Frequently
Asked Questions
Indirect Costs
Fringe Benefits
| Q: |
How much money
do I need to budget for fringe benefits on my grant proposal? |
| A: |
The appropriate
rates are listed in the Guidelines
section of Guidelines and Policies. |
Office Supplies
| Q: |
Why can't I
charge office supplies to my federal grants? |
| A: |
Federal
OMB Circular A-21 "Cost Principles for Education Institutions"
requires postage and office supplies be considered a departmental
expense (indirect cost) unless the expense can be shown to be a
significant part of the project or activity and they are purchased
for the sole direct technical benefit of the project. Postage for
routine correspondence, including correspondence with the sponsoring
agency should not be direct charged to the project. |
Vehicle Rental Replacement Costs
| Q: |
Why can't I
charge vehicle replacement costs to my federal grants? How do I
pay for them? |
| A: |
Vehicle replacement
charges are not an allowable expense on federally funded projects
[ OMB
Circular A-21(J)(12) ]. The following procedures should be used
when paying for vehicle rental/replacement expense:
- All vehicle
rental charges must initially be charged to a local, appropriated,
or private grant account. No fund numbers between 4000-4999
will be accepted.
- The rental
portion of this initial charge may be redistributed, if appropriate,
to a federal fund. This can be accomplished by using the JB
40 CICS screen, or by completing an interdepartmental billing
form (IDB). To assist you in this procedure, the replacement
portion of each invoice is detailed on the billing form.
|
Other Unallowable Costs
| Q: |
Are there other
costs which are not allowable on federal grant funds? |
| A: |
Yes. Some of
the most common are listed below. For a more complete discussion
of allowable and unallowable costs on federal funds, please see
OMB
Circular A-21.
- Salaries
of departmental secretarial and clerical staff are allowable
only when the project or activity explicitly budgets for these
salaries, and the individuals can be specifically identified
with the project or activity. This means the individual must
be involved in a significant role in the project. This situation
will arise very infrequently and these charges will normally
not be allowed as direct costs.
- Local telephone
costs that include purchase, installation and/or monthly line
charges, are not allowable as direct costs.
- Memberships
are not allowable as direct costs.
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