Learn: Proposal Budgeting
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- Budget FAQs
- OR Budget Templates – Webpage of helpful OR budget templates with FAQs, a how-to video, an effort calculator and template descriptions
- F&A and Fringe Benefit Rates – Current Facilities & Administration (indirect cost) rates and employee benefit rates
Written materials:
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- Proposal Budget Handbook – Comprehensive 36-page document on preparing a proposal budget
- Proposal Budget Formulas – 5-page summary of formulas with explanations
- Budget Justification Checklist – 1-page budget justification checklist
- Is it Equipment? – 1-page description of this budget category
- Participant/Trainee Support Costs – 1-page description of this budget category
- Calculating Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs – 1-page summary of eligible direct costs and formulas to calculate F&A costs
- How to work with NIH salary caps – 3-page guidance with OR Budget Template screenshots
- Guidance for submitting proposals/IPFs that involve cost-sharing – 6-page guidance
“How To…” videos:
Note: if a video doesn’t start on the first try, refresh the video and it should then work.
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- How to Use the OR Budget Templates (length: 27:52)
- Annualizing Salary (length: 1:37) – The OR Budget Templates no longer require annualized salary, but this video is provided for your reference.
- Calculating Annualized Effort and Person-Months (length: 4:04) – The OR Budget Templates no longer require annualized effort, but this video is provided for your reference.
- Calculating Salary to Charge (length: 1:12) – The OR Budget Templates perform these calculations automatically.
Trainings:
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- Preparing a Proposal Budget: Basics (eCourse) – This UC Learning Center course covers budgeting components and principles and how these lead to the development of a final proposal budget. Topics covered include universal cost principles applicable to preparing project budgets, calculating F&A costs, budgeting techniques and practices, and preparing a budget justification. The course takes approximately 1 hour and is a required prerequisite for the Instructor-Led Training, ‘Preparing a Proposal Budget: Lab’.
- “Unlocked” Preparing a Proposal Budget: Basics eCourse – this version will not earn you course credit but allows you to navigate to any section (using the menu on left) to find information you seek.
- Preparing a Proposal Budget: Lab (Instructor-Led Training) – UC Learning Center class: Participants will put into practice the topics covered in the ‘Preparing a Proposal Budget: Basics’ eCourse. Using case studies, sample forms and group discussion, participants will practice completing a proposal budget. Applied activities include determining budget categories, applying and calculating the correct F&A rate, and creating a budget justification.
- Cost-Sharing and Effort in Proposals – 54-page slide presentation from January 25, 2024 Research Administration Workshop
- Using the OR Budget Templates – Slide deck and handout (as of Jan 2025) for recurring SPO training
- Preparing a Cost Proposal Budget – Slide deck from July 2023 Research Administration Workshop. Some funding opportunity announcements request two proposals, a technical proposal on project details and a separate cost proposal on finances. The objective of a cost proposal is to provide sufficient cost information to substantiate that the proposed cost is realistic, reasonable and complete for the proposed work.
- Preparing a Proposal Budget: Basics (eCourse) – This UC Learning Center course covers budgeting components and principles and how these lead to the development of a final proposal budget. Topics covered include universal cost principles applicable to preparing project budgets, calculating F&A costs, budgeting techniques and practices, and preparing a budget justification. The course takes approximately 1 hour and is a required prerequisite for the Instructor-Led Training, ‘Preparing a Proposal Budget: Lab’.