{"id":18010,"date":"2019-06-24T11:03:59","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T15:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/?page_id=18010"},"modified":"2025-05-22T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T18:48:00","slug":"subrecipients-vs-contractors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/funding-grants\/managing-an-award\/monitoring-expenditures\/subrecipients-vs-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Subrecipient vs Contractor Payment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Boston University faculty and staff carrying out research regularly collaborate with individuals who are not Boston University employees, and with companies and other institutions.<\/p>\n<p><span>At the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/funding-grants\/proposal-submission\/\">Proposal Stage<\/a> of the award lifecycle, the pass-through entity holds the responsibility for deciding whether any given arrangement constitutes a subaward (carrying out an intellectually significant portion of the Federal award, creating a financial assistance agreement) or a contractor agreement (obtaining goods and services, creating a procurement relationship). You can find definitions and guidance by reviewing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/funding-grants\/proposal-submission\/preparing-documents\/#includes-subawards\">Components of a Proposal Package<\/a> and by speaking with your Sponsored Programs Pre-Award Officer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The type of the relationship will determine how the entity is paid by Boston University.<\/p>\n<h2>Making payments to subrecipients, contractors, and consultants<\/h2>\n<h3>Research Related Payments to non-BU consultants and independent contractors<\/h3>\n<p>BU researchers often collaborate with people and companies outside of BU. The process to use when entering into an agreement for services depends on the nature of the services and the size and duration of the engagement. Please see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ap\/resources\/research-related-payments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">information from Accounts Payable<\/a> for complete guidance on these engagements.<\/p>\n<h3>Subrecipient Invoices (Reviewing and Processing)<\/h3>\n<h4>Department Review of Subrecipient Invoice<\/h4>\n<p>The initial review of the subrecipient invoice is done by the PI and department administrator. The PI reviews the invoice to determine if sufficient technical progress has been made to justify payment of the subrecipient invoice. This review should include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A brief review of the invoice, with special attention to the salary and wage costs invoiced;<\/li>\n<li>A review of travel expenses to verify need for the travel during the billing period; and<\/li>\n<li>A review of material and supply charges for reasonableness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Any problems should be brought to the attention of both the departmental administrator and the SP Post-Award Officer responsible for the Subaward agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Principal Investigator (or Co-PI) approval for the invoice is required. PI or Co-PI approval includes either a signature on the invoice or in instances where signatures are not available, an email evidencing the PIs or Co-PIs approval. Alternate signatures (e.g. department administrator, graduate research assistant, postdoctoral fellow, etc.) are not considered adequate.<\/p>\n<p>Following review and approval, the department administrator completes and submits the online Subrecipient Invoice Disbursement Form, which includes the attached subrecipient invoice and the Principal Investigator\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n<h4>Subrecipient Invoice Disbursement Form<\/h4>\n<p>All subrecipient invoices are processed through an online Subrecipient Invoice Disbursement Form.<\/p>\n<p>The online Subrecipient Invoice Disbursement Form is accessible through the Forms page on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ap\/resources\/forms\/\">Accounts Payable website<\/a>, just like the online Accounts Payable Disbursement Form. You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/files\/2017\/12\/New-Subrecipient-Invoice-Disbursement-Form.pdf\">view the form here<\/a> and see how it appears on the AP Forms webpage.<\/p>\n<h5>Approving and submitting the form<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>This form is completed and submitted by Departments and should include the subrecipient invoice and Principal Investigator or Co-PI approval as attachments.<\/li>\n<li>The Principal Investigator or Co-PI approval includes either a signature on the invoice or email approval. PI&#8217;s do not need to sign the Subrecipient Invoice Disbursement Form.<\/li>\n<li>The submission will route directly to your SP Post-Award Officer for approval, and thereafter to Accounts Payable for final processing. The submitter also will receive an email confirmation that will include a unique Source Document Number for more simplified tracking.<\/li>\n<li>Use GL Account 517510 for SUBCONTRACTS &lt;$25,000<\/li>\n<li>Use GL Account 517520 for SUBCONTRACTS &gt;$25,000<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t<div class=\"shortcode-forms-policies\">\n\t\t<ul class=\"forms-policies\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"1306 post-18010 page type-page status-publish hentry\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fp-label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"label bg-darkgray\">WEB<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fp-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/forms-policies\/procedures-for-the-administration-and-monitoring-of-subrecipient-agreements-issued-to-third-parties\/\"><span\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"title\">Administration and Monitoring of Subrecipient Agreements Issued to Third Parties<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"date\">Updated April 14, 2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"floatleft bu-callout\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/research\/files\/2023\/02\/Training.jpg\" alt=\"Presenter speaking\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1091\" width=\"636\" height=\"477\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Training<\/h4>\n<p>Learn more about monitoring subawards with our available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/funding-grants\/grant-management-tools-resources\/managing-a-grant-training-courses\/#subawards>trainings and webinars<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"floatleft bu-callout\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/research\/files\/2023\/02\/FAQ.jpg\" alt=\"researchers on laptop\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1091\" width=\"636\" height=\"477\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>FAQs<\/h4>\n<p>Your specific questions or situations may be addressed in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/funding-grants\/grant-management-tools-resources\/faq\/#ongoing-subaward-management\">Ongoing Subaward Management FAQs<\/a>.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Key Contacts<\/h2>\n\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-default post-8334 profile type-profile status-publish hentry office-sp stage-award-closeout stage-award-review-acceptance stage-manage-an-award stage-prepare-a-proposal stage-proposal-review-submission stage-set-up-an-award\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/offices-contacts\/contact\/departmental-contacts\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-default\">\n\n\t\t\n\t<figure class=\"profile-photo  profile-photo-default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"initials\">\n\t\t\tDA\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\n\t\t<div class=\"profile-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-default\">Department &#038; Central Research Administrators List<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boston University faculty and staff carrying out research regularly collaborate with individuals who are not Boston University employees, and with companies and other institutions. At the Proposal Stage of the award lifecycle, the pass-through entity holds the responsibility for deciding whether any given arrangement constitutes a subaward (carrying out an intellectually significant portion of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13932,"featured_media":0,"parent":17899,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13932"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18010"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57473,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18010\/revisions\/57473"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}