Subcontracts in Proposal Budgets
In the proposal budget, the total cost of the subcontract, including fringe benefits and F&A costs, must be included as a single line item. This total becomes part of the direct costs. A description of what is included in the total, at the same level of detail as the budget, should be provided, as few sponsors or auditors will accept a simple quote without supporting information on how the figure was derived.
Typically, the budget breakdown submitted by a potential subcontractor should be signed by an official of the subcontracting institution to indicate that all institutional requirements have been satisfied. If funds for an OSU investigator are included in another organization's funding proposal (the Research Foundation would be the subcontractor), the OSU investigator's budget, work plan, and "Authorization to Seek Off Campus Funding" form must be approved as usual by the appropriate OSU department and college, then processed through the Research Foundation. A Research Foundation sponsored program officer can provide an official letter of collaboration and obtain required signatures.