Expenditure Approvals for Research Awards

As an institution of higher education, The Florida State University must comply with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rules and regulations. OMB Circulars A-21, A-110, and A-133, among others, provide for the basis of the research compliance environment.

Cost Principles for Educational Institutions (OMB Circular A-21)

Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Other Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit Organizations (OMB Circular A-110)

Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit Organizations (OMB Circular A-133)

Expenditure Overview for Research Awards

Expenditures must meet certain criteria to be charged directly to a sponsored agreement. The tests of "allowability of costs" under these principles: (a) the cost must be reasonable; (b) the cost must be allocable to the sponsored agreement(s) under the principles and methods provided herein; (c) the cost must be given consistent treatment through application of those generally accepted accounting principles appropriate to the circumstances; and (d) the cost must conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the sponsored agreement as to types or amounts of cost items.

In essence, principal investigators and departmental support staff must ensure that costs charged directly to a sponsored agreement are reasonable and benefit that agreement directly, in whole or part. Research Accounting staff can provide support and assistance in making these determinations so that all costs charged to the sponsored project are accurate and defensible.

Please contact the Grants Compliance Analyst assigned to your department for more specific information on processing personnel actions, purchasing requisitions, interdepartmental requisitions (stock room charges, lab animal resources, etc.), and payment requests for the FSU Research Foundation.