Before you review the federal policies, check the MIT general policy on financial and business administration (14.1.4) and policies at Research Administration Services (RAS) on Cost Principles and Allowable Expenses to understand what MIT activities and transactions are generally considered unallowable under federal government contracts.
Most federal agencies implemented new policies as of December 26, 2014. If your agreement was implemented after December 25, 2014, you may need to refer to the U.S. GPO Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (known as “Uniform Guidance” or UG). UG is designed to replace OMB Circular A-21.
For costs that are unallowable on federally sponsored projects, you must assign each cost to the appropriate unallowable G/L account. The only exceptions are costs that are specifically allowed in your specific sponsored agreement.
The following G/L accounts are for costs that are generally unallowable but reimbursable:
- Meetings Food and Beverage—421000
- Alcoholic Beverages—421205
- Prizes and Awards—420319/420321
To substantiate the business purpose of the meeting expenditures, departments are still required to provide the following information:
- The purpose of the meeting (i.e., content of discussion)
- A list of the attendees (names or group association) present at the meeting
- Itemized receipts with requests for payments
See MIT Expense Reporting Policy for details.
If expenses exceed authorized total on a project, use the G/L account Recorded Project Overrun (RPO)—420314 to remove an overrun on a sponsored project according to MIT policy. You must use this G/L account to record project overruns to selected general accounts (cost centers) or fund accounts (internal orders) on both sides of a journal voucher (JV) transaction. Note, however, that you may not transfer an overrun on one sponsored research project to a different sponsored research project. Additionally, an RPO should be used to remove overruns (instead of removing actual expenses). These actual research expenses must remain on the account to reflect the research being conducted and for the Institute to properly calculate F&A rates.
The Sponsored Accounting team will process these JVs for you if you provide the cost center or internal order you wish to use for the overrun transfer.
The Details
Before you review the federal policies, check the MIT general policy on financial and business administration (14.1.4) and policies at Research Administration Services (RAS) on Cost Principles and Allowable Expenses to understand what MIT activities and transactions are generally considered unallowable under federal government contracts.
Most federal agencies implemented new policies as of December 26, 2014. If your agreement was implemented after December 25, 2014, you may need to refer to the U.S. GPO Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (known as “Uniform Guidance” or UG). UG is designed to replace OMB Circular A-21.
For costs that are unallowable on federally sponsored projects, you must assign each cost to the appropriate unallowable G/L account. The only exceptions are costs that are specifically allowed in your specific sponsored agreement.
The following G/L accounts are for costs that are generally unallowable but reimbursable:
- Meetings Food and Beverage—421000
- Alcoholic Beverages—421205
- Prizes and Awards—420319/420321
To substantiate the business purpose of the meeting expenditures, departments are still required to provide the following information:
- The purpose of the meeting (i.e., content of discussion)
- A list of the attendees (names or group association) present at the meeting
- Itemized receipts with requests for payments
See MIT Expense Reporting Policy for details.
If expenses exceed authorized total on a project, use the G/L account Recorded Project Overrun (RPO)—420314 to remove an overrun on a sponsored project according to MIT policy. You must use this G/L account to record project overruns to selected general accounts (cost centers) or fund accounts (internal orders) on both sides of a journal voucher (JV) transaction. Note, however, that you may not transfer an overrun on one sponsored research project to a different sponsored research project. Additionally, an RPO should be used to remove overruns (instead of removing actual expenses). These actual research expenses must remain on the account to reflect the research being conducted and for the Institute to properly calculate F&A rates.
The Sponsored Accounting team will process these JVs for you if you provide the cost center or internal order you wish to use for the overrun transfer.
