PWSCIF_Budget Narrative and Justification Form.xlsx

List

Instructions and Summary

Please read the instructions on each worksheet tab before starting. If you have any questions, please ask your DOC contact.

Do not modify this template or any cells or formulas.

1. First fill out the blank white cells in workbook tabs a. through j. Enter the project costs identified for each Category line item within each worksheet tab to auto-populate column B of this summary tab.

2. Blue colored cells contain instructions, headers, or summary calculations and should not be modified. Only blank white cells should be populated.

3. All costs incurred by the eligible entity's sub-recipients and contractors, should be entered only in workbook tab. e. Contractual & Subaward. All other workbook tabs are for the costs of the eligible entity only.

4. Ensure all entered costs are allowable, allocable, and reasonable in accordance with the administrative requirements prescribed in 2 CFR 200. Only include costs that can be directly attributed to the project. Do not include costs that will be incurred for any other Federal financial assistance award.

• Allowable refers to costs that may be charged to a grant in accordance with the cost principles prescribed in 2 CFR 200.403.

• Allocable refers to costs that can be directly charged to the grant award based on the benefit provided. See 2 CFR 200.405.

• Reasonable refers to actions a prudent business person would employ and are necessary to the execution of the award. See 2 CFR 200.404.

5. Add rows as needed throughout tabs a. through i. If rows are added, formulas/calculations may need to be adjusted by the preparer. Do not add rows to the Instructions and Summary tab or tab j Program Income.

SUMMARY OF BUDGET CATEGORY COSTS PROPOSED

The values in this summary table are from entries made in subsequent tabs, only blank white cells require data entry

h. Total Indirect Charges $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Total Project Cost $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Addendum

A. Personnel and Fringe Year Wages (Columns F-J) should be the total cost of the Position Title (summed by number of positions within the Position Title).

B. Travel Each travel event will have the year in which the travel takes place. If the event is repeated in another year, a new line item should be listed and costs calculated as a separate event.

If a travel event spans across two travel years, please note this in Justification of Need.

If the number of travelers for an event is greater than one, each total in Columns E-J should be the average cost estimate per traveler (Ex: Traveler A’s flight is $200 and Traveler B’s flight is $400, the Flight Per Traveler Cost in Column F would be $300).

Total Mileage in Column I is the total cost for a traveler(s) mileage based on current GSA reimbursement rates per mile if they are driving their personal vehicle. If no travelers are using their personal vehicles, the cost is $0.00.

C. Equipment Costs for equipment units should be broken down across Columns D-H in the years in which costs of the units will be expended. The summed total of all the Years (Total Cost) should equal the number of units multiplied by the costs of each unit.

D. Supplies Costs for supply units should be broken down across Columns D-H in the years in which costs of the units will be expended. The summed total of all the Years (Total Cost) should equal the number of units multiplied by the costs of each unit.

E. Contract and Subawards This tab will account for the total cost of contractors and subawardees, including their travel costs.

F. Construction This tab itemizes contraction activity costs per year.

G. Other Direct Costs This tab will capture yearly totals for ODCs. These may be generally categorized, but with enough description to fully understand what the costs represent.

H. Indirect Costs This tab will capture yearly totals for IDC Cost Bases and Total Indirect Cost. The Indirect Cost Rate will be applied to each year of Cost Base to calculate the annual IDC.

I. Cost Sharing/Matching This tab captures the total amount and type of cost sharing associated with the project.

The Total Cost of the equipment is listed in Column I. The amount of the requested cost which will be shared by the applicant will be distributed respectively across the Cost Share years. The percentage of the cost share/match will be calculated to show how much the applicant will share/match of the total cost.

J. Program Income This tab captures expected annual income generated as a result of the award over the course of the award.

a. Personnel & Fringe

a. Personnel & Fringe

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. List project costs solely for employees of the applicant. All personnel costs for subrecipients and contractors must be included under e. Contractual & Subawards.

2. All personnel should be identified by position title and not employee name. Identical positions can be combined on the same line, but indicate the number of positions budgeted

3. Enter the total yearly wage cost. For example, if hourly rates were provided, the yearly cost should be the hourly rate times the total number of hours expected per year

4. Personnel cannot exceed 100% of their time on all active projects (including other Federal awards or work unrelated to the Innovation Fund Program).

5. If loaded labor rates are utilized, a description of the costs the loaded rate is comprised of must be included in the Additional Explanation section below. NIST/DOC must review all components of the loaded labor rate for reasonableness and unallowable costs

6. Fringe benefits are allowances and services provided to employees as compensation in addition to regular salaries and wages. The rates and how they are applied should not be averaged to get one fringe cost percentage. Complex calculations should be described/provided in the Additional Explanation section below.

7. The fringe benefit rates should be applied to all positions, regardless of whether those funds will be supported by Federal Share or Recipient Cost Share as applicable.

The fringe benefit rate of the Grant Manager is expected to be 35% of the salary charges. Fringe benefits for this position include health and dental care, life insurance, long-term disability, retirement, workers compensation, and agency personnel charges.

b. Travel

b. Travel

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Identify International and Domestic Travel as separate items. Examples of Purpose of Travel include subrecipient site visits, DOC meetings, project management. meetings, etc. Examples of Basis for Estimating Costs include past trips, travel quotes, GSA rates, etc.

2. All listed travel must be necessary for performance of the project.

3. Only travel that is directly associated with this award should be included as a direct travel cost to the award.

4. Federal travel regulations are contained within the applicable cost principles for all entity types.

5. Travel costs should remain consistent with travel costs incurred by an organization during normal business operations as a result of the organizations written travel policy. In absence of a written travel policy, organizations must follow the regulations prescribed by the General Services Administration (GSA).

6. Columns B-J are per trip. If a trip will be made more than once, the total cost for all like trips should be accounted for in the yearly breakdown

7. The number of days is inclusive of day of departure and day of return.

8. Funds requested in the travel category should be only for project staff. Travel for consultants/contractors should be shown in the “Contract” cost category along with consultant/contractor fees. Because these costs are associated with contract-related work, they must be under the “Contract” cost category.

Funds are requested to attend the Mobile Network Operators' Conference expected to be held for four days total (including travel) in Washington, DC. The purpose of this travel is to participate in the MNO Conference to share best practices for T&E Events and discuss emerging telecommunications policy issues.

Miscellaneous costs include taxi/ride-share of $35 per person per day of travel.

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Travel Page &P of &N

c. Equipment

c. Equipment

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Equipment means a single item of tangible, personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $10,000. Please refer to the applicable Federal regulations in 2 CFR 200 for specific equipment definitions and treatment.

2. Do not include supply items, Internet Access or Cloud Services under equipment. Please refer to 2 CFR 200 and d. Supplies on what constitutes a supply item. Internet Access or Cloud Services should be listed under “Other”.

3. List all equipment below, providing a basis of cost (e.g. contractor quotes, catalog prices, prior invoices, etc.). Briefly justify items as they apply to the project.

4. Any equipment that is leased must be listed under tab g. Other and not under c. Equipment.

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Equipment Page &P of &N

d. Supplies

d. Supplies

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Supplies are generally defined as an item with an acquisition cost of $10,000 or less and a useful life expectancy of less than one year. Supplies are generally consumed during the project performance. Please refer to the applicable Federal regulations in 2 CFR 200 for specific supplies definitions and treatment. A computing device is a supply if the acquisition cost is less than the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes or $10,000, regardless of the length of its useful life.

2. List all proposed supplies below, providing a basis of costs (e.g. contractor quotes, catalog prices, prior invoices, etc.)

3. Briefly justify the need for the Supplies as they directly apply to the project. Note that Supply items must be direct costs to the project at this budget category, and not duplicative of supply costs included in the indirect pool that is the basis of the indirect rate applied for this project. Supply costs must be allocable specifically to the project.

4. If supply items and costs are ambiguous in nature, contact your DOC representative for proper categorization.

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Supplies Page &P of &N

e. Contractual & Subawards

e. Contractual/Subawards

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. The eligible entity must provide all costs related to subrecipients and contractors in the applicable boxes below.

2. Subrecipients (sub-awardees): A subrecipient is a legal entity to which a subaward is made, who has performance measured against whether the objectives of the Federal program are met, is responsible for programmatic decision making, must adhere to applicable Federal program compliance requirements, and uses the Federal funds to carry out a program of the organization. All characteristics may not be present and judgment must be used to determine subrecipient vs. contractor status.

3. Contractors: A contractor is a legal entity contracted to provide goods and services within normal business operations, provides similar goods or services to many different purchasers, operates in a competitive environment, provides goods or services that are ancillary to the operation of the Federal program, and is not subject to compliance requirements of the Federal program. All characteristics may not be present and judgment must be used to determine subrecipient vs. contractor status. List all contractors supplying commercial supplies or services used to support the project.

4. In determining whether an agreement between a pass-through entity and another non-Federal entity casts the latter as a subrecipient or a contractor, the substance of the relationship is more important than the form of the agreement. Please refer to 2 CFR 200.331 Subrecipient and contractor determinations for more information on making a determination on subrecipient vs contractor.

5. Justification of Need: Proper budget justifications should explain how the costs associated with each line item relate to the implementation of the project as outlined in the proposal being submitted. Justifications should be concise and be written in such a way that someone not specifically familiar with the project can conceptually understand the rationale, purpose and calculation of the anticipated costs identified. Explain why items are essential in relation to the aims of the project as well as meeting the goals of the project. Do not merely restate the proposed expenditure. The specific items in the subrecipient budget(s) should not be explained here.

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Contractual Page &P of &N

f. Construction

f. Construction (As applicable)

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Confirm in the applicable NOFO if construction costs are allowable

2. Construction for the purpose of budgeting, is defined as the construction of new buildings, completion of shell space in existing buildings, renovation or rehabilitation of existing buildings, and construction or development of real property infrastructure improvements (e.g., site preparation, utilities, streets, curbs, sidewalks, parking lots, other streetscaping improvements, etc.).

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Construction Page &P of &N

g. Other

g. Other Direct Costs

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Other direct costs are direct cost items required for the project which do not fit clearly into other categories. These direct costs must not be included in the indirect costs (for which the indirect rate is being applied for this project). Examples are: tuition, printing costs, internet access, etc. which can be directly charged to the project and are not duplicated in indirect costs (overhead costs).

2. Basis of cost are items such as contractor quotes, prior purchases of similar or like items, published price list, etc.

3. Contingency is that part of a budget estimate of future costs (typically of large construction projects or other items as approved by the Federal awarding agency) which is associated with possible events or conditions arising from causes the precise outcome of which is indeterminable at the time of estimate, and that experience shows will likely result, in aggregate, in additional costs for the approved activity or project. Amounts for major project scope changes, unforeseen risks, or extraordinary events may not be included. Amounts must be estimated using broadly-accepted cost estimating methodologies and accepted by the Federal awarding agency. Contingency costs are reserved until a demonstrated need is approved by the Grants Officer. Please refer to 2 CFR 200.433 for more information.

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Other Direct Costs Page &P of &N

h. Indirect

h. Indirect Costs

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Indirect (facilities & administrative (F&A)) costs means those costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved.

2. Indirect costs may be charged to the award as per their Indirect Cost Agreement with a cognizant Federal audit agency. Applicants that do not have a current negotiated (including provisional) indirect cost rate except for those non-Federal entities described in Appendix VII, paragraph D.1.b. of 2 CFR 200 may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 15 percent of modified total direct costs (MTDC). MTDC means all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award). MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs and the portion of each subaward in excess of $50,000.

3. By their nature, indirect costs are those recipient costs that are not directly associated with the recipient’s execution of its grant-funded project, but that are necessary to the operation of the organization and the performance of its programs. An applicant should describe the types of indirect costs that it will charge to the grant. A grant recipient can never double-charge a cost as both a direct and an indirect administrative cost.

4. The rates and how they are applied should not be averaged to get one indirect cost percentage. Complex calculations or rates that do not correspond to the below categories should be described/provided in the Additional Explanation section below. If questions exist, consult with your DOC contact before filling out this section.

5. The indirect rate should be applied to both the Federal Share and Recipient Cost Share.

6. NOTE: A Recipient who elects to employ the 15% de minimis Indirect Cost rate cannot claim resulting costs as a Cost Share contribution, nor can the Recipient claim "unrecovered indirect costs" as a Cost Share contribution. Neither of these costs can be reflected as actual indirect cost rates realized by the organization, and therefore are not verifiable in the Recipient records as required by Federal Regulation (§200.306(b)(1)).

Indirect Cost Base of the MTDC is based on the following Tabs: Personnel ($552,000); Travel ($12,190); Supplies ($8,900); Other ($32,200); First $50,000 of each subaward (2 Subawards totaling $100,000 and $500,000 contracts)

i. Indirect Costs

i. Indirect Costs

i. Indirect Costs

i. Indirect Costs

i. Indirect Costs

i. Indirect Costs

i. Cost Sharing-Matching

i. Cost Sharing/Matching (As applicable)

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. A detailed presentation of the cash or cash value of all cost share/matching proposed by the applicant must be provided in the table below. Identify the source organization & amount of each cost share item proposed in the award. Any cost share/matching provided by a subrecipient should be entered in tab e. Contractual-Subawards.

2. Cash - Funds from other Federal programs may not be used as matching funds.

3. In Kind - Contributions, which may include third-party in-kind contributions, are non-cash donations of property, goods or services, which benefit a federally assisted project, and which may count toward satisfying the non-federal matching requirement of a project’s total budgeted costs when such contributions meet certain criteria. NTIA encourages applicants to thoroughly consider potential sources of in-kind contributions that, depending on the particular property or service and the applicable federal cost principles, could include employee or volunteer services; equipment; supplies; indirect costs; computer hardware and software; and use of facilities.

4. All matching must be necessary to the performance of the project. If questions exist, consult your NTIA contact before filling out In Kind cost share in this section.

5. Program Income – Only if used as Cost Share. See Tab j for additional instructions.

6. A Recipient cannot claim "unrecovered indirect costs" as a Cost Share contribution, without prior approval.

Cost Share Page &P of &N

Cost Share Page &P of &N

Cost Share Page &P of &N

Cost Share Page &P of &N

Cost Share Page &P of &N

Cost Share Page &P of &N

j. Program Income

j. Program Income(As applicable)

INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ

1. Program Income: Any gross income earned by the applicant that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the Federal award during the period of performance is considered program income. This includes registration fees for events or for services provided. The applicant should provide projected amounts of program income it anticipates generating through the life of the award, what activity will generate the program income, and how the applicant plans to use the additive or cost-sharing/matching method for this income as outlined in 2 CFR § 200.307.

2. Per the Federal-wide Research Terms and Conditions as adopted by the Department of Commerce, research projects must use the additive method of 2 CFR 200.307(e)(2) to dispose of program income

image1.png image2.png image3.png