Institutional subscriptions may be allowable when directly related to the objectives of a sponsored Award. An example of an allowable direct charge of an institutional subscription would be where the Award objective is to compile data from articles into a database, or if the subscriptions are needed as reference material to support the Award.

Federal regulations allow the cost of the institution's membership in business, technical, and professional organizations as part of F&A, but do not mention individual memberships. Per GIM 23, memberships are allowable only as an indirect cost. This is because memberships benefit the individual in all of their professional work; the cost cannot benefit just a single Award. Thus, the cost cannot be included on an Award budget.

The cost of the dinner and how it benefits the Award should be part of the original proposal and budget. As with all expenses, there is a requirement to show how the expense is necessary for the achievement of the award objectives. See PAFC's web page on Food Purchases on Sponsored Awards for more information.

This depends on the sponsor and the terms and conditions applicable to the award. Some sponsors do not allow meal costs for employees of the institution if they are not in travel status. If they are attending the workshop and the sponsor has approved paying for their meals, the sponsor's written approval should be retained on file.

GCA no longer applies the food flag to sponsored award budgets. Departments are responsible for knowing if food for a particular event was included in the proposal or that written sponsor approval has been obtained. The food approval form is not required for sponsored awards. For more information, see PAFC's web page on Food Purchases on Sponsored Awards.

No, coffee service and other drinks for breaks can be treated as incidental and not included in the individual per diem.

Yes, the agenda would provide good supporting documentation to demonstrate that there was a business purpose for the meal and that it was not a social event.

Yes, sign-in sheets will provide good supporting documentation for the number of people included in the cost of each meal. This will help to prove that the cost per person was within the allowed per diem for each meal.

Yes. For more information, see "Meals over Per Diem" on the Food Purchases on Sponsored Awards section of the PAFC website.

First, in planning the event and selecting the meal to be served, every effort should be made to have a margin between the planned meal cost and the allowable per diem. This will allow some cushion for no-shows before the per diem is exceeded. However, if the per diem is exceeded and the amount is reasonable, under the circumstances we would consider the additional cost allowable. There is still a possibility that an auditor would disagree and deem the excess unallowable.