Overview
When a proposal or contract is finalized, the award amount and the sponsor's terms and conditions for how funds should be spent and reported are fixed. CGA uses the award information to create a basic award structure in BFS.
The initial setup process may take a total of two business days to complete following the Phoebe Award Summary issuance. RAs will receive a notification when the primary chartstring is activated and the award is available for spending as well as additional mapping and/or budget reallocation.
Budget Reallocations and Chartfield Mapping
If funding should not remain entirely in unallocated direct costs, or additional chartstring combinations are required for award management, RAs may submit a budget reallocation. Chartfield mapping must be requested first if new chartstring combinations will be utilized in the reallocation.
The award structure in BFS ensures financial processes and invoices reflect the terms and conditions as well as the level of reporting the sponsor requires. Please refer to the Award Structure in BFS page to learn more about Contracts and Grants chartfields and how a budget creates the award structure in BFS.
Carefully review the award documentation to determine the authorized amount, funding period(s), and level of reporting the sponsor requires.
A complete budget reallocation may include:
- Unallocated budget row for the amount stated in the Phoebe Award Summary (entered as a negative)
- Allocations to either DIR/IDC or BUDSUM cost categories, depending on the level of reporting required
- Allocations to co-PIs and/or other campus departments and subawardees
- Allocations for specific tasks, cohorts, or other "bodies of work" with sponsor-required reporting
- Please note: Fabricated equipment and allocations have special rules
- Rows for cost sharing commitments with fund and cost share CF1
- Row(s) for overhead and F&A
- Please note: Special F&A rules apply for genomic array purchases
- The budget balance must be zero (i.e., the negative amount in the Unallocated Budget line plus the positive amounts in all the other lines should equal zero)
Fund Advances
When there is a need to start the work of the award prior to receiving the formal approval from the agency, and the department will guarantee funding if the award funding does not come through, the department may submit a Fund Advance Request to the Sponsored Project Office (SPO).
Only SPO may process a fund advance to allow spending before an award is made.
Typically a fund advance is limited to around 25% of expected first-year funding and a period of 90 calendar days prior to the expected award date.
Upon receiving a Phoebe Award Summary for a fund advance (Authorized Spending) from SPO, CGA will set up the award within the following two business days. An advance fund number is set up and CGA will notify the department when advance spending can begin.
Once the agency approves and funds the actual award, preliminary budget entries will be reversed out and the approved budget entered into the ledger according to the new award budget setup procedures. The advance and the actual award will use the same fund number to minimize the number of cost transfers, purchase orders, and HCM (HR records and payroll) changes needed.
If the award still is not approved when the established Fund Advance Period ends, the department must process an extension through SPO or the expenses incurred are charged to other fund sources provided by the department. CGA will work with the department on this step.
Subawards
Budget requirements for outgoing subawards vary depending on the subrecipient (UC campus or other entity) and the subaward amount (less or more than $25,000).
- Include a budget row(s) for subaward direct expenses in the submitted award budget
- If the subawardee is another UC campus or facility, allocate subaward funds to intercampus Account 58014
- If the subawardee is a non-UC entity or DOE Lab, allocate subaward funds up to $25,000 to Account 58013 , and funding over $25,000 to Account 58014
- If a subawardee is providing cost sharing, budget this as third party cost share
- The BFS award structure does not require unique chartfields or a separate body of work for subawards
- Create a CF1 to budget for and track a subaward only if the sponsor (or internal tracking) requires specific reporting on subaward activities
Please refer to Budgeting for Cost Sharing and Fund Advances for Subawardees for more information.
Cost Sharing
Effective July 1, 2014, budget details for committed cost sharing must be included in the award budget at initial set-up. This will enable all cost share expenditures to be tracked as they are incurred during the life of the award.
Please refer to Budgeting for Cost Sharing for more information.
Program Income
When income is generated by award activities (conference registration fees, publications sales, etc.), that income is considered part of the award. Occasionally program income is anticipated in the award proposal and noted in the Phoebe Award Summary. In these cases, CGA will set up an award-specific CF1 value during award set-up to track program income expenditures and revenue.
Please refer to the Program Income page for more information.
Memberships
When the university enters into multi-sponsor agreements where participating members sponsor a research program, SPO sends a Phoebe Award Summary and CGA sets up a Master Award/Project and a Master Fund in BFS for the research membership program. The department administering the program is not required to submit a budget to CGA to initiate spending. Individual members subscribe on an annual basis.
Please refer to the Membership Programs page for more information.
References for Indirect Costs (F&A) and Composite Benefit Rates
F&A is automatically charged based on the IDC rate referenced in the award documents. Once the fund is activated, IDC costs are calculated daily (and visible in PI Portfolio and Cal Answers reports).
- Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Indirect Cost Rates
- Special F&A Rate for Genomic Array Purchases
- Treatment of Indirect Costs (Overhead) on Fabricated Equipment
- Indirect Cost Policy and Calculation Process (PDF)
For a list of F&A Base Codes (with included account codes):
- Log in to BFS
- Select Main Menu, then Tree Manager, then Tree Viewer
- Search for UC_GM_FA_TREE
Indirect Cost Recovery on CMA Business Contracts
This guidance is for the recovery of Indirect Costs (IDC) on California Model Agreement (CMA) business contracts executed by the Office of Business Contracts and Brand Protection - BCBP (for agreements when the University is providing non-research services to a State of California agency, and no original works or publications will be produced).
IDC Allocation on CMA Business Contracts
When a campus unit submits a new CMA business contract to BCBP, the Contracts and Grants Accounting unit (CGA) will coordinate with the unit to initiate the IDC assessment process for this contract.
The IDC allocation on CMA business contracts is assessed monthly by CGA, based on actual eligible expenses recorded to the general ledger, at the rate defined in the contract. The rate is applied to Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).
The IDC assessment is recorded to account 57365 Indirect Cost – Fund – Dept ID – Function Code - CF1 – CF2.
Department Responsibilities
- Expenses for each contract must be recorded to a unique chartstring to ensure that indirect costs are correctly assessed. A unique CF1 or CF2 value must be created by the department for each CMA contract and provided to CGA. UCPath position funding should also reflect the same unique chartstring for payroll expenses.
- Billing to the State Agency must be processed via the Berkeley Financial System - Accounts Receivables (BFS-AR) Module. See link below.
- Revenue must be recorded to account 46600 – CMA Contracts Revenue (this would ensure that revenue is not assessed AFC - administrative full costing).
Contact
For questions, please contact the CGA at cga_ar_help@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail)
Note: Business Contracts are not handled/managed by CGA nor are they included in the BFS Contracts and Grants modules. CGA runs the IDC allocation process only in the case of these types of contracts.