Transcript Developing a Grant Budget - University of Detroit Mercy

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF GRANT
PROPOSAL BUDGET PREPARATION
Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Activity (OSPRA)
University of Detroit Mercy
Your Goal:

To develop a budget that is
 Reasonable
 Allowable
 Allocable
Draft a Rough Budget Early!
Where do I start?




Analyze the budget section in the RFP
Use the Agency Forms included in the RFP
Read the full RFP for additional details
Expenses are allowed unless the RFP specifically
prohibits, but all expenses written in federal grants
MUST align with OMB Circular A-21and A-110
Resources You Will Need



Agency RFP/Budget Forms
UDM Budget Form
http://www.udmercy.edu/academicaffairs/ospra/forms/index.htm
UDM Rates:
 Indirect Costs (F&A) and Fringe Benefits, found on the UDM Fact
Sheet on the OSPRA site:
http://www.udmercy.edu/academicaffairs/ospra/facts/index.htm
 Travel Policies, listed on the Employee Expense and Reimbursement
Form
http://www.udmercy.edu/purchasing/forms/pdf/EMPLOYEE_EXPEN
SE_AND_REIMBURSEMENT_42009.pdf
Basic Budgets
Types of Costs
 Salaries and Wages (Fringes)
 Equipment and Permanent Property
 Travel
 Other Direct Costs
Materials
 Publication
 Tuition
 Consultants/Subcontracts
 Other


Indirect Costs (F&A)
Salaries and Wages
Which UDM faculty/staff will work on the project?
 You
 Co-PI
 Graduate Students
 Post docs
 Undergraduates
For how much time?
On-term Salaries

Full-time faculty, on-term months
 Will
you be spending 25% of your time on this project
for an entire year? If yes, write 25% of your annual
salary into the grant per year and request a course
release for each semester (fall/winter) from your Dean
(for one semester, use 12.5% of your annual salary)
 No stipends (in excess of annual salary) for on-term
months according to federal regulations
 Salary estimate increases 3% every fiscal year
 UDM budget sheet (see page 2 of the year 1 tab) will
make many of the calculations for you.
Off-term Salaries

Full-time faculty, off-term months
 Eligible
for stipends “not in excess of base salary
divided by the period to which the base salary
relates,” so that one month’s summer salary will equal
the same as one month on-term salary.
 Fringes are 8.5% for summer months
 Many granting agencies limit summer salary to 2
months
Effort Reporting



100% of your time equals all UDM related work, including teaching,
research, administrative, vacation, etc.
In the on-term, 75% of a typical faculty appointment is for teaching
(three classes, 25% per class), with 25% for other duties (research,
committees, administrative, etc.) A typical course release is, therefore,
25%.
In the off-term (summer), there are three summer months total for
teaching, research, administrative, vacation, etc. This is 100% of time.
Be sure to be reasonable when allocating time to a grant, taking into
consideration teaching, vacation, administrative and other duties. If you
allocate three months of your time during the summer to a grant, for
example, then there is no time for vacation, much less teaching.

http://www.udmercy.edu/academicaffairs/ospra/effortreporting/index.htm
Fringe Benefits

Fringe Benefit Rates:
 Full
Time Pay - 34%
 Part Time Pay - 8.5% (includes off-term)
 Enrolled graduate and undergraduate students are
exempt from FICA and should be excluded from fringe
calculations.
Equipment



Equipment = Nonexpendable property more than
$5,000 and useful life of more than one year.
Check with agency to be sure equipment and other
capital costs are allowable.
Best to have either quotes, catalog references, online pricing (including shipping, installation,
maintenance) to make a case that cost is
reasonable.
Travel




Is it required for the project?
Does it benefit the project?
Dissemination of project results?
Check UDM’s Purchasing Site for policies on travel
reimbursement
http://www.udmercy.edu/purchasing/policies/index.htm
Other Direct Costs





Materials and Supplies
Publication/Dissemination/Documentation
Consultant Services
Contract/Subcontract Services
Tuition Remission
 Yearly

increases in tuition written into budget sheet
Other Costs
Other Direct Costs

Are these costs directly billable to the project?
 Laptops,
software, etc. Is it specifically for the project,
and is it necessary to conduct research? Usually these
will fall under indirect costs.
 Similarly, postage, telephone, printing, photocopying
will usually fall under indirect costs unless project
specific. Double check the RFP to see if allowable.
 Costs for food are usually not allowed unless adequate
substantiation of business purpose, for instance, in the
case of conducting workshops/seminars, food is often
allowable as a participant cost.
Other Direct Costs -Participant Costs

Typical Costs include:
 Training
(tuition, books, materials, fees)
 Stipends
 Meals
 Lodging
 Travel


Calculate the cost per participant, may be a limit
Check the RFP, some costs may be disallowed
Contract Services


Employee or Contractor?
Special Consultants
 Maximum

day rate? Check with agency.
Vendor Contracts
 Negotiated
by procurement.
Subcontracts or Sub-Awards



Must have:
Letter of Commitment – authorized signature
Statement of Work
 Deliverables
 Timeline


Detailed Itemized Budget
Budget Justification/Narrative
Indirect Costs



Also called Facilities & Administrative costs (F&A) or
overhead
Costs borne by UDM to support sponsored projects
that cannot be clearly identified with a specific
project
Includes
 Infrastructure
 Facilities
 Administration
Indirect Costs



Federally negotiated indirect cost rate is 50% of
Salary and Wages (Fringes are not included in this
basis and should be calculated as a separate direct
cost line item).
Check limits on indirect costs in the RFP, may be less
(for instance, HRSA limits indirect costs to 8% of
modified total direct costs)
Recovering indirect costs can be significant
Unallowable Costs (federal)

Some examples:
 Alcoholic
Beverages
 Advertising (some types allowed)
 Entertainment (though sometimes food is allowable with
adequate substantiation of business purpose)
 Lobbying
 Organized fund raising
 Student Activities
 Athletics
Other Considerations





If your proposal includes renovations to a facility,
has the Facilities Department been consulted?
If the proposal is a collaboration between more
than one department, have all Deans signed off?
If equipment bought through the grant will require
regular maintenance, has this been accounted for?
Are there any hidden costs to the University?
What happens when the grant period is over?
Cost Sharing



Check the RFP to see if match is required and only cost share if
it is required.
Third-party cost-sharing requires a letter from the funder (nonfederal). If this cost-sharing is not met, UDM will need to cover
it.
If a match is required, the following apply:
Allowable as direct or indirect costs
 Reasonable, justifiable, and verifiable
 Cash or in-kind
 Can’t match federal grants with other federal grants
 Don’t use the same match twice

Budget Narrative




Make your case that the budget is reasonable,
appropriate, adequate
Provide detail about items to be purchased
Indicate how costs were calculated (can include
spreadsheets)
Make sure budget narrative is consistent with grant
narrative and detailed budget
Routing





OSPRA and/or the Restricted Fund Accountant are
available to assist with early drafts of budgets.
When you have a final budget, you will need your
Dean to sign off.
When your Dean has signed off, please route budgets
directly to OSPRA.
OSPRA will obtain signatures from the Budget Office
and the AVP.
Please begin the signature process seven days in
advance of the agency deadline. Let me know when
you have given your proposal to your Dean.
Contact

OSPRA
Cate Caldwell
313-993-1544
[email protected]

Budget Office
Terra Dews
313-578-0390
[email protected]