Caution – Rounding in Budgets with Cost Caps
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) recently learned that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) rounds application budgets that include cents, which can cause proposals to exceed the cost cap identified in solicitations. For example, NIH R01 parent applications require permission from a program officer if the direct costs in any given year are $500,000 or above. If a proposal is submitted with $499,999.50 in any of the budget years, NIH will round to $500,000 and require the NIH program officer approval letter.
TTo avoid exceeding a cost cap, OSP highly advises units to:
- Submit budgets that are at least $1 less than the stated cap.
- For System to System budgets that are using the KR Budget module, set the cost cap at least one dollar less than the capped amount and use the Sync to Direct or Total Cost features.
Please contact your OSP Proposal Team if you have any questions.
