Budgeting Tips

Preparing a budget is usually the most unfamiliar part of the proposal process. Most grant applications or submissions processes have a unique budget form and often differ in way they describe or categorize budget items. It is suggested that you meet with the director/staff of SPAR prior to starting the budget section of the submission.

For seasoned grant writers or those interested in more information prior to their meeting with SPAR, the following “tips” are offered: A typical budget includes two main parts: a year-by-year and cumulative breakdown of expenditures and a “Budget Narrative,” which justifies why each expenditure is necessary to conduct the project. Please keep the information below in mind when preparing your budget:

• Personnel and Fringe Benefits
• Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Payroll Tax Deduction
• Other Than Personnel Salaries (OTPS) Expenses:
  
  1. Most of these are self-explanatory. $2,000 is a good estimate of the cost of a standard Pentium-based PC; factor in more if you need highly specialized computer equipment or a lot of peripherals. Specialized lab equipment goes into the “Other Equipment” line. Local travel, postage and other office supplies go into the “Supplies and Materials” line. Only figures in the Personnel area will be used to calculate the indirect costs in the spreadsheet, but you can manually enter in a different base and rate if the proposal requires it.
  2. If you intend to travel, please refer to the resource links regarding the per diem rates at our Grants Online Center.

   

• Indirect Costs (Check here for an explanation of Indirect Costs):
  
  1. Baruch’s federally negotiated indirect cost rate of 68.2% is calculated on a base of salaries, wages, and fringes. For agencies and foundations that do not recognize this rate, sponsor guidelines will dictate how much indirect cost money you may request.
  2. Baruch’s Off-Campus federally negotiated indirect cost rate is 26.4% and is also calculated on the salaries, wages and fringe base. In order for a project to be eligible for this rate, more than 50% of the project activities must take place outside of the Baruch campus. Budgeting more than 50% of the funds towards Off-Campus activities is typically a good indicator to use in determining if a project is eligible for the 26.4% rate.
  3. It is College policy to always request the maximum indirect costs allowable on a grant.
  4. In applications where the sponsor’s guidelines clearly state that they do not pay “indirect costs”, one’s budget should include a 15% fiscal agent fee. The fee is calculated on all direct costs. The fee is usually budgeted or listed under “other direct costs” or “contracts/contractual.”

General Information:

1. For multi-year projects, repeating figures can be entered into all five pages by right-clicking on one of the “Year” tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet and selecting the “Group” command. Select “Ungroup” to delete entire years or one-time expenses from the other years on the individual pages.
2. If a sponsor provides you with their own budget form, you may need to re-enter the appropriate figures manually into that form. Often, the Baruch spreadsheet can be included in the budget narrative portion.
3. Most RFPs list will state the maximum amount of an award and the number of awards the sponsor plans on issuing during a particular round of funding. The spreadsheet makes it easy to play around with figures and get your proposal to a fundable level.
4. Please feel free to schedule an appointment or discuss with the Director any budget concerns or questions.