Richard Mocarski Coordinator of Research Communication Office for Sponsored Programs
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, i ti 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 RFA, PA, website, etc. University Guidelines OSP contact. http://osp.ua.edu/policy_pro cedures.html Federal 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 usua circumstances, cu ces, 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 p _ allowable.html
University Policies Cost Share (Matching) The University of Alabama does NOT support voluntary cost sharing. Mandatory cost share must tbe negotiated t with the appropriate officials prior to the submission of the proposal.
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 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 ($1394 a year) and FICA in the summer (7.7%) http://osp.ua.edu/fringe.html
Calculating Personnel The time charged to the grant should be an accurate estimate of institutional time that each person will devote. The appointment type (9 or 12 months), as well as when the effort will be expended need to be factored in. Percent effort (FTE) times base salary equals amount charged to the grant. Multiply this by the appropriate fringe rate and add those together for the total costs for each person.
Person Months Person Months NSF and NIH require the effort to be reported in person months. Person months are reported in Calendar Months, Academic Months, and Summer Months depending on the person s appointment. Multiply the FTE by the appointment type
Graduate Research Assistants In addition to health insurance and summer fringe, GRA s also receive tuition when charged to a grant. Current Rate = $7,000 a year. http://cost.ua.edu/graduate-09-10.html html
Budget Components: Travel Travel can include trips to the agency for required training, trips to conferences for dissemination and collaboration, trips into the field, trips to a collaborator, etc. Estimate travel based on registration fees, hotels, air and ground transportation, per diem, etc. Foreign and domestic travel must be separated.
Budget Components: Supplies Something you can hold Under $5,000 unit cost Useful life of less than a year Must be directly related to the project NO Office Supplies, including computers!
Budget Components: Other Direct Costs Non-tangible items Lab usage fees, animal care costs, etc. Budget Components: Equipment Any item with a unit cost of more than $5,000 And a useable life of more than a year F&A Cost are not applicable to equipment
Budget Components: Consultants List their rates and have a letter of support and bio for each consultant Consultants must be from a different institution (with some exceptions) Consultants should not have a significant portion of the budget or a key role, otherwise a sub-contract should be issued.
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 should be obtained. First 25k subject to F&A 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 Certain items are exempt from F&A. (Tuition, Equipment, Patient Care, Rent, Consortia costs above 25k)
Direct Costs Non-administrative Salaries, Wages, Fringe Benefits, such as: > Principal Investigator > Faculty > Research Assistant > Scientist > Technician > 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 Examples Indirect Costs Administrative and Clerical Salaries, Wages, Fringe Benefits, such as: > Fiscal Officer > Accountant > Department Administrator > Secretary > Administrative Staff officer > 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. 22
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 Justification A narrative explanation of the budget. Allows the sponsor to evaluate the reasonableness of the budget. Justify each item in the budget (or category depending on the level of detail required by the sponsor). Compare the statement of work to the budget to ensure all costs are accounted for.
Best Practices All budgets must be approved by OSP before they are submitted to the sponsor. Be conservative when listing people as key personnel. If a key person leaves or needs to be changed, it must be approved, in writing, by the sponsor. Contact OSP EARLY! We re here to help.
Budget Modifications Proposed budgets may be increased or reduced d 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/osp- Authorization%20for%20Pre- Award%20Costs-0504.doc
Budget Management: Revision For grants under expanded authority, re-budgeting 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 Grant and Contract Specialist Coordinator of Research Communications & Services Office for Sponsored Programs 205 348 7163 rmocarski@fa.ua.edu