Chapter 8 Developing Budgets

Directly connected to the success of most research programs is a well thought-out and properly prepared budget. Often time so much work is dedicated to the writing of the proposal the budget gets neglected. Funders review the budget just as closely as the proposal itself. Not only do they want to see the bottom line, they want a detailed explanation of how each category will be spent. If you have never prepared a budget before it is wise to contact someone with experience to assist you. Preparing a budget can be overwhelming for a new comer to the research genre.

The decision to use an itemized or nonitemized budget depends on the funder. When submitting a proposal for a grant the funder usually specifies how the budget should be laid out. Grant proposals will typically be itemized, where as business proposals and contracts may be nonitemized. Regardless of which is used, it is wise to start out with an itemized budget so you are sure you have included all of the expenses you anticipate on incurring during the project.

The funder of your proposal will typically determine if your budget will be fixed or flexible. Grants are typically fixed and agreed upon before the award is made. This is because most funders have a set “pot” of money that is distributed to numerous institutions or individuals and all money awarded has to be accounted for.

One area that surprises many people is the budget categories that make up the budget. When submitting as a representative of Clemson University the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21 must be adhered to. Just as the names sound complicated, so too are the rules that must be followed. These are guidelines on who can be paid off of a grant, what can be purchased (for example, computers are typically an unallowable charge on a grant unless written into the budget justification). F&A is 48% for year 2009 (for research). These costs are those that are incurred for common or joint objectives of the University and, therefore, cannot be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project. F&A are expected to be charged on a project unless otherwise noted from the sponsor. What does that mean in regard to your budget? If a sponsor has allotted 100K toward the award of the proposal 48% of your total direct costs have to be charged to F&A (48K). That means you actually only has 52K to spend on your project. Unless a sponsor does not allow F&A to be charged, CU requires all sponsored research to include F&A unless not allowed by the sponsor. More information about these guidelines can be found at
http://www.comptroller.clemson.edu/pdf/F_A_agreement2007.pdf