All costs proposed on sponsored project must be allowable under Title 2, Subpart A, Chapter II, Grants and Agreements, Part 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (aka “Uniform Guidance”). Allowable costs are those costs that are reasonable, allocable, treated consistently, and that conform to specific programmatic limitations. In rare instances, an exception to these requirements can be made. These exceptions are called “Unlike Circumstances”. An example of an Unlike Circumstance exception is if a project seeks to test inebriated drivers’ response times. Alcohol is prohibited under the Uniform Guidance (Section 200.423) However, alcohol would be allowed due to its direct application in the study. Costs and their allowance are described in detail in Subpart E, Cost Principles (Sections 200.400-.476). Please contact the Office of Research Administration and Sponsored Programs if you believe that your project meets an Unlike Circumstance exception.
Budget Templates and Examples are available here.
Salaries
Salary for faculty and other personnel is estimated using the the calendar months or effort devoted to a project, committed effort. The committed effort is converted to a percentage of the individual’s annual salary. For example, if a twelve-month faculty member earns $50,000 a year and will expend ten percent of his annual effort on a project, the resulting salary would be $5,000. Under no circumstances should salary be budgeted as an hourly rate. If hourly rates are requested, please contact the RASP before moving forward.
When given the opportunity, it is recommended to include a salary escalation rate of two percent for all project out years.
Tools for Calculating Effort
NIH Effort Conversion Calculator
Fringe
HPU’s fringe rate for full time faculty and staff is 23%. The fringe rate for part time staff or summer salary for 9-month faculty is 10%. Students may accrue fringe in select circumstances.
For example, if a faculty member budgets $5,000 in salary on a project, the resulting fringe charge would be 23% percent of $5,000 or $1,150.
Travel
All costs budgeted and incurred must be in furtherance of the sponsored project. Airfare, car rental, hotel, conference fees, etc. should be based on actual costs or estimates from a reputable travel source, such as Expedia or the US General Services Administration (GSA). Flights should be economy-based and Federal awards require using United States-based carriers when possible under the Fly America Act. If a HPU vehicle is used, please contact Transportation at 9113 for an estimate of charges. Use of a personal vehicle will be reimbursed at a rate of fifty-seven and a half cents per mile.
Receipts are required for reimbursement of all travel charges. When given the opportunity, please include a two percent escalation rate for all project out years.
Participant Support Costs
Participant support costs as defined by Uniform Guidance means direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not university employees) in connection with conferences or training projects. This is a specifically defined category, do not use this budget category unless the expense clearly meets the sponsor definition or is provided for in the program guidelines.
Capital Equipment
Equipment is defined as any item that is $5,000 or greater and has more than one year of useful life. This includes equipment that is fabricated at HPU wherein the component costs are greater than $5,000.
Computers
Computing devices are allowable as direct costs but do not need to be solely dedicated to a project under the Uniform Guidance, indicating that some non-project use is acceptable, although the predominant use of the computing device should be on the project. Uniform Guidance also states that “In the specific case of computing devices, charging as direct costs is allowable for devices that are essential and allocable, but not solely dedicated, to the performance of a Federal award”.
Materials and Supplies
Materials and supplies should be budgeted using quotes or costs of similar items that were recently purchased. If HPU is buying components to assemble into a piece of fabricated equipment with a total costs of $5,000 or more, those costs should be placed in the equipment line.
Subawards and Consultants
Subawards and Consultants are non-HPU participants that support a HPU sponsored project. Both are similar in that each supports the efforts of a HPU sponsored project; however, it’s how each contributes to the project that determines which category to use. Subawards must be issued through the Office of Research Administration and Sponsored Programs, while Consultant agreements are issued through HPU Purchasing.
Subawards are those non-HPU project participants that:
- Have their performance measured against whether the project objectives are met
- Have responsibility for programmatic decision-making
- Uses the project funding to carry out a program of the organization
- Are subject to the project compliance requirements
For example, a partnering university may be responsible for a programmatic element such as developing a new algorithm for modeling bird flight.
Consultants are those non-HPU project participants that:
- Provide goods and services as part of their normal business operations
- Provide similar goods to many different purchasers in the ordinary course of their business
- Operates in a competitive environment
- Provides goods or services that are ancillary to the project
- Are not subject to the project compliance requirements
For example, a company may provide survey services on a leadership study.
Subawards may be entered into Cayuse 424 through Cayuse’s web site subawards.com.
Other Direct Costs
Other Direct Costs are those costs that can be directly attributed to the project but do not fit into other budget lines. Examples of Other Direct Costs include transcription, publications, etc.
Indirect Costs
Indirect Costs are those costs that cannot be directly attributed to a project. The costs are generally known as Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs. Indirect costs include electricity, water, sewer, library, research administration expenses, and other general research support costs. For collection of F&A costs, institutions should have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement. As such, any costs that are directly identifiable to the project should be included in the project budget as a direct cost if possible. The current indirect on-campus rate is 49% and the off-campus rate is 17.5%. Please contact the Office of Research Administration and Sponsored Programs with any questions.
Cost Share
HPU strongly recommends cost sharing only those funds that are required under the program to which you are applying. All cost share must be approved by cognizant Department Heads and Deans. Cost share provided by non-HPU entities must be documented in the HPU proposal on the third party’s letterhead clearly indicating the amount of the cost and where the cost will originate, for example salaries or equipment
Do you have questions? Email RASP at [email protected] or call 841-9313 for assistance.