The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Financial Reporting and Budgeting Practices
ATTACHMENT A
FINANCIAL REPORTING AND OVER EXPENDITURES
You are required to report expenditures on a line-item basis corresponding
to your approved budget. However, you may overspend an existing
line item provided you do not exceed the approved budget subtotal
(Personnel, Other Direct Costs, Equipment, and Consultant/Contractual
Agreements) amount plus 5 percent. For example:
| PERSONNEL |
APPROVED BUDGET |
TOTAL EXPENDITURES |
VARIANCE |
PERCENTAGE |
| Project Director |
45,000 |
48,000 |
(3,000) |
107 |
| Secretary |
20,000 |
18,000 |
2,000 |
90 |
| Research Assistant |
30,000 |
35,000 |
(5,000) |
117 |
| Fringe Benefits |
19,000 |
18,700 |
300 |
98 |
| Subtotal |
114,000 |
119,700 |
(5,700) |
105 |
As this example illustrates, the expenditures reported in the Personnel
budget category do not exceed the approved budget category amount
by more than 5 percent. Therefore, no explanation or budget revision
would be required. It should be noted, however, that we might request
additional information for expenditures reported against individual
line items. Although you may overspend any CATEGORY by 5 percent,
you must remain within the total approved budget per year (unless
a revised budget has been approved).
CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS
If a fact sheet (or copy of the actual contract) was not provided
at the time you negotiated your grant budget; or, if any elements
of the contract have changed including the dates, dollars, or deliverables
from that previously approved, the following information is required
prior to expending funds under the initial or amended subcontract:
- a copy of the actual contract or contract amendment; or
- a fact sheet providing the grant identification number, the
contractor's name, the contract dates, the dollar amount of the
contract and the deliverables. The document should identify, and
provide an explanation for, those elements that are being changed.
The Foundation should not be listed as a party to the contract.
The grantee maintains fiscal responsibility for its contracts, which
includes reporting expenses associated with the contract to the
Foundation. We suggest that you consider including right to audit
provisions and record retention expectations when negotiating or
amending contracts.
UNEXPENDED FUNDS
Unexpended grant funds remain in the grant account and are not
automatically carried forward to the next budget period. Grantees
may request that funds unexpended from previous budget periods be
used in subsequent budget periods. A revised budget and budget narrative
must be submitted that outlines the use of these funds.
GRANT EXTENSION
An extension may be granted to provide extra time to complete your
project. Grantees may also request that funds unexpended from previous
budget periods be used to extend the award beyond the original end
date. In both instances, the proposed activities must be consistent
with the original objectives of the award, an explanation regarding
the activities to be undertaken during the extension period should
be provided, and the dates of the extension period should be explicitly
stated. If unexpended funds are being applied to the extension period,
a separate budget and budget narrative are required as well.
Grant Budget Revision Guidelines are available to assist
you in preparing a revised budget and/or extension request. Any
questions related to this document or other general financial questions
should be addressed to the Financial Monitoring Office at (609)
627-5851.
Next:Grant budget revision guidelines
