Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
Purpose
To assure the integrity of the
university's charges for salaries, wages, goods and services on sponsored
programs and other restricted funding transferred to and/or from a sponsored
program or other restricted funding after an initial charge elsewhere in the
university's accounting system.
In accordance with 2 C.F.R. 200 it is
necessary to explain and justify transfers of charges onto federally funded
sponsored programs, where the original charge was previously recorded elsewhere
on the university's operating ledger. Timeliness and completeness of the
explanation of the transfer are important factors in supporting allow ability
and allow capability.
(B)
Scope
This rule applies to cost transfers,
including the transfer of payroll and other direct costs associated with
sponsored programs and restricted funding.
(C)
Definitions
Consult rule 3349 1 01 of the
Administrative Code.
(1)
"Cost Transfer" refers to the reassignment of an
expense to or from a sponsored program or restricted fund after the expense was
initially charged to another sponsored program or non sponsored program. Cost
transfers include reassignments of salary, wages, and other direct
costs.
(2)
"Sponsored Program" refers to an award funded via a
grant, contract, cooperative agreement or subcontract from a federal, state or
local government entity, the private sector, or an institution of higher
education, whereby the university agrees to perform a certain scope of work, in
accordance with terms and conditions set by the sponsor, for specific, budgeted
monetary compensation.
(3)
"Principal Investigator" refers to the faculty or
staff member designated by the sponsor to have the appropriate level of
authority and responsibility to direct the project or program supported by the
grant.
(4)
"Sponsor" for the purposes of this rule, refers to an
entity that awards funding for a specific purpose.
(5)
"Restricted
Funds" refers to those funds provided by a sponsor for a specific purpose and
subject to specified terms and conditions.
(D)
Body of the
rule
(1) The
university is committed to ensuring that all cost transfers (either in the form
of a labor redistribution or non salary journal entry) are legitimate and are
conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the sponsored program,
regulations and university rule.
(2)
All principal
investigators ("PI") and their business managers are responsible for ensuring
that transfers of costs to or from sponsored program and restricted funds which
represent corrections of errors are made promptly.
(3)
Cost transfers
must be supported by documentation which contains a full explanation of how the
error occurred and a correlation of the charge to the sponsored program to
which the transfer is being made. Explanations such as "to correct an error" or
"to transfer to correct project" are unacceptable.
(4)
Cost transfers
to any sponsored program account are allowable only where there is direct
benefit to the sponsored program account being charged. An overdraft or any
direct cost incurred in the conduct of one sponsored program may not be
transferred to another sponsored program account merely for the sake of
resolving a deficit or an allow ability issue. Cost transfers should not be
used as a means of managing awards.
(5)
Cost transfers
that are initiated as a means to move expenses onto a sponsored program merely
to spend the available balance are unallowable.
(6)
Expenses that
have been disallowed on one sponsored program or restricted fund are not to be
transferred to a different sponsored program. Additional details can be found
in the direct charging sponsored programs and unallowable costs
rule.
(7)
Cost transfers must be prepared and submitted within
ninety days from the end of the calendar month in which the transaction appears
on the award except in cases where the sponsor's (federal or non federal) terms
and conditions are stricter than those of the university. Any cost transfers
that are initiated after ninety days will require the approval of the
department or college head and will be reviewed by the controller; approval may
be given on a case by case basis.
(E)
Responsibility
The principal investigator is
responsible for prompting the cost transfer form. Grants accounting is
responsible for reviewing the form and completing the cost transfer
process.
