Tango Instructions

Creating a Tango Order

1). The PI will need to make a Tango account following these instructions. The Tango account must be in the PI’s name and not in a student’s name.

2). Make sure this statement is added to the email invitation or consent letter: “Please note, by agreeing to take our questionnaire you confirm that you do not anticipate receiving $600 or more from UT-Austin for participation in research studies this calendar year. If you do not meet this condition and wish to participate, please contact the project coordinator, enter name, phone number, email address.

3). For non-grant accounts, skip to step 4. For grant accounts (26 accounts, not COE grants or other internal grants) we can only distribute funds into Tango for the next month. However, we can create a Tango purchase order for the full 6 months and pay against this purchase order every month.

1. In the description field of the cash advance request form, outline how you intend to distribute funds over the next 6 months. Note that this must follow what is in your IRB protocol and consent letter.
2. When you submit your Tango cash advance request, you must also give us an estimate on how you intend to distribute funds over the next month.

4). The PI will need to prepare and submit materials for the cash advance packet. These are the same materials that we require for a traditional cash advance (Cash Advance Request Form, Approval Letter, Screenshot from the IRB website showing approval dates, Compensation and Costs section of the IRB protocol, and the consent letter).

1. Please see the Creating the Cash Advance page on our wiki for detailed instructions on how to fill out the Cash Advance Request form.
2. It often takes longer than 10 business days for the request to final approve and for the funds to be deposited in Tango. Please plan ahead and submit requests as far in advance as possible.
3. Combine the forms into one PDF if you are able to and submit the packet unsigned to khe@austin.utexas.edu. Include your Tango account number with your request

5). The staff will review the packet and send to the PI for signature. Please keep a copy of the packet so that you may reference the cash advance start and end dates.

6). The staff will email Tango for a quote in the amount of the cash advance request and copy the PI on the email.

7). Once the quote is received, the staff will create a purchase order and route for approval.

Funding the Tango Account

1). Once the purchase order is approved, the staff will notify the PI. For non-grant accounts, staff will ask the PI if they want to fund their Tango account for the full amount of the PO or for a partial amount. For grant accounts the staff will use the amount the PI specified they would distribute over the next month.

2). The staff will ask Tango for an invoice in the amount the PI wants to deposit into Tango and pay the invoice once it is received. Depending on the type of account, this payment can take over one week to approve.

For grant accounts, the PI must send a distribution report showing that all funds have been distributed to participants at the end of the month. If they are unable to distribute funds to participants within the month, they must write a justification on why they were not able to distribute funds to participants.
For non-grant accounts, the PI must send a distribution report when they are finished distributing funds to participants. Funds must be distributed within the cash advance start and end dates.
We can only have two open Tango payments on the same study at a time. If the PI needs to deposit more funds into Tango they will need to reconcile one of the Tango payments first.

Reconciling a Tango Order

Similar to traditional cash advances, we have 30 days from the last day of the Tango cash advance to reconcile.

We need to reconcile each payment to Tango separately. For example: If a PI has an open Tango purchase order for $2000 and pays $500 to Tango to start with, and then pays another $300 to Tango, we will need to reconcile both the $500 and $300 payments.

1). The PI should send a distribution report showing funds were distributed to participants. This should be sent in excel format. Check that funds were distributed within Tango cash advance dates.

1. If there are multiple payments on this Tango account, make sure that participants are not being double counted on different reconciliations. Check the participant names and dates on previous reconciliation to make sure participants are not being double counted.

2). If funds need to be returned to the university, the staff will ask Tango for a refund. The refund will come through to the university via wire transfer and be posted to the account the payment originally came out of. It can take up to 30 days for the refund to post to the account.

3). The staff will route a reconciliation packet to the PI to sign.