How Facilities and Administrative Costs are Applied to Subcontracts
Definition/Background
Subcontracts typically are charged Facilities & Administrative costs on the first $25,000 of each subcontract, per project period.
Applies to:
Process Overview
- The portion of a subcontract that is subject to Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs is indicated on each Notice to Establish Account (NEA), if the grant includes Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs.
- Grant and Contract Accounting encumbers Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs when the award is established. (This encumbrance is shown on your budget with the code: BCSmmddyy, where mmddyy is the date of the NEA).
- Note: When the budget is established, what seems to be a "double" encumbrance appears on your budget. The encumbered amount is shown in both the Restricted Funds category (37-99) and in the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) category (25-99). As charges are posted to your budget, both encumbrances are liquidated at the same time.
- On a quarterly basis, GCA manually charges Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs based upon actual subcontract expenditures and reduces the encumbrances as the subcontract is charged Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost.
- Note: If the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost rate assigned to a budget changes during the life of a subcontract, the rate charged is the rate in effect at the time the charge is posted to the Budget Activity Report (BAR).
Department Responsibilities
To ensure that Notice to Establish Accounts (NEAs) are prepared correctly:
- Be sure to include accurate information about subcontracts in your budget proposal
- Regularly monitor and verify Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost adjustments posted on the monthly Budget Activity Reports (BAR)
Departments should regularly monitor and verify Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost encumbrances related to subcontracts by reviewing monthly Budget Status Reports (BSRs). Discrepancies should be emailed to gcaques@u.washington.edu
References/Regulations
- GIM 7--Subcontracts for Research
- GIM 13--Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Cost Rates
- GIM 22 Attachment A--A Primer on Facilities and Administrative Costs
Contacts
- Facilities and Administrative (F&A) cost policy and Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs on proposals: osp@u.washington.edu
- Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs charges and journal vouchers: gcaques@u.washington.edu