Prior Approvals | LSU Sponsored Program Accounting
Prior Approvals & Revision of Budget Plans
- Many federal agencies waive prior approval requirements for a variety of post-award
changes, which may include one or more of the following:
- Incur pre-award costs 90 calendar days prior to award at their own risk
- Approve one no-cost extension of up to 12 months
- Carryforward unobligated balances to subsequent funding period
- The following changes require sponsor approval and must be justified:
- Change in scope or objective of project
- Change in PI and/or key personnel
- Disengagement from a project for more than three months, or a 25% reduction in time devoted over the course of the period of performance by the PI
- Any costs listed in 2 CFR 200 Subpart E that require prior approval, unless specifically waived. Costs include prior approval
for:
- Additional Compensation
- Equipment not listed in the approved budget
- Transfer of funds budgeted for participant support costs to other budget categories
- Subaward activities not included in the approved award. A change of subrecipient should not require prior approval unless required by the terms and conditions of the award
- Changes in the total approved cost-sharing amount
- Need for additional federal funds to complete the project
- Transferring funds between the construction and non-construction work
- No-cost extension in excess of any one-time extension approved internally
- Prior approval requirements listed in section 1.a. above are automatically waived for research awards unless stipulated by the federal agency. However, prior approval is required if the one-time extension is prohibited, requires additional funds, or changes the scope.
- Universities must have written processes in place to document internal prior approvals.
- LSUAM documents internal prior approvals via a modification/prior approval request record routed in GeauxGrants.
- LSUAG PIs must complete the AgCenter Modification Request Form and send it to the SPA contact.
- Federal agencies may restrict the transfer of funds among direct cost categories for awards in which the Federal share exceeds the simplified acquisition threshold ($350,000 as of 5/7/2026 per 48 CFR part 2, subpart 2.1) and the cumulative amount of such transfers exceeds 10% of the total budget, including cost sharing.
- Rebudgeting forms are available on SPA’s website: