The Office of Financial Affairs reviews all expenses charged to sponsored funds for allowability. All budgets should state the amount of salary that is allowable, either as a percentage or a stated amount. Under federally sponsored programs clerical salaries can not be treated as direct cost unless specifically stated and approved by the federal funding agency. Salary for clerical support can be charged as facilities and administrative costs. In exceptional cases work on a sponsored agreement is more appropriately performed on an overload basis.
Overload is when an employee is being paid over their annual salary.
Generally it is not permissible to use federal funds as overload, therefore funds to be used as overload payment should come from a University account. Intra-University consulting is considered a University obligation requiring no compensation in addition to the full time salary. To pay an intra-university consultant a Payroll Authorization Form must be completed and signed by the departmental chair of the Principal Investigator and the Research Accountant. A subcontract is a written agreement in which a sponsored project or program is carried out by the University and one or more cooperating institutions that are separate legal entities independent of the University. Prior approval from the funding agency is necessary before any of the project work can be contracted out.