| Characteristic |
Cost Reimbursable |
Fixed Price |
| Rebudgeting |
Prior sponsor approval may be required |
No restrictions |
| Carryforward |
Prior sponsor approval may be required |
No restrictions |
| Payment Trigger |
Financial reporting and technical progress |
Completion of deliverables/milestones or contractually defined fixed payment schedule |
| Pricing in Agreement |
Detailed budget by cost category; prepare to justify in detail all actual project expenses |
Milestone/Deliverable or other Payment Schedule, may be based on rates; no detailed line-item budget is presented to the sponsor and there should be no post award financial reporting |
| Audit |
Individual expenses subject to audit |
Expenses generally not subject to audit, but Uniform Guidance should be followed when estimating costs; internal budget is still required to verify cost reasonableness |
| Residual Balance |
Not applicable |
Retained by NIU subject to Residual Funds policy |
| When Appropriate |
Most sponsored awards are cost reimbursable due to the uncertain nature of research and the programs being funded |
Should only be used when the scope of work and deliverables are well defined and all costs necessary can be clearly identified |