Preparing Proposal Budgets

1
Preparing Proposal Budgets

• Office of Research Services
• The University of Oklahoma

2
Types of Proposals

• Federal
• Non-Federal
• State or local government
• Foundation/Non-Profit
• Industry
• International
• Subcontract/Subaward

3
Budget Components

• Direct Costs
• Indirect Costs (IDC) hereinafter referred to as
  Facilities and Administrative Costs (FA)

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Direct Costs

• Expenses identified specifically with a
  particular sponsored project, instructional
  activity, creative or artistic pursuit, or other
  institutional activity
• Expenses that can be assigned to a particular
  sponsored project with a high degree of accuracy
• Must be allowable, allocable, reasonable
  necessary for the program, given consistent
  treatment and conform to sponsor limitations

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Typical Direct Costs

• Include
• Compensation of employees for work under a
  sponsored agreement
• Related fringe benefit costs
• Materials consumed or expended in the performance
  of the work
• Other items of expense incurred for the sponsored
  agreement provided such costs are consistently
  treated (e.g., travel, equipment)

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Facilities Administrative Costs

• Costs incurred for common or joint objectives
  which cannot be allocated to a specific direct
  cost activity
• Facilities
• Salaries of administrative and clerical staff
• Office supplies (May be allowable if attributed
  directly and specifically to the project)
• Postage (May be allowable if attributed directly
  and specifically to the project-no stamps!)

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Budget Categories

• Personnel Costs
• Fringe Benefits
• Equipment
• Travel
• Participant Support Costs

• Other Direct Costs
• Research Materials and Supplies
• Publication costs
• Consultants
• Computer/ADPE Services
• Subcontracts
• Tuition
• Other

• Facilities Administrative Costs (FA)
• Cost Sharing

Note the following slides are formatted to follow
the ORS generic budget spreadsheet which is
recommended for all budgets.
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Types of Personnel Costs

• Faculty Academic Year
• Faculty - Summer
• Professional Staff
• Post Docs
• Professional Staff Limited (temporary)
• Classified Staff (hourly)

• Graduate Students (GRA/GTA)
• Undergraduate Students
• Other

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Fringe Benefits Rates - FY 08
Full Time Employees Temporary Employees Post Docs, Fellows GRAs Undergraduates
39.6 7.0 14.2 3.2 0.1
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Equipment

• Items costing over 5,000 and having a useful
  life of one year or more
• Includes freight and shipping costs
• May include training and installation
• Fabricated Equipment
• Exempt from FA
• Raises a red flag

11
Domestic Travel

• Airfare, Lodging
• Car Rental (Not in Oklahoma)
• Per Diem, Mileage
• Parking Fees/Pike Pass
• Registration Fees
• Local Transportation (Taxi, Metro, Shuttle)
• Travel to Canada or Mexico is agency specific
• GSA Rates (http//www.gsa.gov)
• OU Travel Policy link
• http//www.ou.edu/aa/travel.htm

12
Foreign Travel

• Airfare
• Lodging/Apartment Rental
• Car Rental
• Local Transportation
• Per Diem
• Registration Fees
• Safety and security costs may also be included
  dependent on location
• Travel to Canada or Mexico is agency specific
• May raise a red flag

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Participant Support Costs

• Agency specific (only applicable in limited
  circumstances)
• Intended for conferences, meetings, symposia,
  training activities, and workshops
• Participants or trainees may not be employees
• Stipends
• Cost of transportation
• Subsistence
• Other related costs
• Raises a red flag

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Other Direct Costs

• Research Materials Supplies
• Publication Costs
• Consultant Services
• Computer Services
• Subcontracts
• Tuition
• Other

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Other Direct Costs
Research Materials Supplies

• Chemicals
• Expendable Equipment
• Computer Software
• Computer Supplies
• Lab Supplies (Gases and Fuels)

• Cartridges for Copiers/Printers/Faxes
• Research Supplies (allocable to the project)
• Reference Materials

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Other Direct Costs

• Publication Costs
• Consultant Services
• Raises a red flag
• Letter of commitment
• Computer Services
• Subcontracts
• Raises a red flag
• Entire sub-proposal
• Institutional letter of commitment

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Other Direct Costs - Tuition

• Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) labor budgeted
  on sponsored programs determines the amount of
  tuition to be budgeted
• GRA labor budgeted is multiplied by a percentage
  to arrive at the tuition amounts requested from
  sponsor and provided by the Graduate College
• Tuition is excluded from FA

FY 09 Cost of Tuition Remission is 34
Sponsor Share Graduate College Share
15 19
18
Other Direct Costs - Other

• Communication Costs
• Express Mail Charges
• Fax Charges
• Mobile Phone Services/Pager Fees
• Postage (No stamps!)
• Telecommunication
• Long Distance phone calls
• All charges must be directly attributable to
  project

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Other Direct Costs - Other

• Copying
• Animal care costs
• Human subject care costs
• Maintenance agreements
• Audio/visual services
• Construction/renovation/remodeling costs
• Costs for workshops/conferences/technical
  meetings (if including food costs, state such in
  budget justification)
• Contractual/vendor expenses/services/fees
• Space Rental

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Facilities Administrative (FA) Cost Rates
FY 10
On-Campus Off-Campus
50 26
Executive Director of ORS decides if the Off
Campus rate can be used after review of the
statement of work, budget, and budget
justification
21
Facilities Administrative (FA) Cost Rates

• OUs rate is set by negotiation with Department
  of Health and Human Services
• PIs cannot negotiate FA with sponsor
• If a sponsor has a rate set that is less than our
  negotiated rate then we use their rate (however,
  it must be formally established)
• PI may ask VPR to cost share IDC (may not be
  approved as OU volunteering not to collect our
  FA may increase our rate in the future)
• The VPR allows use of 26 for most state agencies
  unless the source of the funds is providing full
  FA.

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Calculating FA

• Identify Exclusions
• Equipment
• Capital Expenditures
• Tuition remission
• Rental costs of off-site facilities
• Scholarships/Fellowships
• Subcontract amounts in excess of first 25,000
  (for each subcontract)
• Patient Care Costs
• Modified Total Direct Base (MTDC)
• Total Direct Costs minus exclusions listed
  above

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Common Budget Dilemmas

• Subcontractor versus Consultant or Vendor
• Consultants on Oklahoma Teachers Retirement
• Fellowship versus Stipends for Students (Is the
  student an employee?)

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Cost Sharing - Sources

• PI Contributions
• Departmental Contributions
• University Contributions
• Vice President for Research
• Third Party Contributions (Subcontractors,
  Industry, etc.)
• Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education
• Contributed and Unrecovered FA

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Sponsor-Required Cost Sharing

• Equipment
• Contributed FA
• Unrecovered FA (FA not allowed or FA
  associated with Cost Sharing not in all
  cases-check guidelines)
• Regents Matching Funds

26
Cost Sharing - Issues

• May be tracked internally but not reported to
  sponsor
• OU policy on 1 time commitment
• If in budget, budget justification, or body of
  proposal the sponsor may require tracking and
  documentation to prove it occurred

27
Requesting Cost Sharing from the Vice President
for Research

• http//research.ou.edu/about/cost_share_req.asp

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Arithmetic

• Fringe Benefit Rate
• GRA Tuition Rate
• FA Rate
• MTDC Exclusions
• Budget Total
• Correct?
• Within Sponsor Limits?
• For All Years?

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How ORS can help you

• Perform budget review
• Ensure calculations, fringe and FA rates are
  correct
• Ensure budget conforms to sponsor requirements or
  limitations
• Assist with sponsor forms and certifications

• Ensure that subagreement documents are in line
  with budgeted amounts
• Ensure that any cost sharing is approved and
  documented prior to submission

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Useful Link for Proposal Preparation

• http//research.ou.edu/proposal/generic_budget.htm
  l
• Site with downloadable budget templates.
• Note If you contact your PDS for a budget
  template they can
• ensure you are using the correct rate for the
  proposal.
• http//research.ou.edu/about/rateagr.html
• Site with downloadable FA and fringe benefit
• rate agreements.

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Preparing Proposal Budgets

• Proposal Development Specialists
• Tena Smith (A D, CAPS CIMMS) tena_at_ou.edu or
  405.325.6140
• Tonya Easley (E L) teasley_at_ou.edu or
  405.325.3903
• Fran Stephens (M R) fran_at_ou.edu or
  405.325.3904
• Matt Berry (S Z) mberry_at_ou.edu or
  405.325.6131
• Tarah Hayes (Tulsa) thayes_at_ou.edu or
  918.660.3382
• Proposal Services Main Line 405.325.3901