Policies & Procedures

About Research Administration at GSU

Policies and Procedures for Research and Sponsored Programs

Policies and Procedures for Research and Sponsored Programs

Proposal Budget Development

Background

Using a detailed budget form, the ORSSP Grant Coordinator can assist principal investigators in formulating a comprehensive project budget.  Budgets must adhere to sponsor and institutional costing policies, as well as federal guidelines, regarding sponsored programs.

Process

The ORSSP provides a detailed worksheet for preparing project budgets. The Principal Investigator should identify all personnel by name and title/position, the percentage of effort or portion of time each person will actually devote to the project, and the rate of pay based upon this effort.   Foresight should be exercised to anticipate and provide for annual increases in the budget based upon the scope of work. All other costs (equipment, supplies, travel, etc.) should be clearly detailed and well justified and budgets should adhere to sponsor and institutional costing policies regarding sponsored programs and contracts. A budget template and other information is available from the ORSSP website.

The budget template should not be included in proposals submitted to external sponsors, unless approved in advance by the ORSSP Grant Coordinator.  The level of detail in the budget template is sometimes in excess of what is required by the sponsor and may unnecessarily commit University resources (e.g. cost share) as part of the award.