Eligibility and
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Funding Rules
The Science Cloud usage is exclusively available limited to NASA projects using NASA funds. External funding from non-NASA entities is not accepted. Funding NASA‑funded projects; external funding cannot be used. All funds must be formally obligated before any work can begin or cloud resources can be usedconsumed.
Whether preparing a proposal or managing an existing project, the Science Cloud FinOps team can help you develop accurate cloud cost estimates.
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FinOps staff support budget development for both proposals and awarded projects. Cost estimates should be integrated into proposal planning early. Funds designated for Science Cloud
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remain with NASA
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and are applied directly to
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cloud costs.
Obligating Funds
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Ames Research Center (ARC) serves as the institutional manager for manages all commercial cloud contracts supporting the Science Cloud. Principal Investigators ( PIs ) should coordinate with their Resource Analysts (RAs) to initiate fund transfers to ARC.Funding requirements include two componentstransfer funds, which include:
- Cloud service costs:
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- Compute, storage, usage, and enterprise support
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- charges.
- Overhead fees:
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- Costs supporting Cloud Computing Services (CCS)
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- at ARC.
Transfer Options:Pathways: ARC financial staff provide exact amounts needed for cloud and overhead obligations.
- Direct transfer from NASA Headquarters
- : HQ sends funds directly to ARC (requires coordination with HQ finance).
- Center-to-Center transfer: An inter-center transfer requiring two separate Purchase Requests (PRs)—one for cloud costs and one for CCS support overhead.
How Funds Are Used: First-In-First-Out (FIFO)
Once obligated, funds enter a pooled system managed by a FIFO rule—the oldest funds pay each monthly invoice.
- Same-year funding can usually be deobligated and used for other allowed work if a cloud account is closed.
- Prior-year funding may not be deobligatable, but can still pay for services used on the cloud contract.
Note: For new cloud accounts, an initial obligation of funds is usually required to familiarize the team with the process and verify funds are available.
The Monthly Billing Cycle
For funds to be obligated in a given month, transfers to ARC must be processed by the designated mid-month deadline. If funds miss the deadline, they appear as "Expected" in the system as a reminder to verify their status.
The billing cycle operates in five phases:
- From NASA HQ
- Center‑to‑center transfer: Via two Purchase Requests (one for cloud usage, one for overhead)
FIFO Use of Funds & Deobligation Rules
Funds are spent using First‑In‑First‑Out (FIFO)—the oldest obligated funds pay monthly invoices.
- Same‑year funds can typically be deobligated.
- Prior‑year funds usually cannot be deobligated, but may still be used to pay invoices.
Opening New Accounts
New cloud accounts normally require an initial obligation to verify available funds and familiarize new users with the transfer process.
Billing Cycle
Transfers must reach ARC by the mid‑month deadline or they will be listed as Expected funds until processed.
The monthly cycle includes:
- Cost Collection (cloud → reseller)
- Institutional Billing (reseller → ARC)
- Cloud Account Allocation (
- Cost Collection: The cloud provider submits billing to NASA's authorized reseller.
- Institutional Billing: The reseller submits billing to the Cloud and Computing Services (CCS) team at ARC. Cloud Account Allocation: The FinOps team reconciles billing and allocates costs to individual accounts (occurs
- 1.5 months in arrears) .
- Reporting : The FinOps team generates and distributes comprehensive account reports
- to PIs .
- Fund Transfer: PIs work
- Transfers with their
- RAs to transfer new funds to ARC as needed.
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