Changes to Laboratory Costs - Effective 11/3/2023
Effective 11/3/2023, the Mount Sinai Laboratory Cost table 2023 has been released.
Please see the rates: HERE
National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires a data management and sharing plan effective for competitive grant applications for due dates on or after January 25, 2023.
For guidance refer to the GCO Website > Data Management and Sharing Plan
Updated Federal Fringe Benefit Rate - Effective 1/1/23
Effective January 1, 2023, the federal fringe benefit rate has changed to 30.5%.
Please note that InfoEd has been updated with the new rate of 30.5%.
GCO has updated the following files with this information:
Training and Education
GCO Classes
The GCO offers the following classes to assist investigators and study teams with budget development related to sponsored projects:
- GCO 201: Basics of Sponsored Projects Budgeting
- GCO 202: NIH Modular Grant Budgets
- GCO 203: Budgeting Direct Costs on Federal Awards
- GCO 204: Budgeting Indirect Costs on Federal Awards
- GCO 205: Applying the Updated Federal Indirect Cost Rates
- GCO 301: Preparing Grants with Subawards
NIH Instructional Material
The NIH has a wide array of videos, webinars, podcasts, and other instructional materials – Learn More
Budget Templates
GCO provides templates to assist faculty and staff develop budgets.
Note: Use of these templates is not required.
Indirect Cost Rates
What
Indirect costs (also referred to as “Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs”, or “overhead”) are costs that cannot be readily identified with an individual project or program. Indirect costs reimburse the ISMMS for administrative, space and other expenses.
How
Indirect costs are charged to sponsored projects from extramural funding entities, gifts, donations and others. For a summary of indirect cost rates for various funding entities, refer to the following:
- Financial Memorandum #157: Policies and Procedures for Charging Indirect Costs to Sponsored Projects Received from Extramural Sponsors, Gifts, Donations, and Other Receipts
- Administration Information Sheet
Indirect Cost Rate Waivers: If the funding source will not pay the specified rate, a waiver is required from Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or the Dean. If the waiver is not granted, the department will need to supplement the difference. Requests for indirect cost waivers should be made in writing by the chair or departmental administrator and submitted to Stephen Harvey, CFO.
For more information, including charges not subject to indirect costs for grants and contracts refer to Financial Memorandum #157: Policies and Procedures for Charging Indirect Costs to Sponsored Projects Received from Extramural Sponsors, Gifts, Donations, and Other Receipts.
Direct Costs
What
Direct costs are those that can be specifically identified to the sponsored project award and are allowable under the sponsor’s guidelines. They typically include:
- Compensation of employees for time and effort devoted specifically to the execution of the award’s objectives
- Equipment and other approved capital expenditures
- Consultants
- Material and Supplies
- Travel
- Patient Care Costs
- Subawards
- Other expenses incurred specifically to carry out the proposed work
Fringe Benefit Rates
What
Fringe benefits are non-wage compensation items such as medical and dental insurance, retirement benefits, disability insurance, and social security pension that are provided to employees.
How
Sponsored Projects Finance (SPF) negotiates fringe benefit rates with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) annually. Fringe rates (federal or non-federal) are required to be applied to personnel (Faculty, Staff, Postdocs, and Students) salaries when developing budgets.
- Current fringes rates are automatically calculated when using the CGO recommended Budget Template (Excel Download)
- Current fringe rates are posted in the Administrative Information Sheet
Budgeting for ISMMS Faculty and Staff
Salary Restrictions for Principal Investigators and Senior Personnel
HHS/NIH Salary Cap
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) /NIH has a salary cap limitation on direct salary for individuals under NIH grant and cooperative agreements. If you are applying for a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sponsored project and your institutional base salary (e.g. $200,000) is greater than the NIH / HHS salary cap, use the latest salary cap rate that is listed on the Administration Information Sheet.
Faculty Effort
Refer to the following policy and resources when preparing your proposal:
- Faculty Effort on Sponsored Projects
- Calendar Month: Conversion Table from % Effort to CM
- Calendar Month FAQ
Budgeting for an ISSMS Faculty Member with a Veterans Affairs (VA) Appointment
What
Mount Sinai faculty members working on a research project with an appointment at a Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center are required to document VA effort commitment.
How
Refer to the GCO documentation:
Application Requirements: Verification of approval from the appropriate JJPVAMC administrative officer must be obtained confirming that VA funds will cover the cost of employees’ effort or other than personnel expenses rather than the sponsored project budget. Email documentation is required to be uploaded into the Internal Documents tab of the InfoEd application.
Budgeting for Students and Post Graduates
Detailed information regarding eligibility requirements, stipends, tuition and fringe benefits can be found in the GCO’s handbook, Guidance for Including Students and Post Graduates on Federal Research, Fellowship, and Training Grants.
Graduate Student Total Comp (Effective July 1, 2022)
Budgeting for Administrative and Clerical Staff
What
According to the Federal Uniform Guidance, administrative and clerical salaries should normally be treated as indirect (F&A) costs and therefore should not be charged to individual grants and contracts.
Exceptions
However, direct charging of the salaries of administrative and clerical staff may be appropriate to a Federal award if ALL of the following are met:
- Activity must be integral to the project or activity;
- Individuals involved must be specifically identified with the project or activity;
- Such costs are explicitly included in the budget or have the written approval of the Federal awarding agency (unless the funding agency has specifically waived the requirement for prior approval);
- The costs are not also recovered as indirect costs
How
For more detailed information and a list of examples, refer to Charging Administrative and Clerical Salaries to Federal Grants and Contracts (171).
Departmental Requirements
What
Consult with your department administrator for specific budget requirements and procedures. Some items to discuss include cost sharing, effort and salary verification. Verify base salary for all personnel with your departmental administrator prior to finalizing and submitting your InfoEd application.
Who
Refer to the Departmental Pre-Award Contact List.
Budgeting for Consultants
When preparing budget proposals for consultant services it is important that the contractual relationship is properly classified. There are important differences between subawards, consultants and vendor relationships relating to F&A costs as well as compliance requirements.
Refer to the following documents to determine your contractual relationship:
Consultants typically will charge a fixed rate for their services that includes both their direct and F&A costs. The budget does not need to include
Equipment
For NIH grants, equipment is defined as an item of property that has a unit cost $1,500 or more and a useful life of at least one year.
Research 411 Portal
Still Need Help?