Key Justification Questions

Answer the applicable following questions in assessing whether a typical F&A cost may be direct charged to a sponsored agreement:

• Because all projects require a certain amount of account reconciliation, correspondence, phone calling, office supplies, etc., how will the proposed charge(s) differ from the standard level of support expected for all projects?

• The job title or payroll classification may imply   administrative work is being conducted. How will the nature of the work differ from departmental administrative work conducted for all projects, and why are the charges necessary to conduct the work of the award?

• The cost category (e.g., office supplies) may imply that the items are being used for administrative purposes. How will these items be used to conduct the specific work of the project, and what is their relevance to the methods used in conducting the project?
  

• How will the proposed charges be accurately documented and assigned to the project with a high degree of accuracy? For example, an administrator who is working on five or more projects including normal department administration work will be difficult to document accurately the relative benefit to any specific project.

• How does the charge meet a specific need of the project and what is the derived benefit?

Last modified March 20 2012 03:18 PM