Background
Indirect costs, also known as facilities and administrative costs (F&A costs), are the institutional or infrastructure costs of managing and running programs that cannot be directly attributed to a program or activity. These costs include items such as printing, equipment use, accounting, utilities, professional development, security, ITS, and administrative costs that are hard to calculate but are true costs for running programs.
This policy is designed to establish the internal processes necessary to ensure consistency and uniformity in cost allocation for both direct and indirect costs. This policy provides consistent principles and standards for determining costs of federal awards carried out through grants, cost reimbursement contracts, and other agreements with governmental units. This policy applies to all employees and officers of GBPLD.
Requirements
- All costs incurred are either direct costs or indirect costs depending on final cost objectives.
- Expenditures charged as direct costs will be consistently and economically identified to an item of work associated with a given project, task, or other cost objective.
- Expenditures not readily subject to treatment as direct costs because of their occurrence for common or joint objectives may be charged as indirect costs. These costs may be assigned to indirect overhead pools for collection and allocated to the project’s benefiting objectives.
- Routine administrative and overhead functions may be charged to appropriate (overhead) accounts and pools.
Responsibilities
- GBPLD will use the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) rate when applicable.
- The CEO and Director of Grants are responsible for drafting and finalizing any future indirect cost rate agreements and extensions and ensuring there is consistency in:
- Classification of costs incurred, and functions performed as direct or indirect costs or activities.
- Establishment of indirect cost pools for indirect activities and support.
- Assignment of indirect cost elements to overhead pools.
- GBPLD will use the 15% de minimis cost rate allowed under 2 CFR 200.414(f) and 45 CFR Part 75.414(f) for awards that allow indirect cost recovery and where a NICRA has not been established.
- The Director of Grants will ensure the appropriate documentation for all costs is retained for a minimum of three (3) years.
(8/2025)