Extramural Accounting Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z List All Terms

Term	Definition
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)	The CFDA is the Federal Guide to all domestic assistance programs and activities.
Certified Effort	That effort shown on an effort report which has been certified by the employee or a person with first hand knowledge of the work performed. The purpose of the certification is to confirm that work charged to a sponsored project was actually performed. Effort reporting certifications are processed in the Effort Reporting System. Instructions, best practices, and FAQ are available on the Effort Reporting Help web site.
Certifier	A Certifier is someone who has first-hand knowledge of work performed on specific projects, and who certifies the effort reports in the Effort Reporting System (ERS) attesting to the fact that the work was performed. For academic or professorial titles and professional or high level staff, the employee usually certifies his/her own report. Effort reports for non-professional employees are usually certified by the Principal Investigator or the employee's direct supervisor. Specific information on the roles in ERS is available on the Effort Reporting Roles web page.
CFDA Number	Five-digit program identification number. The first two digits identify the Federal department or agency that administers the program and the last three digits are assigned in numerical sequence.
Change Purchase Order / Business Agreement (CO)	A DaFIS document used to request changes to a Purchase Order/Business Agreement issued by Contracting Services. Detailed instructions on how and when to use the Change Order document are available in the One-Minute Manual.
Close Out	The act of completing all internal procedures and sponsor requirements to terminate or complete a research project.
Cognizant Audit Agency	Federal agency responsible for negotiating and approving indirect cost rates for educational institutions on behalf of all federal agencies. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has been assigned responsibility for negotiating indirect cost rates with the university on behalf of all agencies of the federal government.
Committed Cost Sharing	Cost sharing specifically pledged in the proposal budget or award. Committed cost sharing can include mandatory cost sharing (cost sharing required by a particular funding agency) as well as voluntary committed cost sharing. Voluntary committed cost sharing is cost sharing which was not required by the agency but which was volunteered by the Principal Investigator (university) and quantified in the proposal. Cost sharing transactions are processed in the Cost Share Tracking system. Instructions on using the system are available in the How to Process Cost Share Transactions resource.
Competing Proposals	Proposals that are submitted for the first time or unfounded proposals that are resubmitted; either must compete for research funds. Ongoing projects must compete again if the term of the original award has expired.
Compliance	As related to effort reporting, the accurate and timely completion of required certification in the Effort Reporting System.
Continuation Project (Non-Competing)	Applicable to grants and cooperative agreements only. Refers to a project approved for multiple-year funding, although funds are typically committed only one year at a time. At the end of the initial budget period, progress on the project is assessed. If satisfactory, an award is made for the next budget period, subject to the availability of funds. Continuation projects do not compete with new project proposals and are not subjected to peer review beyond the initial project approval.
Contract	An agreement between two or more entities which creates an obligation to do (or not do) a particular thing one is otherwise entitled to do (or not do). To be legally enforceable, a contract must have subject, consideration, and competent party.
Cooperative Agreement	Federal assistance agreement. Distinguished from grants based on the level of federal involvement. If the government is substantially involved in programmatic work under the award, the assistance arrangement is a cooperative agreement.
Core Funds	Funds which represent the basic core of financial resources required by the University to accomplish its assigned missions and generally includes State general funds, University general funds, permanently budgeted indirect cost funds, and registration fee funds. Visit the campus budget overview for more information.
Corpus	Principal or book value of investment.
Cost Principles	Provide guidance on determining whether charges to a federal award are allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Also provide guidance on developing indirect cost rates.
Cost Reimbursement Contract	Contract where the sponsor pays for the full costs incurred in the conduct of work up to an agreed-upon amount.
Cost Sharing	All contributions, including cash and in-kind, that a recipient makes to an award. If the award is federal, only acceptable non-federal costs qualify as cost sharing and must conform to other provisions including necessary and reasonable to accomplish the program objectives; allowable under cost principles; verifiable to records and auditable. Cost sharing transactions are processed in the Cost Share Tracking system. Instructions on using the system are available in the How to Process Cost Share Transactions resource.
Cost sharing commitment	Any cost sharing that is offered and quantified in a proposal. Cost sharing transactions are processed in the Cost Share Tracking system. Instructions on using the system are available in the How to Process Cost Share Transactions resource.
Cost sharing contribution	The use or expenditure of any in-kind resource or cash to fulfill a cost sharing commitment in the course of performing the scope of work under an extramural award. Cost sharing transactions are processed in the Cost Share Tracking system. Instructions on using the system are available in the How to Process Cost Share Transactions resource.

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