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INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAMHSA RECIPIENTS

How to Add or Update Accounts in Your Organization via eRA Commons

To add or update accounts in your organization or un-affiliate one or more previous Signing 

Official (SO) accounts, follow the steps below:

1. Log into eRA Commons. 

Note that only the Signing Official (SO) who registered the organization in eRA Commons can

create and maintain additional accounts for organization staff including creating and modifying 

additional accounts with SO roles.

The SO can also create/delete/update eRA accounts with other roles for their organization staff

such as Principal Investigator (PI) – the SAMHSA Project Director (PD) listed in section 8f of the 

SF-424, and Financial Status Reporter (FSR) – the individual who electronically signs the 

Federal Financial Report (FFR). The SO must also create accounts for the PDs associated with 

current active grants in order to ensure access to the grant information in the eRA Commons 

system.

2. Click Admin >> Accounts >> Account Management

3. Search for the user using username OR first and last name (not both)

The existing users should appear under Search Results

4. Click ‘Manage' under the Action Column

5. Select ‘Add Roles' (opens a list with of roles)

Add Roles screen:

a) Scroll through the list and click to select the appropriate role(s).

b) Click the Add Role(s) button.

When you click Add Roles(s), the system returns to the Create Account or Manage

Account screen and displays the newly added role(s) as shown here:

c) To add additional roles, click the + Add Roles(s) button and repeat the steps above.

d) To remove a role, click the appropriate Remove button in the Action column.

e) To remove all roles, click the Remove All button.

Additional screenshots with instructions on how to Add/Delete User Roles are available at:

https://era.nih.gov/erahelp/AMS_New/?#Create_Accounts/Create_User_Accts/Add_Roles.htm
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If the user does not have an existing account, please proceed with the steps below:

a. Click ‘Create New Account'

i. Complete the required fields (red asterisks indicate a mandatory entry)

ii. User Type – Defaults to Commons

iii. Create User ID – Create the Username/ID (must be unique)

iv. Organization – Defaults to your organization

v. Enter First name

vi. Enter Last name

vii. Enter the user's email address and confirm email

b. Select ‘Add Roles' and select roles to add (to multi-select, please use ctrl or shift keys)

c. Click ‘Add Roles' then click ‘Create'

The user will receive an email with a username and a temporary password.

Note that the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) is a credential associated with a 

Grants.gov account, which is separate from the eRA Commons system. Organizations 

submitting an application to SAMHSA for the first time must register an AOR in Grants.gov as 

they will be required to enter the Grants.gov AOR credentials in eRA Application Submission 

System and Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST). For questions regarding AOR 

credentials, please contact Grants.gov directly: support@grants.gov, 1-800-518-4726.

Additional Resources:

1. eRA Commons step-by-step Instructions (including screenshots) for Creating Project 

Director (PD) accounts (Principal Investigator or PI role in eRA): 

https://era.nih.gov/erahelp/Commons/default.htm#Commons/1_Admin/mgacct_create.htm 

2. eRA Commons step-by-step Instructions for Registering an Organization (including 

screenshots): https://era.nih.gov/reg_accounts/register_commons.cfm 

3. The eRA Service Desk is accessible: 

Web site: https://public.era.nih.gov/commonshelp

Hours: Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, except for Federal holidays 

Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552.

Phone: 301-402-7469.

4. If you have SAMHSA specific questions about eRA Commons Accounts, please send an 

email to DGMCorrespondence@samhsa.hhs.gov.