Cost Transfer Policy

Policy Statement

It is the policy of Dartmouth College that costs should be charged to the appropriate sponsored award when first incurred. However, there may be circumstances where it becomes necessary to transfer expenditures to a sponsored award after the initial recording of the charge. As such, it is essential that charges to sponsored awards be reviewed regularly and in a timely manner to ensure their appropriateness and to facilitate timely corrections. 

Reason for Policy

To comply with the allowability and allocability requirements of the Uniform Guidance and to promote best practices for all sponsored awards (federal and non-federal), this policy explains and justifies the transfer of transactions onto sponsored awards. Timeliness and completeness of transfer explanations are critical in supporting allowability and allocability, in accordance with the principles set forth in the Uniform Guidance. The transfer of transactions from federal and non-federal PTA accounts is subject to close examination by auditors. Frequent, tardy, or inadequately explained transfers can raise serious questions regarding the propriety of the transfers, our accounting system, and internal controls. 

Regular Expense Review

Departments are required to review grant expenses on a regular basis (per the expenditure review guidelines, no less than quarterly). Regular reviews of expenses help ensure that all charges are appropriate and compliant with grant regulations. Departments should follow the expenditure review guidelines established by Dartmouth College, which can be found at the following link:
Expenditure Review Guidelines.

Who Should Be Aware of this Policy

  • Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) staff.
  • Departments managing sponsored awards.
  • Principal investigators and faculty involved with sponsored awards.
  • Divisional financial administrators.
  • Central financial administrators.

Contact

For general questions about this policy, please contact your administration department. For policy-related inquiries, reach out to the Assistant Director of Post Award or Operations Manager. For process issues, please contact your OSP sponsored research manager.  

Simple Reclassification

Definition: Simple reclassifications involve timely reallocations of transactions involving PTA accounts that are currently open and for which a financial report is not overdue.  

Scenarios for Simple Reclassification 

  • Corrections were made within the month following the accounting period of the original GL Transfer Date.
  • Reclassification among multi-project/task combinations within the same Award and budget period.
  • Reclassification within a PTA account to correct an expenditure type.
  • The original transaction is $500 or less and is charged to a PTA account within 90 days of the "GL Transferred Date."
  • Transaction (any dollar amount) moving from a PTA account to a GL account (errors necessitating removal from a PTA account may be processed at any time; consult your SRM for closed PTA accounts).
  • Credits to a PTA account (if the account is closed, consult your SRM).

Preparing Simple Reclassifications

For non-payroll transactions that meet the criteria for simple reclassification: 

  1. Complete an OnBase “Corrections, Journals, & Cost Transfers” request form.
  2. Attach the following document:

 

For Payroll transactions:

  1. Complete the OnBase “Wage Transfer Request” form.
  2. Attach supporting documentation, which may include a labor report or an IRA “OGA Transactions Detail – Expenditures” report.
  3. Submit the OnBase request form for approvals.

Approval for Simple Reclassification

  • OSP Approval: Only OSP approval is required for Simple Reclass Requests (no PI approvals needed).
  • Service centers upload their own SPUD Journals (no OSP approvals needed).

 

Please Note: For capital equipment reallocations, once OSP receives the OnBase “Corrections, Journals, & Transfers” request form, they will coordinate with the Senior Financial Reporting Analyst to make these capital equipment reallocation corrections in the accounts payable system.

Cost Transfers

Cost Transfers are transfers of expenses onto sponsored awards that do not meet the criteria for simple reclassifications

Timely Submissions of Cost Transfers

Each Cost Transfer should be completed within 90 days, starting from the first day of the month following the month in which the transaction(s) were originally posted (GL Transferred Date) to the account(s) that will be credited in the transfer. 

Cost Transfers submitted after 90 days will only be approved under extenuating circumstances, such as: 

  • Late issuance of an account for reasons beyond the control of the requestor.
  • Inaction by another department on a properly submitted request (e.g., payroll distribution change).
  • Journals to align the allocation of prepaid tuition remission with effort.

 

Note: Acceptable extenuating circumstances do not include PI or administrator absences, lack of staff, inexperienced staff, or delays in reconciliations. 

Cost Transfer Justifications

Both transfer forms require adequate justifications, addressing the following questions:

  1. Why was this transaction originally posted to the account from which it is being transferred?
  2. Why should the transaction be transferred to the proposed account? How does this transaction benefit the project?
  3. If the original transaction was incurred more than 90 days prior, why is the transaction being transferred now?
  4. What corrective action has been taken to prevent future cost transfers of this type?

 

Preparing Cost Transfers

For non-payroll transactions needing reallocation: 

  1. Complete the OnBase “Corrections, Journals, & Cost Transfers” request form.
  2. Attach the following documents:
    • CTX001 SPUD Journal - Used for non-payroll reallocations that do not qualify as a simple reclass.
    • Supporting documentation, such as invoice copies or an IRA “OGA Transactions Detail – Expenditures” report.

 

For payroll transactions: 

  1. Complete the OnBase “Wage Transfer Request” form.
  2. Attach supporting documentation, such as a labor report or an IRA “OGA Transactions Detail – Expenditures” report.
  3. Submit the OnBase request form for approvals.

 

Approvals for Cost Transfers and Wage Transfers

  • PI Approval: PIs approve Cost Transfers and Wage Transfers.
  • For multiple PTA accounts involving multiple PIs, each PI must approve the transfer.
  • If the PI is unavailable, the department chair or administrator may approve in their absence.
  • The OSP is the final approver on all Cost Transfers and Wage Transfers involving PTA accounts.

Forms and Resources

You can find OnBase Corrections, Journals, and Cost Transfer Request Forms and Wage Transfer Request Forms at the following link:

Finance eForms

Please click on the below link for instructions on filling out and submitting OnBase requests:

OnBase Instructions

 

 

 

 

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