successful pre- and post-award collaborations start with good proposals and agreements nancy daneau,...

Successful Pre- and Post-Award Collaborations Start with Good

Proposals and Agreements

Nancy Daneau, Office of Sponsored ProgramsJoanne Goldstein and Michael Miller, Sponsored Programs Accounting

What we’ll cover today….

Common issues that arise during proposal development and award negotiation that impact our post-award colleagues

Solutions for the pre-award administrator to be proactive and pre-empt problems

How to coordinate and manage the process to facilitate effective project management and foster good relationships

Budget Development“hot potatoes”

Identify Cost Categories: Unidentified Costs– May cause overruns on the award

Institution shares in cost of research effort

– May require sponsor approval for rebudgeting Holds up post-award invoicing and financial reporting

– Bottom line: Not in the budget? Ask. Personnel Costs: Proposal vs. Expenditures

– Reports of time and effort are certified– Bottom line: Reporting = Audits = Findings

Budget Development“hot potatoes”(cont’d)…

Itemize Costs Correctly: Follow the Rules– Salary vs. Stipend

Stipends not allowable on research grants, only on training/ fellowship grants

Employer/employee relationship = salary Trainee/fellow entitled to living allowance = stipend Consider immigration status in allowability

– Must be US citizen or permanent resident (green card) to receive stipend

– Materials & Supplies vs. Equipment Threshold for capital equipment = $3,000 at NYU, with a useful life of at

least 1 year F&A rate applied to materials and supplies, but NOT to capital equipment

items


– Travel: domestic vs. foreign Domestic: in-state or out-of-state Foreign: allowable with prior approval, certain restrictions apply Know basis/rates for reimbursement

– Use NYU per diems or actuals, not combination of both! – Understand need for detailed meal receipts, not just credit card slips

– Subawards vs. subcontracts Difference between the “big S” and the “little s”

– Programmatic effort (“big S”) vs. goods and services (“little s”) Impact on F&A/indirect cost recovery on federally funded projects

– F&A assessed on only the first $25K of the “big S”– F&A assessed on full amount of “little S”

Flow-down of prime award terms and conditions required for “big S”, not for little “s”

Subrecipient monitoring required for “big S”, not for “little s”


Pieces needed for the “big S”– Subawardee budget, Statement of Work (SOW),

institutional approvals– Impact if not on file or request to issue Sub not initiated

internally Late issuance Late start of work by collaborator Late invoicing and payment Late reporting

– Impacts the progress of the overall effort– Remember, your institution as prime recipient is ultimately

responsible for conduct of the work and meeting sponsor requirements!


Are costs allowable, allocable, reasonable, consistently treated?– Sponsor guidelines– OMB Circular A-21– Institutional Rules

Are costs direct or F&A/indirect?– Direct: costs identifiable to a specific project– Indirect: costs incurred as part of overall operations

Ex: Direct vs. Administrative (F&A) costs – Salaries and wages of clerical/administrative staff generally *unallowable* as direct

Ex: General office supplies, unallowable as direct charges Exception: meet the test of “major project” as defined in Exhibit C of A-21 Application/treatment of costs should be consistent

Cost Sharing“hot potatoes”

Most institutions’ policies, written or not: – No cost sharing unless mandated/required by sponsor

Voluntary committed cost sharing – Faculty/key personnel time and effort stated but not fully

charged to the sponsored award Must be tracked and reported upon Has negative impact on F&A/indirect cost recovery

– Indirect Cost Waivers Does the difference between NYU’s federally negotiated rate

and the reduced rate you agree to accept on the award represent cost sharing?

– Only if feds approve and only applies to federal awards

Budget Development Hints and Tips

Project the future: Look toward reality– Ask the question: What will it take to do this

project?– Work budget backward starting with total costs– Compare reality with proposed budget– Plan so that every dollar is utilized to PI and

institution’s best advantage: ask every question to get the full cost impact from your PI

Budget Development Hints and Tips

Impacts of poor planning: – Loss of direct cost funding available to the project – Loss of F&A/indirect cost recovery – Disallowances

Open communication reduces potential for:– Excessive, inappropriate, or late cost transfers– Manual adjustments– Disallowances– Revised invoices/financial reports– Audit findings– Loss of expanded authorities or letter of credit drawdown eligibility

Award Terms & Conditions“hot potatoes”

Period of Performance dates– Effective date vs. execution date– Funding authorizations

Budget periods Incremental funding Supplemental funding

– Impacts allowability of expenditures Rebudgeting

– Institutional policy– Sponsor policy/prior approval requirements– Impacts ability to get reimbursed and project planning

Award Terms & Conditions“hot potatoes” (cont’d)…

Invoicing– Format and documentation

Standard Sponsor specifies, non-standard with back up documentation

required (negotiate!)– Tied to award type

Cost reimbursement (CR) or fixed price (FP)– Frequency

CR: in arrears monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually FP: up-front, per milestones reached, at completion Combination: tied to progress or deliverables


Payment terms– Upon execution/initiation – Fixed schedule of installments– Milestone payments– Upon completion/termination– Withholding of percentage or amount – Net 30 days standard– Non-standard can impact institution’s cash flow

Remember, revenue is generated based on expenditures NOT representative of cash on hand or payments made by

sponsor– Consider institution’s cash outlay and outstanding A/R


Deliverable/Reporting Requirements– Technical

Progress Final

– Financial SF 269, SF 270, and SF 272 for fed grants Sponsor specified forms Timeframe for submission

– Cost Sharing Sponsor specified format for documentation Letters from 3rd party contributors School/dept to certify that cost share requirement met


– Property/Equipment Annually and/or At completion

– Invention Upon internal disclosure At completion

– Timely report submission impacts A/R, relationship between central offices with responsibility/oversight and PI/institution’s reputation with sponsor

Delinquent reports = potential for sponsors to withhold funding on *all* awards

Label your institution as “not responsible”; can impact future competitions


Problematic Terms and Conditions/Clauses Publication

– Restrictions and prior approval requirements– Impacts ability to disseminate research results

Export controls– Acceptance of controlled or proprietary technology, items covered by

EAR/ITAR– Restrictions on hiring foreign students– Impact: Loss of fundamental research exclusion

Intellectual property– Internal invention disclosures – Disclosure to sponsor– Impacts: loss of ability to file provisional patents, legal battles over

inventorship if proper disclosures not made


Early Termination/Stop Work Orders– Coverage for non-cancellable commitments– Notifications– Account “suspension” by SPA changing the end date– Reconciliation of account(s)– Settlements and repayment to sponsor if necessary

Legal terms (indemnification, venue, governing law, etc.)

– Require legal counsel review/approval– PI consent?


Compliance– Human/animal subjects– Conflict of Interest– Committee review/approvals– Institutional policies: cost transfers, business

expense, purchasing, etc. – Impacts level of risk to the PI, dept, institution

Award Classification“hot potatoes”

Award instrument– Grant, contract, subaward, subcontract

Award type– Cost reimbursement, fixed price, gifts

(restricted and unrestricted) Sponsor type

– Federal, state, city, county, commercial/ private, non-profit

Award Classification“hot potatoes” (cont’d)…

Proper identification integral to: – Account set-up (“at-risk” or upon receipt of executed award)– Consistency re: data warehouse– Precedence (gift vs. grant, GRIFTS)– Integrity of financials (OMB A-110)– Audited financial statements (OMB A-133)

Impact on consistency and accuracy:– Internal reporting– External reporting– A-133 reporting– Cost accounting standards

Account Set-Up“hot potatoes”

Single PI Multiple PI’s

– One account shared or separate accounts for each?– PI’s from different departments/divisions– Access? – Controls?

Budget years vs. cumulative project period– Separate accounts?– Carry forward

Automatic? Prior approval required?

Account Set-Up“hot potatoes” (cont’d)…

Interest Earned– Return to sponsor?– Use toward the project?– For use at institution’s discretion?

Tracking Reporting

Interest Income– Tracked separately from revenue

Program Income– Route to SPA; deposited to deferred revenue,– SPA increases project budget– User fees: deposit against same cost center where expense incurred

Reimbursements from 3rd parties– deposit against line expense was incurred

Cost sharing– Need to establish program/project – Identify cost share funding – Post expenditures accordingly– Certify once obligation met

Pre-award keys to success

Training:– PI’s: ask them the same questions for each proposal;

explain your expectations and it will become habitual– Faculty Assistants: understand the relationship between the

PI and his/her assistant and ally yourself with both– Share all training opportunities with anyone who works in

the process Serve the Greater Good:

– Explain the impacts on the institution for a poorly planned budget

– Remind your team that what serves the institution helps everyone

Pre-award keys to success (cont’d)…

Get to know your neighborhood:– Meet and talk with all members of the community in the

process during the lull– Knowing who does what and who can help during a crisis

will help

Do what works for you:– If logic doesn’t work, resort to emotion – even guilt– If you are a teacher, teach; if you are a listener, listen – use

your skills to advance the process

Patience and planning will go a long way!

Building the bridge with post-award

Building allies between pre-award and post-award:– Serve as the primary point of contact/gatekeeper between the PI,

dept and the post-award team (too many cooks in the kitchen….)– Learn about and anticipate the needs of your post-award

counterparts– Educate your post-award counterpart on the specifics of each

project– Communicate often, even when you think it insignificant or not in

their “realm”– Keep people apprised of your expectations– Interact regularly, not solely when there are fires to be put out– Utilize them as the resource they are for your PI’s or dept– Maintain your sense of humor!

Building the bridge with post-award (cont’d)…

Understand award terms and conditions so you can negotiate the best deal for all the players

Realize sponsor restrictions and special requirements; negotiate to standardize when it makes sense and is possible

Accept differences between the variety of sponsors and awards; there is no cookie cutter solution

Job security: A day in the life of a research administrator is never without a new twist!

Resources….Links

Business Expenses, Expense Reimbursement policies– http://www.nyu.edu/cdv/site20/policies/policies.html

Cost Transfer Interim Guidelines:– http://www.nyu.edu/cdv/site20/cservice/spa.html

Purchasing Policies, including Purchasing Card– http://www.nyu.edu/purchasing.services/restricted/policies.html

Asset Management Procedures & Forms– http://www.nyu.edu/asset/procedures.html

OSP Policies & Procedures including NYU Policy on Distinguishing Between Gifts and Sponsored Awards

– http://www.nyu.edu/osp/policies/

Questions/Comments?

Contact info. for follow-up questions: – Nancy Daneau, [email protected]– Joanne Goldstein, [email protected]– Michael Miller, [email protected]

Thanks for joining us!

successful pre- and post-award collaborations start with good proposals and agreements nancy daneau,...

Documents

little s slide

cost impact

work budget

big s subawardee budget

budget development hints

cost categories

big s fa

sponsored award