Burden Schedule Assignment by Lowest Task for Award Project

Assign a burden schedule, optionally, to the lowest task of sponsored projects for organizations to efficiently track and control expenses. For example, the lowest task could represent the location where the work is performed, so there are different burden rates for different locations.

The system applies the burden schedule set at the lowest task level during cost processing. If no schedule is assigned at this level, the system checks parent tasks and then the project or award default. The user interface visually indicates whether a burden schedule is directly assigned, inherited, or sourced from award-level defaults, ensuring transparency and ease of auditing.

The feature also supports bulk assignment and updates through the existing Import Awards File-Based Data Import (FBDI) template or via the Award Project Task Burden Schedules REST API, giving you flexibility to manage burden schedules efficiently across multiple projects.

As shown in the screenshot below, the burden schedule is applied at the lowest-level task of the project, indicating task-level burdening configuration.

Burden schedule assigned to the lowest-level task in Manage Award Projects

The business benefits of this feature are: 

• Increased accuracy and flexibility in indirect cost allocation for sponsored projects.
• Granular burden schedule assignment supports detailed financial planning, complex organizational requirements, and improved cost control.
• Enables flexible cost management by allowing burden rates to vary based on project attributes such as work location, department, or specific workstreams.

Steps to Enable and Configure

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

• The lowest-level burden schedule defined in the task hierarchy is always applied during cost processing.
• If no burden schedule is assigned to the task, the system checks the immediate parent task and then defaults to the award project’s schedule if necessary.
• The Project Tasks FBDI template structure remains unchanged; validation logic is updated to allow burden schedules at all levels.
• The Award Project Task Burden Schedules REST API allows assigning and retrieving burden schedules at any task level and can return both the specifically assigned and the effective (applied) burden schedule.

Key Resources

Based on Idea 843677 from the Project Management Idea Lab on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect.

Access Requirements

No new access requirements.