Transcript Creating Reasonable Budgets and Budget Justifications

CREATING A REALISTIC
BUDGET AND BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION
Amanda Bradford-Janke
Research Support Specialist
School of Nursing Research Support
Services
CREATING A REASONABLE BUDGET

Main goal:

To submit a realistic, well-justified budget that
accurately reflects the cost of carrying out your
research program
WHERE DO YOU START?



Think of the phases or stages of your project
List all tasks that are associated with each
phase/stage
List all tasks that will need to be done on short
term and an ongoing basis

Phase 1 – Project start up





Research Ethics Board application/approval
Hiring of project personnel
Development and distribution of recruitment
materials
Finalization of data collection tools if not already
done prior to officially starting study
Setting up databases for study
This is usually a labour intensive phase for staff

Phase 2 – Recruitment
Regular contact with recruitment sites
 Tracking and following participants as they enter the
study


Phase 3 – Data collection, cleaning and analysis





Conducting initial interviews/questionnaires
Conducting follow up interviews/questionnaires (if applicable)
Entering data
Cleaning data
Preliminary analysis

Phase 4 – Final Analysis, write-up, dissemination





Conducting final analysis
Writing final report to granting agency
Writing manuscripts and abstracts for
dissemination
Creation of conference materials
Putting a project to bed
TYPICAL BUDGET LINES - STAFF

Research Staff




Assistant or Coordinator
Technicians
Post Doctoral
Trainees
Summer undergraduate students
 Graduate

Master’s
 PhD

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT
YOUR STAFFING NEEDS ARE?




Determine what skills are required to complete
each of the tasks or groups of tasks
Calculate how much time it will take to complete
each phase/stage of your project
This will give you a sense of the type of staff you
will need to complete your project on time
Consult with Human Resources as needed
HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT
SUPPLIES, SERVICES AND MATERIALS
YOU WILL NEED?



Try to think of all the phases/stages of your
project and what you will physically need to
complete them
Consider your total sample size, the number of
staff you have and your recruitment methods
Keep in mind any funding agency restrictions on
purchasing of material, services or supplies
WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT
EXPENSES COULD YOU HAVE?

Do you need:
A computer and/or printer
 Audio equipment
 Video equipment


Do you have to pay a fee to use a specific data
collection tool?
Is this a per use fee?
 Is this a one time fee?

TYPICAL BUDGET LINES –
MATERIALS, SUPPLIES, SERVICES
Office Supplies
 Printing/photocopying
 Telephone services

monthly
 long distance

Conference calls
 Audio supplies – qualitative studies
 Video supplies
 Transcription services - qualitative studies
 Honorariums
 Computer software

WHERE WILL YOU BE TRAVELING?

Team meetings:
Will you be traveling for team meetings?
 Will other team members be traveling to you?
OR
 Will you be having conference calls?


Data collection:


Does your staff have to travel to recruit or collect
data?
Staff training:

Does your staff have to travel to get special training
for tools or programs needed for the study?
WHAT TO THINK ABOUT FOR
DISSEMINATION EXPENSES?

Conferences:


Will you be going to local, national or international
conferences?
How long is the conference?

Are you staying for the whole duration?
What are the conference fees?
 How much will it cost to get there (plane or car)?
 How much will it cost for your hotel and meals?
 Are your doing a talk or poster?


How much does it cost to get a poster printed?
PUBLICATION COSTS

Manuscripts:

Will you be publishing in an open access journal?


What is the fee for this?
Will you have colour pictures or graphs?

Is there an extra fee for this?
NOW THAT I KNOW WHAT I NEED
HOW TO I CREATE MY BUDGET?

There are a few different ways to present a
budget

How do you usually create a budget?

Word vs Excel
BUDGETS CREATED IN MICROSOFT WORD

Advantages:
For those who aren’t familiar or comfortable with
spreadsheets
 Simple text format for presenting budget items and
associated costs
 Can be pasted directly into most application forms


Disadvantages:
All calculation have to be done by hand
 Budget will need to be put into spreadsheet later for
tracking and projections if study funded
 Formatting can be difficult
 Can’t easily compare multiyear costs

MICROSOFT WORD EXAMPLE
Year 1
MATERIALS, SUPPLIES AND SERVICES
Expendables
Office supplies
Printing/photocopying
Services
Consultant fees
4-day Modified Interaction Guidance training workshop
Supervised practice sessions
MINI training
Transcription
2 focus group interviews with PHNs
@ 4 hr/interview = 8 hrs @ $22/hr
Food and refreshments
4-day training workshop @ $250/day
Focus groups (2 groups x $40)
Participant Costs
Honorarium for 16 families ($30 gift certificates)
$24,936
$ 300
$ 500
$12,000
$9,000
$1,400
$176
$1,000
$80
$480
BUDGETS CREATED IN MICROSOFT EXCEL

Advantages:
Can be entered to auto calculate individual
expenses, subcategories and total expenses
 Budget database already set-up if funded and will
save staff time
 Can easily compare budget items across years


Disadvantages:
More work at the beginning but will save time if
you need to ‘play’ with budget
 Have to have good knowledge of Excel to set-up
budget lines with auto calculations

YEAR 1
Materials, Supplies and Services
YEAR 2
$24,936
$2,080
Office supplies
$800.00
$300.00
$1,400.00
$300.00
Printing/photocopying
Including printing of interview transcripts,
$500.00 journal articles and final project report
Expendables
Including one page lay summary, 3 page
short scholarly summary
Desemination materials
Services
$23,656.00
$800.00
$300.00
$40.00
Consultation Fees
4-day Modified Interaction Guidance training
workshop
$12,000.00 N/A
$0.00
Supervised practice sessions
$9,000.00 N/A
$0.00
MINI Training
$1,400.00 N/A
$0.00
$176.00 N/A
$0.00
Transcription
2 focus groups 4 hrs/focus group = 8hrs x $22/hr
Food and refreshments
4-day training workshops $250/day
Focus groups 2 groups x $40/day
Participant Costs
Honorarium $30 gift certificate x 16 training families
In-depth interview honorarium N/A
$1,000.00 N/A
$80.00 1 group x $40
$0.00
$40.00
$480.00
$640.00
$480.00 $30 gift certificate x 16 training families
$480.00
$0.00 $10 gift certificate x 16 intervention families
Year One Total
$24,936.00
Total Budget
$27,016.00
Year Two Total
$160.00
$2,080.00
WHAT IS A BUDGET JUSTIFICATION?

Justifications are used to link budget items to
your research requirements
For example:
You may feel it is evident why you need 3 RA’s but it
may not be evident to the reviewers
 Explain why you have to travel during high season
 Demonstrate why equipment is really needed

HOW DO YOU CREATE A BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION?




Go through the budget line by line and provide a
brief rationale for each item you are requesting
funding for
Your justification should be in the same order as
you presented your budget
Include tasks for staff to justify full-time or parttime needs (especially if non-students)
Be specific if you have quotes from retailers or
supplies be sure to say so
BUDGET JUSTIFICATION EXAMPLE
Materials, Supplies and Services
General Office Supplies & Printing and Photocopying:
Year 1- $800
General office supplies will be needed by RA to run the day to day operation of
the study. Photocopying and printing costs are required to produce training
materials; manuals; protocols; recruitment materials; workshop materials;
consent forms.
Year 2 - $1,200
General office supplies will be needed by RA to run the day to day operation of
the study.
Photocopying and printing costs are required to produce training materials;
manuals; protocols; recruitment materials; workshop materials and consent
forms. In addition in year 2 in-service materials; conference materials; ministry
meeting materials; grant report; and publication materials will also need to be
published.
Consultation Fees:
Year 1- $21,000
Dr. X will be paid for her time to facilitate the 4-day workshop for PHNs and for
her time to conduct supervised practice session with the PHNs. The first 3 days
of the workshop will train PHN on how to conduct the MIG intervention session.
The last day of the workshop will train the PHNs how to administer the
AMBIANCE and WMCI.
BUDGET JUSTIFICATION EXAMPLE
Transcription Fees:
Year 1 -$176
A professional will be paid to transcribe 2 PHN end of year focus group (2 hours of
data x 4 hours transcription x $22/hr =$176)
Food & Refreshments:
Year 1 -$1,080
Lunch, coffee/tea & snacks will be catered for 6 PHNs, 1 manager and 1 facilitator for
the 4-day MIG training workshop. Coffee/tea & snacks will be served for the PHN
focus group2 (6 PHNs + 1 facilitator).
Year 2 - $40
Coffee/tea & snacks will be served for the PHN focus group (6 PHNs + 1 facilitator).
Participant Costs:
Year 1 -$480
Participants will be given a $30 gift certificate for participating in the training phase
of the study (16 families total).
Year 2 - $640
Participants will be given a $30 gift certificate for participating in the intervention
phase of the study (16 families total). An additional $10 gift certificate will be given
to the families that participate in the in-depth qualitative interviews.
BUDGET TIPS - STAFF

Make sure you use the correct fringe benefits
rates for staff

Include raises for Roll 1 staff if it is a multiyear
study (including salary and benefits)

Quote the maximum salary level


If employing trainees make sure to quote the
current stipend and include increases if a
multiyear study
Be sure to include current vacation pay % for
part-time/temporary staff
BUDGET TIPS - EQUIPMENT

Demonstrate through your justification that
equipment is really needed

Demonstrate how the equipment meets the short
and long term research needs

Indicate if there are no equipment alternatives in
your department or through collaboration

Request these items in your first year of a
multiyear budget

Append quotes from vendors for equipment and
maintenance
BUDGET TIPS - DISSEMINATION

Include a budget line for manuscript preparation and look
into the costs of publishing in appropriate journals

Explain why you have to travel during high season if
applicable

Cost out airfare, hotels and ground transportation – get
quotes from vendors

Use McMaster Travel policy for meal per diems and $/km
amounts

Make sure you include current conference fees

Include costs for printing posters or conference talk materials

Make sure to state who will be traveling and the purpose of
the travel
OVERALL BUDGET TIPS

Don’t grossly underestimate or inflate your budget these are
reds flags for reviewers

Don’t use estimates when you can base a budget item on a
past expenditure or a cost quote from a vendor

Be sure to include taxes, any shipping/handling fees or
exchange rates for budget items

State if any supplies, services or staff time will be given IN
KIND

A detailed and carefully costed budget makes it more difficult
for committee members to recommend a global cut
Make sure you follow the agencies budget rules!!!!!
HOW CAN RESEARCH SUPPORT SERVICES
HELP YOU?

RSS can help by costing the following:
Supplies
 Services
 Equipment/Maintenance
 Travel
 Personnel


RSS can also assist with:
Setting up budget in Word or Excel
 Inputting budget items into spreadsheet
 Drafting budget justification

RESEARCH OFFICE CONTACT
INFORMATION

Research Support Specialists
Amanda Bradford-Janke
ext.26899
[email protected]
Jennifer McGugan
ext. 23220
[email protected]
Sandy Brooks
ext. 20215
[email protected]