This may therefore add to the cost of the proposal. When work is subcontracted out, the subcontractor will usually require its indirect cost rate. The necessary agreements need to be drawn up by the Purchasing Office, which is funded by monies created by the indirect cost pool. For the proposal process, when a subcontract is required, the Principal Investigator should alert the GIM Finance Office immediately.
Subcontracts require a great deal of communication between all parties involved.
The coordination process can take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks, depending mainly on the agreement that the Principal Investigator has with the subcontractor. Sometimes there will be a negotiating back and forth with what work will be performed by the subcontractor and the cost of the work. Oftentimes the Research Plan hinges upon subcontract agreements, and a delay in the subcontract agreement can impact the timeline. As discussed earlier, the Research Plan affects many of the duties that the GIM Finance Core does in preparing the proposal. What might appear to be a minor issue with working out the details of a subcontract, could in fact lead to major delays in the proposal preparation process.