Compliance
Grant & Contract Glossary
Included on this page:
Fixed Price Surplus budgets (budget type/class 05/34) may be set up to allow a fixed price balance from one award to offset overexpenditures on other fixed price awards. Balance transfers from Fixed Priced budgets to Fixed Price Surplus budgets are limited to unexpended balances from Fixed Price Grants (budget type/class 05/14), Fixed Price Contracts (budget type/class 05/31), and (fixed price) Clinical Trial agreements. Overexpenditures may be transferred from any grant or contract to a Fixed Price Surplus budget.
Fixed price agreements (budget type/class 05/14 for grants and 05/31 for contracts) provide for a firm price that is not subject to any adjustment on the basis of the University's cost experience in performing the work. Compensation is usually established based upon a fixed amount per test or per deliverable, with the Principal Investigator and parent department assuming responsibility for keeping costs within the amount earned based upon actual performance. This award type places maximum risk and full responsibility upon the Principal Investigator for all costs and the resulting balance or deficit.
Industry-sponsored clinical trial agreements (05-16 and 05-35) are considered fixed price unless otherwise stated in the award documents. These awards are always pay in advance and are contracts. Upon verification from the department that the study is complete, the budget can be closed.
Fully paid, unexpended balances of 10% of the total award amount in Fixed Price accounts may be transferred to a Fixed Price Surplus budget by Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) upon receipt of a written request from the Principal Investigator. Departments must obtain Office of Sponsored Programs' (OSP) approval for transfer of an unexpended balance more than 10% of the total award amount.
Process Details: Establishing a Budget
A request to establish a Fixed Price Surplus budget is submitted to OSP. Approved requests are forwarded via NEA to Grant and Contract Accounting, where a budget number is assigned.
As a general rule, a maximum of three Fixed Price Surplus budgets will be approved for an academic or administrative unit: usually one for on-campus, one for off-campus, and one for clinical trial surplus. Exceptions can be made when a majority of agreements in an academic unit have a special indirect cost rate such as a training rate. Fixed Price Surplus budgets are to be under the direction of the Dean or Department Chair.
Funds in Fixed Price Surplus budgets are unrestricted, subject to University of Washington policies and procedures.
Should a department choose not to establish a Fixed Price Surplus budget and instead extend individual fixed price accounts, extensions for accounts with balances under 10% of the award amount may be approved by GCA. These extensions are granted one time only for one year. Extensions for accounts with balances over 10% of the award amount require OSP approval.
Compliance
Grant & Contract Glossary
