Treatment of Program Income on Sponsored Project Accounts

Effective Date: January 1, 2008

Latest Revision: July 9, 2012

Effective December 26th, 2014, OMB Circulars A-21, A-110 and A-133 will be replaced by regulations under the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (also known as the Uniform Guidance).  Please refer to the University’s Uniform Guidance website http://spa.columbia.edu/uniform-guidance for further details that may supersede information outlined in this policy.  Revised policies will be posted once they are available.

Executive Summary

While most sponsored projects are entirely funded by awards made by the sponsors of those projects, some projects generate income as a by-product of the work performed under the project. Federal regulations refer to this as "program income", and set forth the alternatives for how that income is to be treated and accounted for. This policy communicates the accounting policy for program income earned on sponsored projects.

It should be noted that while this Policy is now being formally published in the Administrative Policy Library, the underlying provisions of the policy have been in effect for many years.

To see the full text of this policy, please use the link on the right.