Indirect Costs

Indirect Costs Allison Koss Thu, 05/09/2024 - 09:21

At right, please see the indirect cost related Kuali training guides (click the down arrow to expand). You can also step through them by hitting Next below.

The following topics are covered in this section:

On & Off Campus Indirect Cost Groups
Implementing Stepped F&A Rates in Kuali
NIFA (USDA) 30% TTF vs Standard Federal MTDC

Tool: Calculate Split F&A Rates for a Project Period (Excel)

On & Off Campus Indirect Cost Groups

On & Off Campus Indirect Cost Groups Allison Koss Thu, 05/09/2024 - 15:22

How to Create a Group to Budget Personnel using On- and Off-Campus Indirect Cost Rates

Overview: Kuali creates groups for personnel on the Assign Personnel to Periods page based on their object codes (i.e., PI/Sr. Pers Academic, PI/Sr. Pers Summer). For example, all personnel with summer salary are automatically placed in the same group (PI/Sr. Pers Summer) with the same details and rates. A new group needs to be created for a person that is working off campus so that the budget will reflect the off campus indirect cost rate for that person. In the screenshot below, Gronkowski and Brady are in the same group with the same details and rates. Gronkowski will be working on campus, while Brady will be working off campus during the summer. Gronkowski and Brady need to be placed in separate groups because they need to have different details and rates.

STEP 1 – Navigate to Budget and open your budget. Go to Personnel Costs, then Assign Personnel to Periods, the Assign Personnel as you normally would. Click Assign to Period 1. As you can see below, Gronkowski’s group is set to default so the on campus indirect rate will be applied.

STEP 2 – An off campus indirect cost rate group needs to be created for Brady. In the Add Personnel to Period section, select Create New Group in the dropdown list next to Group. A New Group Name field will appear under the Group field. Type a name for your new group. Click the Assign to Period 1 button. Please note that a group can only be created when you initially add the person to the budget. If the person already exists in the budget then you will need to delete them and add them back in and create a new group or select an existing group from the dropdown list.

The new group will appear on the Assign Personnel to Periods page.

STEP 3 – Navigate to and click on the Details & Rates hyperlink for your new group (highlighted below in yellow).

The Details & Rates dialog box will appear. Under the General tab, uncheck On Campus. Then click Save Changes. The indirect cost rate for Brady is now set to the off campus rate of 26%.

Implementing Stepped F&A Rates in Kuali

Implementing Stepped F&A Rates in Kuali Allison Koss Thu, 05/09/2024 - 15:23

Overview: Detailed budgets created in Kuali Development prior to 12/19/2022 can be synced with new F&A rates. Kuali will then automatically calculate the correct amount of F&A to charge. For those who use Summary Budgets, we have developed two alternatives to reach the correct amounts.

Background Assumptions

In these examples, we are assuming the indirect cost rate being used is Standard Federal MTDC.

MTDC stands for Modified Total Direct Cost and is shorthand for the practice of deducting or excluding certain costs from the Base used to calculate the Indirect Costs.

Direct Costs less Excluded Costs = Base X F&A Rate = Indirect Costs

Standard Federal MTDC excludes Equipment, Participant Support Costs, Tuition, the cost of each Subaward in excess of $25,000, and a few other categories, as detailed in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) - see link from Fact Sheet.

In this example of a budget starting 10/1/2022 to 9/30/2023, we have indirect costs that cross over two rate years.

Rate Year	MTDC	F&A Rate	Indirect Costs
FY2023	$41,907.95	60.5%	$25,354.41
FY2024	$14,122.82	61%	$8,614.92
Total	$56,030.77		$33,969.23

Kuali has been programmed to perform this calculation automatically, and two more manual methods follow for other situations when entering a detailed budget in Kuali is not practical.

How to Sync to New F&A Rates – For Detailed Budgets Built prior to 12/19/2022

STEP 1 - On or after 12/19/2022, open the detailed budget in Kuali.

STEP 2 - Navigate to the Rates tab.

STEP 3 - Click Sync to Current Institutional Rates.

That’s it! The budget will be updated to the current rates then in effect.

How to Calculate New F&A Rates using a Kuali Summary Budget

If a proposal does not easily lend itself to a detailed budget in Kuali, a simple Summary Budget may be used to determine the correct F&A calculations.

STEP 1 - Open the proposal development record in Kuali. From the Budget tab, click Add Budget. Create a Budget Version, select the option to Start a summary budget, give the budget a meaningful name such as “Summary Budget for F&A Calculations” and click Create Budget.

STEP 2 - Click the Non-Personnel Costs tab. Click Assign Non-Personnel. Enter regular direct costs as “Other Direct – with F&A”.

STEP 3 - Next enter direct costs that do not incur indirect costs as “Other Direct – No F&A”.

Repeat as needed for each budget period. Your final budget will resemble something like this:

Note: Be sure to sync to current institutional rates if budget was started prior to 12/19/2022.

STEP 4 - Next click Budget Versions near the top of the screen. Choose Print under the Action drop-down menu that pops up.

You can also access the print menu by clicking the Action drop-down menu while in the Budgets tab (after you click Return to Proposal).

STEP 5 - Next select Budget Summary Report and then Print. In this budget printout you will see a page that shows the detailed calculation of indirect costs, as in this example:

Step 6 - Load this Budget pdf to Internal Attachments. Now you (and OPAS reviewers) can verify that your budget is using the correct F&A calculations.

How to Calculate New F&A Rates using an Excel F&A Calculator

Tool: Calculate Split F&A Rates for a Project Period (Excel)

As an alternative to using a Kuali Detailed or Kuali Summary budget, OPAS has developed an Excel F&A Calculator for determining the correct F&A calculations.

First, add start and end dates for each project period.

Next, add the total Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) from your outside-Kuali generated budget.

Double check the Calculated F&A Amount against the budget created outside Kuali.
The MTDC bases can be used for budget entry on RR Budget forms and other sponsor submission portals.

Last, upload the F&A calculation spreadsheet as an internal attachment in the Kuali record.

NIFA (USDA) 30% TFFA vs Standard Federal MTDC

NIFA (USDA) 30% TFFA vs Standard Federal MTDC Allison Koss Thu, 05/09/2024 - 15:23

Overview: Under the 2018 Farm Bill, a number of USDA NIFA grant programs limit indirect costs to 30 percent of Total Federal Funds Awarded (TFFA). However, if there is a subrecipient in the budget we will need to assess whether this 30% TTF rate or the university’s current negotiated rate (see Fact Sheet) will result in less F&A in the budget request. We have to provide USDA/NIFA with the better deal (i.e. less F&A). This guide will show you how to create an initial budget version using the Sponsor’s mandated rate and then create a new version of the same budget with our standard rate. More on calculation information and Frequently Asked Questions.

STEP 1 – After you have done your initial set up of the proposal, navigate to the Budget page and click the + Add Budget button.

STEP 2 – A pop-up screen will appear where you can name the initial budget version. Create a name that is easily distinguishable and something that clearly identifies the budget version and Indirect Cost type being used. Then select Create Budget.

STEP 3 – Once your initial budget is created go directly to the Budget Settings hyperlink at the top of the page and click into it.

STEP 4 – Another pop-up window will appear and about half way down the page you will see two drop down menus titled Unrecovered F&A Rate Type and F&A Rate Type. Select 30% Federal TC – No Sub IC for both drop down menus. Then click the blue Apply Changes button.

STEP 5 – A pop-up box will appear telling you that this change will cause a recalculation of the budget and ask if you want to move forward with the changes. Select Yes.

STEP 6 – Build out your budget.

STEP 7 – Once your budget is built and you are satisfied with where it stands, make sure you hit Save and then click either Return to Proposal in the upper right corner or click Budget Versions in the upper left corner.

Whichever button you decide to select you will be brought to a screen that looks like this:

STEP 8 – Click the Action drop down button next to your most recent/accurate budget version and select Copy.

STEP 9 – Another pop-up box will appear entitled Copy this Budget Version. Here it will ask you to create a new budget name. Again, create a name that is easily distinguishable and something that clearly identifies the budget version and Indirect Cost type being used. Then select the All Periods radio button and click the blue Copy Budget button.

STEP 10 – Once your new budget version is created go directly to the Budget Settings hyperlink at the top of the page and click into it.

STEP 11 – Another pop-up window will appear and about half way down the page you will see two drop down menus titled Unrecovered F&A Rate Type and F&A Rate Type. Select Standard Federal MTDC for both drop down menus. Then click the blue Apply Changes button.

STEP 12 – A pop-up box will appear telling you that this change will cause a recalculation of the budget and ask if you want to move forward with the changes. Select Yes.

STEP 13 – make sure you hit Save and then click either Return to Proposal in the upper right corner or click Budget Versions in the upper left corner.

Whichever button you decide to select you will be brought to a screen that looks like this:

STEP 14 – Click on the Action drop down button next to the budget with the LOWER overall total. Then click Include for Submission.