Event 06

Unexpected Equipment Purchase

The project needs tablets for participant survey data collection. Marcus must determine whether the purchase can be made with award funds and whether a budget modification is required.

Year 1 Event 06 Budget Revision Review

Story Scene

The project need is real, but the budget did not plan for it

The Community Access to Preventive Healthcare Initiative has been using borrowed tablets to collect participant survey data. At first, this arrangement helped the team move forward without purchasing additional devices.

As recruitment expands, the borrowed tablets are no longer available. Dr. Brown now wants to purchase project-dedicated tablets so the team can continue collecting survey responses without further delay.

From the project team’s perspective, the purchase seems necessary. The tablets would support survey administration and help keep participant data collection on track.

Marcus’s question is not only, “Does the project need the tablets?” His question is: “Can the award pay for them, and does the budget need to be modified first?”

Project Operations

Meet Jasmine Lewis

Portrait of Jasmine Lewis

Research Coordinator | School of Public Health

Jasmine Lewis has now joined the Community Access to Preventive Healthcare Initiative as the Research Coordinator. Her arrival helps the project recover from the earlier hiring delay and move more actively into recruitment and data collection.

Jasmine manages many of the day-to-day activities that keep the project moving. She coordinates participant recruitment, supports data collection, manages project logistics, maintains records, and helps with community outreach.

Because Jasmine works close to the daily project operations, she is often the first person to notice practical problems before they become larger administrative issues. In this event, she identifies that the borrowed tablets used for survey administration will no longer be available.

Institution Crescent State University
Department School of Public Health
Project Role Day-to-Day Project Operations
Focus Recruitment, logistics, data collection, records

Why Jasmine matters to the story

Jasmine’s operational work creates the documentation Marcus later reviews. Strong project operations make strong post-award oversight possible.

Trigger Issue

A new equipment need appears after the award begins

Post-award projects change. A cost may make sense scientifically or operationally, but Marcus still has to review the approved budget, sponsor terms, equipment rules, and rebudgeting procedures.

Project need

Tablets are needed to support participant survey data collection as recruitment expands.

Budget issue

The tablets were not included in the original proposal budget.

Administrative question

Marcus must determine whether the purchase is allowable and whether budget modifications are necessary.

Collaborative Review

The equipment need moves through the project team

The tablet request does not begin as a finance issue. It begins as an operational problem identified by the project team. Marcus becomes involved once the team needs to determine whether the purchase can be charged to the award.

Step 1: Jasmine identifies the issue

The borrowed tablets will no longer be available

Why this matters: the need is connected to participant survey administration and data collection, not general office convenience.

Step 2: Dr. Brown checks before purchasing

Dr. Brown asks Marcus about the grant

Why this matters: Dr. Brown is not making the purchase first and asking later. She is asking Marcus to review the budget and award requirements before the expense happens.

Step 3: Marcus reviews the request

Marcus confirms the need, then checks budget requirements

Why this matters: Marcus separates project benefit from budget authority. The tablets may be allowable, but the budget path still needs review.

Training Concept

Allowable does not always mean ready to purchase

An expense can support the project and still require additional review before it is purchased. Marcus has to look at both the cost principles and the approved budget structure.

Allowability

Are tablets permitted under award terms, institutional policy, and applicable cost principles?

Allocability

Will the tablets directly benefit this project’s participant survey and data collection activities?

Reasonableness

Are the quantity, model, and cost appropriate for the project need?

Budget category

Does the approved budget include enough funding in the correct category for this purchase?

Rebudgeting

Would funds need to move from one budget category to another before the purchase can happen?

Documentation

Marcus needs to document the project need, cost estimate, budget review, and final recommendation.

Artifact Review

What Marcus reviews

Equipment Request Form

Documents the need for the tablets and explains how they support survey data collection.

Equipment Cost Estimate

Provides expected purchase costs so Marcus can evaluate reasonableness and budget impact.

Budget Category Review

Compares the original budget to the proposed expenditure and identifies whether funds are available in the correct category.

Rebudgeting Analysis

Evaluates funding options and determines whether funds would need to be moved before purchase.

Marcus Equipment Review Notes

Documents the review, decision factors, and recommendation.

Award Terms and Conditions

Helps Marcus determine whether sponsor approval or institutional review is required.

Marcus’s Equipment Review

Marcus separates project need from purchase approval

Equipment Review Framework

Can project funds be used to purchase the tablets?

Budget review required

Marcus can see the operational need. The project cannot rely on borrowed tablets anymore, and data collection depends on having reliable devices. But that does not mean the purchase can happen immediately.

1. Confirm the project need

The tablets must be needed for approved project activities, not general departmental use.

2. Review the cost estimate

Marcus checks whether the number of tablets and total cost are reasonable.

3. Check the approved budget

Marcus determines whether equipment or supply funds were approved for this type of purchase.

4. Review sponsor terms

Marcus checks whether the award requires prior approval for equipment or rebudgeting.

5. Determine whether rebudgeting is needed

If the correct budget category does not have funds available, the project may need a budget modification.

6. Document before purchase

Marcus records the need, review, and recommendation before the expense is incurred.

The purchase may be justified, but Marcus must confirm the budget path before the project buys the tablets.

Administrator Thinking

What Marcus notices

The request is not careless. Dr. Brown is responding to a real project barrier: the borrowed tablets are no longer available, and participant survey collection may slow down without dedicated devices.

Marcus also knows that unplanned equipment purchases can create award management issues if the purchase is made before budget and sponsor requirements are reviewed.

What supports the request?

  • The tablets support participant survey data collection
  • The borrowed equipment is no longer available
  • The need connects to approved project activities
  • The purchase may help prevent further project delays

What creates concern?

  • The tablets were not in the original proposal budget
  • The correct budget category may not have available funds
  • Rebudgeting may be required
  • Sponsor or institutional approval may be needed before purchase

Marcus’s role is to help the team find the right path, not to simply approve or deny the request.

Decision Point

Can project funds be used to purchase the tablets?

Dr. Brown wants to purchase project-dedicated tablets that were not included in the original budget. What should Marcus do first?

Communication

How Marcus should respond

Key Takeaway

An allowable need may still require budget review

An expense may be allowable but still require additional budget review before it can be purchased. Marcus must confirm project need, budget category, sponsor terms, and rebudgeting requirements before the tablets are bought.

Resources

References behind this scenario

These references show why Marcus reviews the tablet purchase as more than a simple supply request. A post-award research administrator must connect the purchase to the approved project purpose, cost principles, budget flexibility, sponsor terms, equipment rules, and documentation requirements.

2 CFR 200.403 — Factors Affecting Allowability

This federal cost principle explains the basic requirements a cost must meet before it can be charged to a federal award, including being necessary, reasonable, allocable, documented, consistently treated, and compliant with applicable requirements.

Connection to Event 06: Marcus must confirm whether the tablet purchase is allowable before it is charged to the grant.

2 CFR 200.404 — Reasonable Costs

This section helps frame whether the quantity, price, and timing of the tablet purchase make sense for the project’s data collection need.

Connection to Event 06: Marcus must determine whether the number of tablets and total cost are reasonable for the planned project work.

2 CFR 200.405 — Allocable Costs

This federal cost principle explains that a cost should benefit the specific award being charged. The tablets need a clear connection to this project’s approved data collection activities.

Connection to Event 06: the tablets must support the Community Access to Preventive Healthcare Initiative, not general department use.

2 CFR 200.308 — Revision of Budget and Program Plans

This section matters when a project need requires movement between budget categories or creates a change from the approved financial plan. Marcus has to determine whether rebudgeting is allowed or whether sponsor approval is required.

Connection to Event 06: the tablets were not included in the original budget, so the purchase may require budget review or rebudgeting.

Equipment Policy

Institutional equipment and technology policies help determine whether the tablets are treated as equipment, supplies, computing devices, or another category. That classification affects approvals, inventory, tracking, and documentation.

Connection to Event 06: the classification affects how Marcus reviews, documents, and routes the purchase.

Award Terms and Conditions

Award terms may include restrictions on equipment, technology purchases, budget changes, or prior approval. Marcus must confirm whether the sponsor placed limits on this type of purchase before it moves forward.

Connection to Event 06: sponsor restrictions may affect whether the tablets can be purchased without additional approval.

Back to Year 1 Continue to Event 07