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

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 669999 (T999999) • Transaction Description • Correct PRoooo1 for T999999 • Transaction • 200001-190000-200001-749850-10005 $ 250.00 - • 669999-669999-200002-746800-20001 $ 250.00 +

10. 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 669999. • Transaction Description • Correct PRoooo1 – Office Depot 2/10/10 • Transaction • 200001-190000-200001-739850-10005 $315.00 - • 669999-669999-200002-731200-20001 $315.00 +

11. Example – Transfer Equipment • Document Text • Transfer PO# P011111 for equipment purchased for $5100.00 from ABC Scientific on 2/3/10, with tag# T000009 to be used by grant 669999. • Transaction Description • Correct P011111 Equipment Tooooo9 • Transaction • 200001-190000-200001-794500-10005 $5100.00 - • 669999-669999-200002-794500-20001 $5100.00 +

12. 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 grant669999. • Transaction Description • Correct PRoooo1 – Walmart 2/6/10 • Transaction • 200001-190000-200001-739850-10005 $500.00 - • 669999-669999-200002-717305-20001 $500.00 +

13. 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 200001-190000-200001-614100-10005 - $4200 • To 2oooo1-190000-200001-614100-10005 – $3000 200001-190000-200001-614100-20001-669999 – $600 669999-669999-200002-614100-20001 - $600

14. Questions ?