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1. Requests for labor hours, labor rates: How to handle solicitations that request that budgets be

prepared using prescribed forms quoting only labor hours, labor rates and various types of costs that

we don’t track. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

o Never Never Never send just the labor hour/labor rate budget alone. SPARCS

recommends that only the extended dollar value column be filled in on the labor hour

budget worksheet, no hours or rates. This will cause the sponsor to stop and investigate or

contact us and we need to get their attention. Identify the calculated rates in the budget

justification.

o Always Always Always put in a standard cost reimbursement budget with a disclaimer

statement about how we are unable to track hours of effort and salary in terms of labor

rates and cannot invoice on that basis.

o We have several templates of language that can be used, multiple times if possible. Put it

in the cover letter and put it on the labor hour budget document to call attention to it.

Language follows that should be used as the cover letter or Letter of Intent Prop Transmit

_ Labor Hr Excpt 8-14-12.docx and Label template included in C&G web site, Training

Sessions Q&A page, posted as “Labor Hour Exception Letter” and “Labor Hour

Disclaimer Label Template.”

Note: NCSU operates a Financial Management System compliant with FAR 31.301 or

OMB Cir. A-21. There are no hourly time records on any faculty or other salaried

employees. Any references to hourly rates or hours of effort are calculated using the

individual salary divided by 2,080 hrs./year for proposal evaluation. Invoices will reflect

dollar value only, NCSU cannot certify hours of effort or hourly rates.

o If you get push back from sponsor, ask them to talk with me or a Negotiator, DON’T

CAVE WITHOUT A FIGHT.

o Request to identify labor categories and labor rates in a proposal is a precursor to the

sponsor trying to invoke the Service Contract Act. If you hear or see that phrase, contact

John Chaffee in SPARCS at 515-2444 before proceeding.

o Should we be forced to report labor hours, burden of collecting that information and

reconciling it with the $ amount charged on the invoice falls to the Department or section.

o Failure to provide accurate documents results in non-payment, which if unresolved will

be absorbed by the Department.

o Submit a standard cost reimbursement budget along with the sponsor’s required budget

form. See a typical example below.

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2. PINS documents uploaded should include the native file for at least the Budget in EXCEL

(rather than just PDF) and U Justification and possibly the U in Word. WHY?

o Allows SPARCS to respond to sponsor’s questions more efficiently, saving the PI

Department and College Research Office resources

o Improves chances of proposal being successful and speeding up the contracting process

for the Sponsor. “Put the cookies on the lower shelf” (Harlyn Van Sloten ) reference

regarding keeping our budget and justification simple, clear, and to-the-point

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3. Traditional Budget Presentations or Displays are Mandatory (You know what that means:

typical/standard/table format rows of budget categories columns of dollars). WHY?

o Improves the chances of proposal being reviewed and accepted by the sponsor without

delay. The single longest step in the Sponsor’s process is Budget Review and

Determination of reasonableness.

o Improves account set up times – Biggest Complaints we get are slow account set up and

the lack of or poor presentation of the budget is a MAJOR CAUSE of delay. Especially

watch for budgets in Supplement Proposals

o Using a uniform set of budget codes and category names will help

Recommended set provided by C&G (included in C&G web site, Training Sessions

Q&A page, posted as “Account Code Listing”)

See how closely you can follow those codes to speed up processing and payments

and reduce reallocations of charges.

4. Implementing the New F&A Rate http://research.ncsu.edu/sparcs/budgeting-guidelines/budgeting-f-

and-a/

Any questions about when it applies and when a revision might be required?

We can honor original rates if the proposal was submitted before 7-1-12.