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Financial Compliance

Principal Investigator Responsibilities

It is your responsibility as Principal Investigator to monitor the day-to-day fiscal performance of your project as well as the technical aspects of the job.

In general, you should make sure that salaries and equipment are being charged accurately. If you spot any problems, we will work with you to make sure that cost transfers are done on a timely basis. If transfers are not made within 90 days (including 30 days to get through the university accounting system), University policy requires supporting justification in order for those transfers to be made. So please contact us as soon as possible.

We also review the project account statements and will let you know if we spot any problems. The key is to track your budget reports carefully. If you have spent 80 percent of your budget, are you roughly 80 percent finished with your project? Or have you had difficulties along the way? The earlier fiscal difficulties are spotted, the more likely they will be solved without major expenditures by your college or department.

If your project should be overspent, we will let you know that it has been flagged, which means that no additional expenditures can be made until the overdraft problem is solved. We'll be happy to work with you to clear up any problems, and, if necessary, transfer costs to the appropriate college overhead account.

The Principal Investigator should note any restrictions placed by the sponsor on your expenditure of funds. Sponsors often require that they approve in advance expenditures for items such as foreign travel, equipment not already in the approved budget, general purpose equipment, subcontracting part of the project, or hiring outside consultants. Another key area of prior approval may involve a change in the amount of the principal investigator's effort to be spent on the project.

Our office is responsible for working with the sponsor to obtain approval for any items requiring the sponsor's prior consent. If you have a need to obtain prior approval, please contact your assigned OSP team member. The same holds true for all equipment requisitions and payment requests from subcontractors or consultants.

Cost Sharing

Cost Sharing(CS) is a commitment by the University to a sponsored activity. This commitment is a REAL DOLLAR COMMITMENT from the areas promising the support.  Sometimes sponsors may reference the word “matching” for cost-sharing.

The Principle Investigator’s Department  is responsible for making sure the total promised commitment to the Sponsor is fulfilled and the expenditures are reflected on the Cost-sharing funds(Overhead(OH) and State funded commitments) or are documented(tuition remission, SCHEV, VTF, etc.).   It is the Principle Investigator’s department’s responsibility to verify/follow-up to make sure they receive all the pledged commitments (State, OH, Schev, etc…) toward that departmental grant from the other department(s) and/or College(s), so that specific grant’s cost-sharing expenditures are covered.  

The Office of Sponsored Programs(OSP) is responsible for:

  1. reviewing and approving the cost-sharing budget and making sure the cost-sharing funds are set up correctly according to the Proposal Approval FORM A,
  2. reporting back to the sponsor the actual amount completed of the cost-sharing(should the PI’s cost-sharing not equal or exceed the required matching, then OSP would need to contact the PI), and
  3. retaining the supporting documents of the cost-sharing for audit purposes.

Questions about how cost-share works should be directed to OSP Administrators for an answer/explanation.  

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is responsible for transferring the overhead budget to the overhead cost-sharing funds based on the committed overhead cost-sharing that is reflected on the Proposal Approval FORM A.  OVPR has no involvement with the State cost-sharing commitments, nor any other non-OH cost-sharing commitments unless the commitment on the proposal was made directly by OVPR.  

Should a Principle Investigator(PI) and/or Department have a question/concern about the portion committed from an OH source on the Form A, he/she may contact the Vice President for Research Office for assistance.   If he/she has questions about receiving the State, SCHEV, and/or other non-OH commitments from another department, he/she should contact that department directly. 

  • OSP Policy 3245

Cost Transfers Non-Salary

Cost transfers onto sponsored projects are highly scrutinized by auditors.  All non-salary and general wages cost transfers are processed using the university’s journal entry form and sent to the Post Award Administrator for review and approval.  All cost transfers must comply with university policy 3255 Cost Transfers on Sponsored Projects.

Salary Transfers

All personnel costs related transfers should be done using a P-10.  A P-10 is a mechanism departments use to transfer payroll charges that have already posted in a fund to a different fund. This is an after the fact transaction and requires OSP approval when it involves a restricted account and the payroll change is greater than 90 days after the end date.  All cost transfers must comply with university policy 3255 Cost Transfers on Sponsored Projects. 

Reporting (Effort Reporting and Sponsor Specific Reporting)

The greatest percentage of costs for any research project is in salaries and benefits for the personnel directly involved in that project. (Insert link for an in-depth discussion of direct and indirect costs and how they are charged.)

It is extremely important that you submit personnel forms, particularly the Personnel Activity Report (PAR), in a timely fashion, and that you fill these forms out carefully to assure that expenditures are correctly charged to your project. The same holds true for cost-sharing projects.