Transcript Grant Submission & Budget Preparation

Richard Mocarski
Coordinator of Research Communications
Office for Sponsored Programs
BUDGET ISSUES:
SUB-CONTRACTING,
MATCHING, AND
INDIRECT COST
GETTING STARTED
What is needed for the
project?
 What are allowable
costs?

BUDGET STAPLES
(NORMALLY ALLOWABLE COSTS)
 Personnel
 Consultants
 Equipment
(>$5,000)
 Supplies (tangibles)
 Travel
 Other Expenses (services, lab fees, participant
support)
 Consortium/contractual Costs
 F&A costs (Indirect)
BUDGET NUKES
(NORMALLY UN-ALLOWABLE
COSTS)








Office Supplies
Computers!
Administrative support!
Entertainment Costs
Alcohol
Voluntary Cost Share
Anything not directly related to the proposed project.
Anything for another project!
KEY WORDS
Direct Costs: Any cost directly associated with
the project.
 F&A (Facilities and Administration) or Overhead
or Indirect Costs: Any cost vital to the project but
not directly related (i.e. lights, central
administration, office supplies, etc.). The
University has a standard, negotiated rate for
capturing these costs.
 Equipment: An item having a unit cost of $5,000
or more and life of over 1 year.
 Supplies: Expendable items with a useful life of
less than a year and a unit cost under $5,000.
Something you can hold (i.e. Widget)

WHERE’S THE GUIDANCE?

Sponsor Guidelines


University Guidelines



OSP contact.
http://osp.ua.edu/policy_pr
ocedures.html
Federal



RFA, PA, website, etc.
OMB (Office of
Management & Budget)
FAR (Federal Acquisition
Regulations)
State

Bid Law
WHERE’S THE GUIDANCE?
 Both
the Sponsor’s guidelines and the
University’s guidelines must be followed.
Where there are contradictions, the more
restrictive of the two must be followed.
 Generally, University regulations conform
to the federal and always to state
regulations, but are more specific and
sometimes more restrictive.
REGULATIONS, POLICIES & PROCEDURES
- FINANCIAL – FEDERAL – ORDER OF PRECEDENCE
Award
Special Conditions
Program Rules
Agency Rules
OMB Circulars
and/or FAR
Financial Stewardship of Sponsored Project Funs. Cindy Hope and Tammy Hudson
http://osp.ua.edu/site/training.html.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES

PI Salary/Effort
 “The federal government has clarified that, except in very
unusual circumstances, each federally funded project should
have allocated to it some level of committed Principal
Investigator/Project Director (PI) effort.”
 “As the federal government requires that it be charged no
more than any other sponsor, the University is generally
required to charge all sponsors for some portion of faculty
effort related to any sponsored activity.”
 Exceptions: Sponsor doesn’t allow effort or the PI’s sole
function is that of a mentor.
 http://osp.ua.edu/Minimum_allowable.html
UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Cost Share
(Matching)
 The University of
Alabama does NOT
support voluntary
cost sharing.
 Mandatory cost
share must be
negotiated with the
appropriate
officials prior to
the submission of
the proposal.
COST SHARE:
MANDATORY
Cost share at the lowest level allowable.
 Use waived indirect (if required, and allowed).
 Use release time if possible.
 The difference between in and out of state tuition
(if possible – is the GRA out of state?)

BUDGET COMPONENTS:
PERSONNEL
Any person who is devoting effort to the project
should be paid from the project.
 Senior Key Personnel include the PI and any
person who is integral to the project’s success.
 Other personnel can include Graduate Research
Assistants, Post-Docs, Research Techs, Senior
Collaborators who are not key, etc.

PERSONNEL CONT.
Unallowable Personnel include administrative
support staff.
 Fringe Benefits
 Faculty and Salaried Staff: 28.41%
 Hourly Staff: 36.61%
 Post-Docs: 17.38%
 GRAs: Health Insurance ($117 a month) and
FICA in the summer (7.7%)

 http://osp.ua.edu/fringe.html
PERSONNEL CONT.: BUYOUTS

Buyouts are when faculty use funded research
time to reduce their course load.
 Each
department has a different buyout
rate and a different procedure for securing
a buyout.
 Before a buyout can be budgeted, it must
be approved by the faculty member’s
department head.
BUDGET COMPONENTS:
CONSORTIA (SUB-AWARDS)
A contract to another organization that conveys a
portion of the UA project’s scope of work.
 A budget, scope of work, and letter of
commitment signed by an authorizing official
need to be obtained.
 First 25k subject to F&A costs.

BUDGET COMPONENTS:
CONSORTIA VS. VENDOR

Consortia should have programmatic
responsibilities.

Participant.
Vendors provide goods or services within its
normal business operations or offers services
similar to many other providers.
labor.
Hired
BUDGET COMPONENTS:
CONSORTIA – THE 25K RULE
Each sub-award is subject to indirect charges on
the first 25k of that total award.
 Each sub-award charges their own indirect costs
on their direct costs.

BUDGET COMPONENTS:
F&A (INDIRECT) COSTS
Research costs to your institution which are not
specifically related to your project.
 Each institution has a negotiated rate for
indirects (F&A). UA has a federal F&A rate for
research of 44.5% for research grants.
 Certain items are exempt from F&A. (Tuition,
Equipment, Patient Care, Rent, Consortia costs
above 25k)

BUDGET COMPONENTS:
USE OF DIFFERENT RATES
Research vs. Service
 On-Campus vs. Off-Campus
(http://osp.ua.edu/On_OffCampusRateApplication.p
df)
Are you leasing space?
Are any activities being performed on campus?
What percentage?
Are the project costs over 100k?

EXAMPLES
Direct Costs
► Non-administrative Salaries, Wages,
Fringe Benefits, such as:
> Principal Investigator
> Research Assistant
> Technician
> Faculty
> Scientist
> Post Doc.
► Animals and Animal Care Per Diems
► Consultants
► Equipment (Technical & Scientific)
► Maintenance/Repair - Scientific Equipment
► Page Charges/Reprints/Reference
Materials
► Freight/Other Transportation
> UPS
> FedEx
> Priority Mail
► Rental of Space / Equipment (Non-UA
owned)
► Service/Recharge Center Charges
► Subcontracts
► Materials & Supplies
> Chemicals (Lab) > Gases > Radioisotopes
► Telephone Charges - Long Distance
► Travel
Indirect Costs
►Administrative and Clerical Salaries, Wages,
Fringe Benefits, such as:
> Fiscal Officer
> Department Administrator
> Administrative Staff officer
> Accountant
> Secretary
> Staff Asst.
► Computer Hardware (General Purpose)
► Dues & Memberships
► Equipment (General Purpose)
> Copier
> Office Furniture
► Maintenance/Repair - General Purpose Eqmt.
► Meals & Refreshments
► Printing
► Postage
► Subscriptions
► Office Supplies
> pens > pencils > transparencies > binders
> paper, tablets > staples > files, folders
> computer software (general)
► Telephone Charges
> Basic line charge
> Pagers
> Voice mail
Financial Stewardship of Sponsored Project Funs. Cindy Hope and Tammy Hudson
http://osp.ua.edu/site/training.html.
20
PREPARING YOUR BUDGET (CONT.)

UA uses Modified Total Direct Costs
Indirects are calculated by applying the indirect rate
to the direct cost base.
 Base = total costs 
Tuition
 Equipment
 Patient care costs
 Consortia costs above 25k

BUDGET MODIFICATIONS

Proposed budgets may be
increased or reduced at
the time of award by the
sponsor. Due to budget
restraints, number of
awards, feasibility, etc.
BUDGET MODIFICATIONS CONT.

Scenario 1: Budget cuts are due to agency
constraints and are under 10%.


The modification can be done at a local level.
Scenario 2: Budget cuts are due to agency
constraints and are over 10%.
Evaluate if the project can still be done.
 Yes: The modification can be done at a local level.
 No: Contact your program officer.

BUDGET MODIFICATIONS CONT.

Scenario 3: Budget cuts are due to review
committee’s recommendations.
These cuts are normally large.
 Talk to your program officer, whether or not you
agree with the assessment.
 As with Scenario 2:

The Aims may need to be hedged.
 The award may need to be turned down.

BUDGET MANAGEMENT:
PRE-AWARD
If allowed by the sponsor, you may begin
spending funds up to 90 days before the award
start date.
 Pre-Award Cost Form: http://osp.ua.edu/OSPAuthorization%20for%20Pre-Award%20Costs0504.doc

BUDGET MANAGEMENT:
REVISION
For grants under
expanded authority, rebudgeting between
categories of less than
25% can be done locally.
 >25% needs written
approval

BUDGET MANAGEMENT:
REVISION

Any change in scope, absence of greater than 3
months or change in PI, need for additional
funds, or transfer of a significant portion of the
research (i.e. sub-agreement) must be approved,
in writing, by the sponsor.
BUDGET MANAGEMENT:
MONITORING


Monthly, or at least
quarterly, the PI should
review expenditures.
Costs should be
incurred at a reasonable
rate, as sponsors
consider expenditure
rates an indication of
progress.
BUDGET MANAGEMENT:
MONITORING CONT.
Contract and Grant accounting sends financial
reports to the sponsor per the sponsors
guidelines. Therefore, even if progress reports
have been submitted, an agency might question
the progress if the expense reports do not match.
 Carryover and no cost extensions should be
avoided if possible!

QUESTIONS?
Richard Mocarski
Coordinator of Research
Communications
Office for Sponsored Programs
205 348 7163
[email protected]