Session #4:
Creative Grants Engagement:
F & A Costs
Contracts and Grants Dilemmas
Mary Ann Downs
Contracts and Grants Specialist

[email protected]
Tina Hood, CRA
Administrator, Sponsored Programs
Administration
[email protected]
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
Anne Cook, Fiscal Officer
[email protected]
Constant changes in financial processing
Financial staff without background in
Contracts and Grants
Classroom style training methods
Growing number of contracts and grants
Let the games begin!
General Information:
Signatures:

Know who can sign contracts at your institutions.

For MSU, Only Director of Sponsored Programs
Administration and Director of Procurement &
Contracts can sign contracts - - even copier leases,
etc. Previously our Vice President for Agriculture
could sign Sponsored Agreement Contracts.
Contracts and Grants Challenge # 1:
Let no dollar go to waste……
[There will be a challenge question re:
use of contracts and grants dollars
inserted here - - but we can’t give away
our answers before the session!

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Contracts and Grants Challenge #2:
Nothing’s free……

You’ll have to come to the session to see
the question/answer/discussion here re:
PIs and their current and pending effort!

Hot Issues:

Internal Billings/Service Centers: Service
Centers allow for a standard rate
calculation to be made for services
provided by departments. Charging a
project for any cost other than a direct
cost must be supported by a rate approved
by the Controller and Treasurer’s Office.

Time and Effort Reporting
You guessed it - - you have to
come to the session to get the
speed bump info re: Time and
Effort reporting!
•Justifications should explain the reason for
the delay and the reason why the change is
needed.
• It is never correct to process a JLRF to “use
up the money”.
•These forms are for the auditors.
Explanations should be concise, accurate,
and well-worded.
*JLRF = MSU’s Job Labor Redistribution Form
F&A
Shedding a little light*
on a dull (but important!) subject
*Utilities, for those of you who enjoy wordplay!
.

What is F & A? F & A stands for Facilities
and Administrative rate, commonly referred
to as the overhead rate or the indirect
costs.

Why does it matter? If an expense is
included in calculation of the F & A rate, it
cannot be charged directly to a contract
or grant. EVEN if the C or G doesn’t allow
indirect, you still cannot charge these
expenses to the Contract or Grant.

What’s commonly in an F & A rate…?
Lively activity and discussion is
anticipated re: elements of the F & A
rate…..yes…..lively!

So….How’d you do?
1-5 right?
6-16 correct?
All 17 correctly sorted?

An introduction

Office Resource
Challenge #4
The Case of Justifiable
Commitments
The
question/answer
will appear here at
the session!
Challenge #5
The Sum of its Parts
The
question/answer
will appear here at
the session!
Even if you are on the right
track, you’ll get run over
if you just sit there.

--Will Rogers