Cost Transfers to Sponsored Projects

Purpose:  To allow for the reassignment to a sponsored project agency/org of an expense initially charged against another source of funds.

Sources: United States Office of Management and Budget.  OMB Circular A-21 (revised),  Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.

Policy:  Federal regulations require written justification for any reassignment of an expense if the cost was initially placed against another source of funds and the charge is to be transferred to a federally funded or other externally sponsored project.  This reassignment is accomplished by means of the cost transfer process.  Transfer requests made 90 days or more after the date of completion of award may not be approved and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  Inappropriate charges to sponsored agreements must be corrected, regardless of timing.

Cost transfers may be appropriate if:

   1.the transfer represents the correction of a simple error

        or

   2. for transfers between sponsored projects, the projects involve closely related work and that the cost is allocable to the new project, which means that the cost must have actually benefited the project.

   Note:  Agency approval of these types of transfers is required in some instances.

Cost transfers are not appropriate:

   1. to reduce or avoid overruns on other sponsored agreements except as noted above.

   2. to transfer the cost because it is budgeted is unallowable if the cost does not benefit the project.

or

   3. for other reasons of convenience.

Requests to transfer expenditures to a federally funded or other externally funded sponsored project must be supported by the Correction of Error Certification form and a Non-Payroll Cost Transfer of Funds  form.  In addition, if the cost transfer involves sponsored payroll adjustments, the Sponsored Payroll Expense Transfer from must be submitted.

Procedure