Finance and Budget

University Controller’s Office

Administrative Expenses

 Administrative & Clerical Salary

As outlined in 2 CFR 200.413, the salaries of administrative and clerical staff should normally be treated as indirect (F&A) costs. Direct charging of these costs may be appropriate only if all of the following conditions are met:

  1. Administrative or clerical services are integral to a project or activity;
  2.  Individuals involved can be specifically identified with the project or activity;
  3. The costs are not also recovered as indirect costs.

Accounting for activities of administrative and clerical staff charged directly to sponsored agreements shall be consistent with accounting for activities of any university employee working directly on a sponsored agreement. Departments shall not use any type of pooled allocation method to direct charge sponsored agreements for administrative or clerical support services of an indirect nature. VCU best practice remains to document any non-standard need for administrative and clerical staff salaries to be documented in RAMS-SPOT funding proposal’s budget justification.

Administrative Supplies

The supplies and expenses listed below shall normally be treated as F&A costs and shall not be charged directly to federally sponsored agreements. These costs can be charged directly to sponsored agreements only in exceptional and unique circumstances.

  • Postage
  • Office supplies
  • Memberships

When exceptional circumstances justify direct charges for any of these costs, they may be charged directly if the following conditions are met:

  • The supply or expense can be specifically identified with the project or activity.
  • The supply or expense is explicitly listed in the proposal budget and the special circumstances requiring direct charging are justified in the proposal.
  • The supply or expense is not specifically disallowed in the award notice or other notification to the University.

Re-Budgeting of F&A

If it is necessary to re-budget for administrative and clerical costs after receiving the sponsored programs award, the following conditions should be met: 

  • A written justification is prepared which is equivalent to the justification that would have been included in the original proposal.
  • The dean or the dean’s designee gives approval.
  • Justification and approval are to be maintained on file in the Grants and Contracts Accounting office.
  • Treatment of Administrative and Clerical Costs