Budgeting

Budget-Pre-approval Process

All budget information should be submitted to the Office of Business Service, Finance and Budget, (Grant Accounting department), for review PRIOR to submitting a proposal or entering into negotiations with a potential funder. At Austin Community College we follow the Administrative Rule for approval.

ACC Administrative Rules

Before the Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration signs the final budget, the Director of Grant Accounting will review the grant budget line-item guidance.

Direct Cost Principles & Justification

Grant budgets must not request direct grant support for expenses recovered through ACC’s facilities & administrative cost calculation. Doing so would be considered “double-dipping” of expenses and could result in penalties to the institution. It is critical that all costs charged to a grant are:

• ALLOCABLE to the operation of the grant program (not to be used for general departmental purposes)
• ALLOWABLE by ACC’s policy, sponsor policies, and Uniform Guidance (federal government regulations on costs which can be charged to grants and contracts);
• REASONABLE and NECESSARY for the performance of the project.

When determining allowable direct costs. Direct costs include all expenses that are incurred solely for work on the grant project. Direct costs can be specifically documented by recordkeeping mechanisms such as invoices and timesheets. Should you still have questions after you have reviewed the Facilities and Administrative Expenses information below, please contact the Office Grant Accounting.

Direct Cost:

Costs that can be specifically documented by recordkeeping

mechanisms and directly attributed to a specific project

General Principles for Determining Allowable/Reasonable/Allocable Costs

The grant contract, the College's policies, agency guidelines, State and Federal rules and regulations MUST be used in determining whether cost are allowable/reasonable/allocable before being charged to a grant account. Each expenditure must be evaluated prior to their approval. See links below for Federal and State websites on grant management.

CFR, Title 2, Subpart E, Chapter II, §200.407 Prior written approval