Business and Fiscal Officers Meeting – 3/16/10 Presented By: Glen Jones, Director Post Award Research and Sponsored Programs

What is a cost Transfer? Any adjustment or transfer of expenditures to/from a grant, or cost share FOAP Salaries (& benefits) A transfer is done via a salary redistribution for expenses already incurred. A transfer is done via a PAF when redistributing future salaries for employees. A superseding GRA agreement is done for redistributing future stipends for GRAs. Non-Salaries A transfer is done via a journal entry.

Reasons for Cost Transfers Allow for the reassignment of cost to a grant To reallocate an expense or a partial expense To correct or assign an identifying number to the transaction i.e. Activity Code to designate cost share expense To reclass an expenditure type i.e. from office supplies to research supplies To post internal chargebacks by cost centers i.e. Printing Services and Lab Animals (LAR) To reallocate effort to reflect actual effort on a grant by an employee

Invalid Reasons for Cost Transfers To compensate for a cost overrun on another grant OMB Circular A-21 C. 4. b. To avoid restrictions imposed by law or terms of the sponsored agreement. OMB Circular A-21 C. 4. b. To transfer for convenience OMB Circular A-21 C. 4. b. To fund another project To use up funds

Guidelines for Cost Transfers Timing Corrections should be made within 90 days of when an error or misclassification is discovered. Assumption is that all grants are reconciled monthly, so errors and misclassifications of costs are corrected within 120 days of the initial expense. Any corrections made to grants after 120 days must be approved by both RSP and the University Controller, regardless of the amount. Any corrections made to grants more than 60 days after the end date of a grant must be approved by both RSP and the University Controller, regardless of the amount.

Guidelines for Cost Transfers Documentation Documentation must be adequate to justify the charge to a grant. Provide grant purpose of expense. Expense Transfer must reference source document of expense being transferred Date of original transaction Vendor name Source document # (i.e. PO#, JV#, etc.) Amount – especially if multiple expenses are being transferred.

Guidelines for Cost Transfers Costs that benefit two or more grants Allocated costs based on benefit Assumes basis for allocation will not be difficult to ascertain Allocate on a reasonable basis Assumes that costs for two or more projects cannot be determined because of interrelationship of work involved

Possible “Red Flags” Transferring expenses to a grant with a large balance available toward the end of the grant Transfers made after the end date of grant from/to another grant Charged to another grant to expedite an order Expense transfers that do not fully explain the appropriateness of the transfer, and do not adequately document the transfer for audit purposes

Examples – Travel Expense Document Text Transfer department pro-card expense of $250 on 2/16/10 for Southwest Airlines airfare for Dr. Smith to attend Semantic Computing Conf. in Atlanta related to grant (T999999) Transaction Description Correct PRoooo1 for T Transaction $ $

Examples – Research Supplies Document Text Transfer department pro-card expense of $315 on 2/10/10 for pocket folders purchased at Office Depot for packets to pass out to study participants for grant Transaction Description Correct PRoooo1 – Office Depot 2/10/10 Transaction $ $

Example – Transfer Equipment Document Text Transfer PO# P for equipment purchased for $ from ABC Scientific on 2/3/10, with tag# T to be used by grant Transaction Description Correct P Equipment Tooooo9 Transaction $ $

Example – Participant Gift Cards Document Text Transfer department pro-card expense of $500 on 2/6/10 for 50 $10 gift cards from Walmart to be given to research participants after each visit, per Human Subjects Protocol # HSP9999 0n grant Transaction Description Correct PRoooo1 – Walmart 2/6/10 Transaction $ $

Salary Reallocation Reason – To reallocate salaries for December 2009 to reflect Dr. Smith’s effort on grant (both direct and cost share). Information needed – UID, Name, PayID and Period Accounting From $4200 To 2oooo – $ – $ $600

Questions ?