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INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAMHSA RECIPIENTS

How to Request Signing Official (SO) Access for eRA Commons

If the individual in your organization with the Signing Official (SO) role who registered the 

organization in eRA Commons is no longer associated with the grant, submit a request to the 

eRA Service Desk using the sample form letter below, and then follow the instructions on how to 

add or update accounts in your organization via 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.

1. Submitting a request for SO access to the eRA Service Desk:

eRA Commons requires that the request for SO access be submitted in writing in situations 

where the:

a. Signing Official (SO) is no longer with the organization and SO access is needed, or 

b. Business Official (BO) for the grant needs to be assigned the SO role in eRA to create and 

maintain additional accounts for organization staff.

The request should be submitted on organization letter head and the requester should hold the 

title of President, CEO, or Executive Director. Please send your request to 

helpdesk@od.nih.gov. Below is a template form letter you may use as an example to draft your 

request to eRA.

____________________________________________________________________________

Dear eRA Service Desk,

I am writing to request that I (name of new SO) be listed as the new Business Official (BO) with 

(name of organization) [if no SO is still with the organization, include - due to the previous

SO/BOs (name of previous SO/BOs) departure from our organization.]

I hold the title of (President, CEO, Executive Director) with (name of organization). I have 

signatory authority with the organization to legally bind the (name of organization) as it pertains 

to grant funding. Please ensure that this change populates to the eRA grant record for our

award/application(s) under grant number(s) (e.g. XX01234) so that e-notifications are sent to

the new SO/BO’s email address and that the name appears as the SO/BO in future 

documentation regarding the grant/applications(s).

Note the following information:

• Name of New SO/BO

• Title

• Institution Name (provide IPF # if available)

• Desired Username (or existing username if account already exists and had been assigned 

the SO role)

• Address

• Phone #

• Email Address of New SO/BO

• SIGNATURE of new SO/BO

____________________________________________________________________________
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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.