FAQ

For an item to be counted as a research expense, the Project ID or cost center has to be pre-assigned as a research classification (See HOP 10.12 Sponsored Project Administration). They also must meet the requirements noted below for sponsored projects and gifts.

All research proposal budget items must satisfy three basic tests: allowable, reasonable, and necessary as defined in Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 (UG).

• A cost is allowable if it is within the applicable regulations or has been approved by the funding agency.
• A cost is reasonable if the nature of the goods or services acquired and the amount involved reflect the action that a prudent person under the given circumstances and at that point in time would pay and are in accordance with the relative benefits received.
• A cost is considered necessary if it is required to successfully and satisfactorily complete the project.

In addition, two other factors to consider when determining the allowability of an expense are:

• all costs for the same purpose must be treated consistently, and
• costs must conform to limitations or exclusions in the Uniform Guidance or sponsored agreement.

The items expended from research projects and gift accounts must be appropriate for that research purpose. Gifts that are motivated by charitable intent and do not include a commercially viable return to the funder are sometimes considered in research expenditures, but only if the intent of the gift is to support research activities. In addition, the donor of a gift must relinquish intellectual property rights and not expect deliverables other than stewardship reports.

Expenses that do not meet the definitions above would not be counted as research expenditures. Additionally, certain expenses are unallowable costs for research purposes. An unallowable cost is a cost that cannot be charged as specified by the sponsored project agreement and/or contract. Such costs may be prohibited by the Uniform Guidance or considered unallowable due to UTSA policy and/or the sponsoring agency. Unallowable costs will be identified by post-award administration (PAA) and excluded from any billing or proposal pertinent to the sponsoring agency. Additionally, unallowable costs will be excluded from institutional research reports.

The following is a list of unallowable costs, which include but may not be limited to:

Our process for ensuring timely and accurate research expenses and reporting is highly collaborative and rely on a number of key offices:

• Assigning Project IDs. All project IDs and cost centers are carefully validated and verified to ensure accurate coding of all sponsored projects and gifts. Once a project has been deemed as a function “200” by a PI it is re-affirmed by the Research Service Center (RSC), PAA, and Grants & Contracts Financial Services (GCFS) teams during the project set up process.
• Assigning Cost Centers and Function Codes. All cost centers requests for a research function will be routed and must be approved by PAA. PAA will review the purpose/intent/statement-of-work documentation of the gift or funding source to determine the research or restricted research designation. If approved, the cost center request will be routed for set up. If it is not approved, the request will be denied, and the cost center must be set up under a different function code.

If multiple funding sources are eligible for a given use, the following priorities should be followed:

• 1st priority – restricted federal research projects (funds 5100; function 200)
  • This classification will count highest in state funding formulas as well as UTSA rankings for organizations such as Carnegie.
• 2nd priority- restricted private research (funds 5400; function 200)
  • These are corporate, foundation and non-profit organization sponsored projects and gifts, and also have a stronger impact on state funding formulas and UTSA rankings.
• 3rd priority – state grant project IDs (fund 5200; function 200)
  • These will not count in state funding formulas, but are used in UTSA rankings, although usually to a lesser extent than federal and private funds.
• 4th priority – Unrestricted E&G/Designated fund cost centers with a research function
  • These will not count in state funding formulas, may be used in UTSA rankings, although usually to a lesser extent than federal and private funds.
• Other – non-research function cost centers and project IDs

There are several ways our research administration teams play a critical role to energize accurate and increased research expenditures at UTSA. Overall, our goal is to minimize the time of a request to spend to when the funds are spent. Areas of focus for our research administration community include:

• Timely cost transfers of salaries and other expenses. These should be completed within 60 days of original expense.
• Swiftly pay invoices for goods received or services rendered, with emphasis to complete each fiscal year before August 31.
• Consider and prioritize all relevant deadlines, such as the end of a fiscal year, when processing expenditures.
• Business Service Center (BSC) staff ensure all queued items are processed according to deadlines.
• PAA monitors project spending throughout the fiscal year and increases efforts in the last quarter to improve expenditure rates.
• GCFS and PAA help to clear all processing queues and work with BSC staff to release all expenditure encumbrances.
• PAA will request subcontractor expense projections through August 31 for accrual reporting.

UTSA reports our research expenditures to several agencies that require accuracy and may follow with audits to ensure all proper processes and procedures are followed. Internally, the Office for Research creates several dashboards where research expenditures can be tracked by PI, department, college, unit, or as a university. Research and Business Affairs use a collaborative process to reconcile research financial reporting, ensure accurate assignment as a research expense, and report data. These reports are provided to State agencies and through the NSF HERD Survey, which is used by the academic community to measure institutional research performance.

Therefore, our reputation depends on accurate accounting, reporting, and audit support. UTSA may be audited by several entities to ensure accurate accounting and reporting of our research expenditures, including the state or any other research sponsor. These audits are used to demonstrate that we are appropriately stewarding research funds and are a primary source of reputational risk. During an audit, personnel from Research, Business Affairs, Advancement & Alumni Engagement, and Academic Affairs form a cross-functional team to respond to all requests for information.