Learn: Proposal Budgeting

• • 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:

• • Proposal Budget Handbook – Comprehensive 36-page document on preparing a proposal budget
  • Proposal Budget Formulas – 6-page summary of helpful formulas with explanations
  • Budget Justification Checklist – 1-page budget justification checklist
  • Is it Equipment? – 4-page description of this budget category with guidance on equipment, fabrications, add-ons, software and renovations/facility improvements
  • 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. 

• • 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:

• • 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.
    • Lab Workbook
  • 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
    • Handout – Using the OR Budget Templates
  • Populating External Budgets – Slide deck from 2025 Research Administration Workshop that facilitates the translation of internal budgets (OR Budget Templates) into standard proposal submission forms as well as into Excel templates required by some sponsors.
  • Preparing a Cost Proposal Budget – Slide deck from 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.

Other Proposal and Award Learning Resources