” tile.
4. You will be prompted for a tile group and a name for that group. In this example, there are no existing groups, so we are creating a new group and titling it “Grants and Contracts”. Then, click on the blue “Pin” button. A pop-up message will appear indicating that the Tile has been pinned and that the Tile Group has been created.
5. Now when you click on the Home icon - 
- you will see your group as a tab and your tile pinned within that group.
- you will see your group as a tab and your tile pinned within that group.
6. Create groups and add tiles as needed.
7. Tiles can be deleted (unpinned) by hovering over the tile until the X appears and then clicking on that X.
8. Groups can be renamed or deleted by clicking on the tab for that group, and then clicking on the blue gear dropdown for option selections.
Award and Project Information
Find Awards/Projects Search
1. Use the Find Awards/Projects tile to search for awards and projects using an array of criteria. In the example below, the user has entered the Award ID. Searches can be run to find all awards for a particular department, a specific PI, etc. or a combination of a number of criteria.
2. In the example search, MSN214394 is entered, and results of the search are below:
Options from this page:
- The data view can be changed using the "Balance Type" and "Financials as of" dropdowns.
- The data displayed can be reordered by clicking on the column headings.
- Projects can be added by individually checking the "In My Projects" check boxes, or all projects can be added by clicking on the "Add all to My Projects" button.
- The search results can be pinned using the "Pin to Dashboard" option.
- The search results can be exported to excel.
- Clicking on Investigator name runs a search for all awards for that investigator.
- Clicking on Dept ID runs a search for all awards for that department.
- To view Award level data, click on MSN number of award.
- To view project level data, click on project number.
Award Level Information
1. Clicking on the MSN number will open summary information at the award level. From this page, you can pin the award to your dashboard, add the award to your My Awards collection, or export the data.
Project Inclusion
1. By default, this view will include data for all of the projects under that award. In this example, the award includes 5 projects. Clicking on “All 5 Selected” will allow the user to change the selection of projects included in the award view (see below). The project in the darkest font (AAC8911) is the primary project for the award. Those in lighter gray font (AAC8914) are projects that are no longer in open status. In the example below, the project status for AAC8914 is “Closed – Adjustments only”.
2. Users can also utilize Period selectors to view data within a specified period. In the example, we are viewing all data since the inception of the award through July 2018.
Financials
Summary View
1. The Financials tab displays award level information for the projects and period selected. There are three major views available; the default view is Summary, which displays combined financial data for all projects on the award. The columns include the total cumulative budget for the award, the Month-to-Date (MTD) expenses, the total posted expenses (Actuals), any encumbrances and the balance.
2. From here all dollar values in blue are hyperlinks, which allow the user to drill into more details on those amounts.
3. By default, the data is displayed with the "Budget Category" setting, but this can be changed to exclude encumbrances or to show direct dollar amounts only.
4. To see financial information displayed with more detail in the summary, move the detail slider to the right.
5. This will display information summarized by account code within each category.
Transaction Detail
1. All dollar values in blue are hyperlinks, which allow the user to drill into more details on those amounts.
2. In the example above, the $1,103.95 hyperlink is clicked to reveal the details of that amount (below).
3. In the upper right of the drill, 
, enables Minimize, Maximize and Close of the detail window. The 
menu allows the user to:
, enables Minimize, Maximize and Close of the detail window. The menu allows the user to:
3a. Export the data to excel
3b. Customize the columns shown in the detail view
3c. Change the number of records showing on the page and Toggle the Payroll Detail Display
4. The drop down options to the right of the menu include data view options of Standard, AP and Salary/Fringe which modifies the columns in the view.
menu include data view options of Standard, AP and Salary/Fringe which modifies the columns in the view.
5. Within the transaction lines themselves, there may be additional links that can lead to more information. In this example, the JRNL ID JRT0240268 is a hyperlink which leads to the related accounting journal.
Cost Transfer Initiation
1. Cost transfers can now be initiated right from the transactions line in WISER. When clicking on the 
icon in the last column of the desired transaction line, a message box will appear:
icon in the last column of the desired transaction line, a message box will appear:
2. To initiate a cost transfer for that transaction line, click on the Cost Transfer Tool box, and the Cost Transfer Tool will open with that transfer in the basket.
Calculator Feature
1. Clicking on the calculator button on the upper right, offers an option to run a total from the amounts in the summary. In the example below, the calculator has been enabled, and the academic salary account codes are included. The amounts are included in a sum, and are averaged.
Projects View
1. The default view under the Financials tab is the Summary view, but the view can be changed to Projects by clicking on that option within the Financials tab. This view is helpful to see all projects separately instead of combined into the award summary. The same Budget Category selections are available for the user at the Projects view.
Period Summary
1. The Period Summary option combines activity by month for the award (selected projects). Again, all dollar values in blue are hyperlinks, which allow the user to drill into more details on those amounts. Additionally, the calculator option is available for any on-page calculations.
AR
1. The AR tab contains accounts receivable information for the award. Users can limit search results using the check boxes to view only open AR, only closed AR, or leave both checked to view all AR created for that award.
Personnel
1. The Personnel tab lists all salary/stipend information paid from the award. At the award level, information is included for all projects under that award. The example below is from the award level view, because we can see lines for two different projects. At the project level view, only information specific to that project would be included.
Award Modifications
1. The Award Modifications tab lists changes that have been made to the award, such as funding increases or decreases, no-cost extensions, or future funding entries. The example below includes a funding change, and a future funding entry.
Requirements
1. The Requirements tab lists selected Terms and Conditions for the award, and any Certifications (if applicable). Terms and Conditions may include Equipment Title designation (with UW or with Sponsor), or may highlight that there are special invoice instructions.
1. The Cost Share tab displays he payroll cost share schedule for a project and related calculated cost share expenditures.
Documents
1. The Documents tab lists available .pdf documents for that award/project. The top section includes invoices that have been generated for the award, but this will not apply for all sponsors.
WISPER
1. The WISPER tab lists any WISPER records that were created and connected to the award.
Project Level Information
1. Following a Find Awards/Projects search, data will be displayed as shown below for awards with multiple projects:
2. For awards with only one project (in the example below, MSN208339), the search opens the main award summary page. In these cases, click on the Projects button, and then the project hyperlink, to open the same project summary view.
Financials
1. The Financials tab for the project level is similar to the information displayed at the award level, but is limited to the selected project.
2. The project can be pinned to the dashboard, added to a My Projects collection, or the data can be exported, using the links in the upper right.
3. The Award Level data can be viewed by clicking on the 
icon. To open the Award Summary page, click on the Award ID hyperlink.
Account Codes Highlight Feature
1. WISER offers an easier way to identify F&A exclusions at the project level. To view all account codes that are omitted from F&A calculations, move the Detail slider all the way to the right to see account codes on the summary. Click on 
to verify that "F&A Exclusions" is checked.
to verify that "F&A Exclusions" is checked.
2. In this example, reviewing data at the regular category level, we see Equipment and Tuition and Fees are highlighted.
3. When the slider is moved to the highest level of detail, you can now see that some excluded amounts exist under the Other Expenditures category also. This would not be clear if we only viewed data at the category level.
Personnel
1. At the projects level, the Personnel tab lists all salary/stipend information paid from the selected project only. At the award level, information is included for all projects under that award.
Award Modifications
1. The Award Modifications tab lists changes that have been made to the award, such as funding increases or decreases, no-cost extensions, or future funding entries. The example below includes a funding change, and a future funding entry.
Requirements
1. The Requirements tab lists selected Terms and Conditions for the award, and any Certifications (if applicable). Terms and Conditions may include Equipment Title designation (with UW or with Sponsor), or may highlight that there are special invoice instructions.
Edits
1. The Edits tab displays the valid chart fields (fund, department, and program) for a project. This information is needed when using the project to purchase supplies, create purchase orders, set up salary payments, etc.
2. In almost all cases, a project will have one valid fund, but it could have a number of valid departments and/or valid programs.
3. In the 144 project example below, only department 481500 and program 4 are valid.
Cost Share
1. If Cost Share is associated with a project, the schedule and calculated expenditures can be found under the Cost Share tab.
Documents
1. The Documents tab lists available PDF documents for that award/project. The top section includes invoices that have been generated for the award, but this will not apply for all sponsors.
2. The lower section, "Other Documents" may include award notices received from the sponsor, modifications, budgets, subaward information, etc.
RAMP/WISPER
1. The WISPER tab lists any WISER records that were created and connected to the award.
Building a My Projects or My Awards Collection
1. When monitoring a specific set of projects or awards, users may find value in creating a My Projects or My Awards collection in WISER. To search for projects and awards of interest, click on Main Menu then on Find Award/Projects.
1a. Use the Find Awards/Projects page to search for awards and projects using an array of criteria. In this example, the user is searching for all projects with Fund 133 for the Department ID 481500, with a Project Status of 1-Open.
1b. The search results page offers two ways to add the results to My Projects.
- To select individual projects, click in the check box to the right of the project under the "In My Projects" column.
- To add all of the search results to My Projects, the user can click on the "Add all to My Projects" button.
2. When a user selects or deselects a project, a small informational window highlights the change. Once all projects of interest have been added to My Projects, the user can click on 
to view the list, or navigate from Main Menu and then My Projects.
to view the list, or navigate from Main Menu and then My Projects.
3. Projects are listed individually and are grouped and summed by fund. To find more projects, users can click on 
from this screen, or clear out the My Projects collection by clicking on "Remove all from My Projects". To rearrange or remove individual projects, the user can hover on a project line to access options.
from this screen, or clear out the My Projects collection by clicking on "Remove all from My Projects". To rearrange or remove individual projects, the user can hover on a project line to access options.
4. To build a My Awards collection, users would start similarly, with the Find Awards/Projects Search.
4a. From the search results page, users can click on the Award ID for the item of interest to open the Award Summary page.
4b. Once on the Award Summary page, the option 
is available.
is available.
4. To build a My Awards collection, users would start similarly, with the Find Awards/Projects Search.
5. To view the My Awards collection, click on Main Menu, then on My Awards. Items are listed by award, without the project detail, grouped and summed by fund.
6. To find more projects or awards, users can click on 
from this screen, or clear out the My Awards collection by clicking on "Remove all from My Awards". To rearrange or remove individual awards, the user can hover on an award line to access options.
from this screen, or clear out the My Awards collection by clicking on "Remove all from My Awards". To rearrange or remove individual awards, the user can hover on an award line to access options.
Award Modifications Search
1. To run an award modification search, select the option from Main Menu Projects Award Modifications Search.
2. Enter search parameters for the search. In the example below, the search is limited to the Funding Action Type of Funding Change for the department ID starting with 4815, with Funding Action Issue Dates between 1/1/2018 and 8/31/2018 for the PI Randall Goldsmith. Click on the Search button.
3. Search results can be sorted by any of the column headings.
4. Clicking on the ID in the first column will open the award summary connected to the corresponding award modification.
RAMP/WISPER Search
1. To run RAMP/WISPER search, select this option from Main Menu Projects RAMP/WISPER Search.
2. Enter search parameters for the search. In the example below, the search is limited to RAMP/WISPER submissions after 6/1/2018 for the department ID starting with 4185, for the PI Robert Hamers. Click on the Search button.
3. Search results can be sorted by any of the column headings.
4. If the Record ID is a blue hyperlink, clicking this will open the award summary connected to that RAMP/WISPER record.
Accounts Receivable Search
1. To run an Accounts Receivable search, select this option from Main Menu Projects AR Search.
2. Enter parameters for the search. Users can use the Status filter to limit search to only Open AR items, only Closed AR items, or leave it blank to search for both statuses.
3. Search results can be sorted by any of the column headings.
4. If the Invoice ID is a blue hyperlink, clicking this will open more detail on that item below.
5. Users can also click on the Entry Amount hyperlink to drill into more information.
Accessing Award Documents in WISER
Summary:
All new documents can be found by clicking the Award ID hyperlink on the Documents tab in WISER.
Older documents are available under the "Other Documents" section of both the WISDM and WISER Documents tab.
1. Current documents are available in WISER by clicking the Award ID link.
2. If current documents are available, a list of documents will appear in a separate tab or window.
3. If no current documents are available, a separate tab or window will appear.
4. See the troubleshooting steps if you receive an error message similar to the following:
Troubleshooting:
If you are unable to access award documents by using the instructions above, please review the following:
- Make sure you've connected to VPN if you're working off campus.
- Try accessing the documents in a different browser.
- Restart your computer.
- If you still can't access the documents, send an email to: era@rsp.wisc.edu