Program Income| LSU Sponsored Program Accounting

Program Income

Program income is gross income earned by the recipient that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned because of the award.  

Pursuant to federal regulations, all revenues and expenditures associated with program income must be documented in the University’s official accounting records.

Program income can come in many forms including the following examples:
  • Fees from participants at conferences or symposia.
  • Fees for services performed, such as laboratory tests.
  • Sale of software, tapes, or publications.
  • Sale of research materials such as animal models or reagents.
  • Money received from the use, sale, or rental of equipment purchased with project funds.
  • Sales of supplies or equipment purchased or fabricated with project funds.

The use of program income is generally defined in the grant agreement.  If a research project is being performed, program income is usually additive, meaning that any program income is treated as additional funding available for the conduct of the research project. Other agreements may indicate that the program income is to be treated as deductive (the amount of program income earned is subtracted from the Federal obligation leaving the funding the same, but from two sources), or program income can be stipulated as being used to meet any matching or cost sharing requirements of the project. 

Program Income should always be spent before grant funds.  Workday automatically deducts the program income received from expenditures.