GCAs are assigned responsibility for specific departments/programs/campus offices.

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Common Elements of a Budget

Special Considerations

Resources 

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Common Elements of a Budget

Budgets generally include two different types of costs: (1) direct costs and (2) facilities and administrative (F&A) costs.

Direct Costs

Direct costs are those costs that are specifically associated with a particu­lar sponsored project and/or can be directly assigned to that project or with a high degree of accuracy.

The tests of allowability for direct costs budgeted and charged to sponsored programs are that:

(a) they must be reasonable;

(b) they must be allocable;

(c) they must be given consistent treatment (as either direct or indirect); and

(d) they must conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in the sponsored agreement.

Common Direct Costs include:

Salaries and Wages

Salary and wages for faculty, technicians, graduate students, and other personnel, including (occasionally) administrative and clerical personnel who will work on a project. 

Fringe Benefits 

Equipment

UNH has adopted the definition of equipment as an article of non-expendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more.

Supplies

Supplies are defined as expendable property with an acquisition cost of less than $5000 per unit and/or a life expectancy of less than one year.   General office supplies normally are considered as F&A costs; if the proposed project calls for supply items normally considered general office supplies, the budget justification must explain how the supplies are intended to advance programmatic objectives.

Consultants

Consultants are individuals from outside of UNH whose expertise and skills will add value to a project; faculty or other UNH staff should not be budgeted or paid as consultants on a project.

Travel

Travel costs are the expenses for transportation, lodging, and subsistence to be incurred by employees who will travel on official project business. On occasion, travel for non-UNH personnel involved in the project may be budgeted.

Subawards

Collaborating institutions budgeted to perform a significant portion of the project.

Other

Other costs could include items such as animal care, long distance telephone charges, duplicating costs, leases/rentals, etc.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs

Sometimes called “indirect costs” or “overhead,” F&A costs are those that cannot be readily assigned to particular projects or activities and include the costs of administration, maintenance, utilities, and other expenses necessary for the operation of a research enterprise.

F&A costs are calculated for a project by using the formula Rate x Base = Cost where Rate varies depending on the type of activity (i.e., research vs. instruction and on-campus vs. off-campus) and Base varies according to Federal and/or sponsor regulations.   UNH’s F&A rates are negotiated for a set number of years with its “cognizant” agency, currently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

For further information see University of New Hampshire Guide to Sponsored Programs F&A Cost.

Special Considerations

Estimating the cost of a research project is an inherently unpredictable exercise; primarily because the manner in which a research endeavor progresses is itself unpredictable.   Experience makes the exercise easier to carry off and liberal rebudgeting authority from sponsors (when it is offered) makes precise estimating less critical.

Federal agencies will generally provide either a form or a prescribed format for estimating and presenting cost; it is important to follow their instructions explicitly.  Many agencies that haven’t developed their own forms use the SF 424 as their standard format.

Budgets have to be built obeying the rules of both applicable cost principles (OMB Circular A-21) and UNH’s disclosed cost accounting practices.   

See also:

Cost Sharing
Charging Administrative Salaries  
Charging Administrative Supplies
Waiver of Facilities and Administrative Costs 
     

Resources

Estimating Costs
UNH Policy, Forms, Mileage Rates, Per Diem Rates, and Other Useful References
Fly America Act

Value of Volunteer Time  (This standard is used by the Federal government and provides state-by-state values.)