1 / 29

Creating a Realistic Budget and Budget Justification February 8, 2012

Creating a Realistic Budget and Budget Justification February 8, 2012. Amanda Bradford-Janke Research Support Specialist School of Nursing Research Support Services. Creating a Reasonable Budget. Main goal:

fergal
Download Presentation

Creating a Realistic Budget and Budget Justification February 8, 2012

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Creating a Realistic Budget and Budget JustificationFebruary 8, 2012 Amanda Bradford-Janke Research Support Specialist School of Nursing Research Support Services

  2. Creating a Reasonable Budget • Main goal: • To submit a realistic, well-justified budget that accurately reflects the cost of carrying out your research program

  3. Where do you start? • Think of the phases or stages of your project • List all tasks that are associated with each phase/stage • List all tasks that will need to be done on short term and an ongoing basis

  4. Phase 1 – Project start up • Research Ethics Board application/approval • Hiring of project personnel • Development and distribution of recruitment materials • Finalization of data collection tools if not already done prior to officially starting study • Setting up databases for study This is usually a labour intensive phase for staff

  5. Phase 2 – Recruitment • Regular contact with recruitment sites • Tracking and following participants as they enter the study • Phase 3 – Data collection, cleaning and analysis • Conducting initial interviews/questionnaires • Conducting follow up interviews/questionnaires (if applicable) • Entering data • Cleaning data • Preliminary analysis

  6. Phase 4 – Final Analysis, write-up,dissemination • Conducting final analysis • Writing final report to granting agency • Writing manuscripts and abstracts for dissemination • Creation of conference materials • Putting a project to bed

  7. Typical Budget Lines - Staff • Research Staff • Assistant or Coordinator • Technicians • Post Doctoral • Trainees • Summer undergraduate students • Graduate • Master’s • PhD

  8. How do you determine what your staffing needs are? • Determine what skills are required to complete each of the tasks or groups of tasks • Calculate how much time it will take to complete each phase/stage of your project • This will give you a sense of the type of staff you will need to complete your project on time • Consult with Human Resources as needed

  9. How do you determine what supplies, services and materials you will need? • Try to think of all the phases/stages of your project and what you will physically need to complete them • Consider your total sample size, the number of staff you have and your recruitment methods • Keep in mind any funding agency restrictions on purchasing of material, services or supplies

  10. What kind of equipment expenses could you have? • Do you need: • A computer and/or printer • Audio equipment • Video equipment • Do you have to pay a fee to use a specific data collection tool? • Is this a per use fee? • Is this a one time fee?

  11. Typical Budget Lines – Materials, Supplies, Services • Office Supplies • Printing/photocopying • Telephone services • monthly • long distance • Conference calls • Audio supplies – qualitative studies • Video supplies • Transcription services - qualitative studies • Honorariums • Computer software

  12. Where will you be traveling? • Team meetings: • Will you be traveling for team meetings? • Will other team members be traveling to you? OR • Will you be having conference calls? • Data collection: • Does your staff have to travel to recruit or collect data? • Staff training: • Does your staff have to travel to get special training for tools or programs needed for the study?

  13. What to think about for dissemination expenses? • Conferences: • Will you be going to local, national or international conferences? • How long is the conference? • Are you staying for the whole duration? • What are the conference fees? • How much will it cost to get there (plane or car)? • How much will it cost for your hotel and meals? • Are your doing a talk or poster? • How much does it cost to get a poster printed?

  14. Publication Costs • Manuscripts: • Will you be publishing in an open access journal? • What is the fee for this? • Will you have colour pictures or graphs? • Is there an extra fee for this?

  15. Now that I know what I need how to I create my budget? • There are a few different ways to present a budget • How do you usually create a budget? • Word vs Excel

  16. Budgets created in Microsoft Word • Advantages: • For those who aren’t familiar or comfortable with spreadsheets • Simple text format for presenting budget items and associated costs • Can be pasted directly into most application forms • Disadvantages: • All calculation have to be done by hand • Budget will need to be put into spreadsheet later for tracking and projections if study funded • Formatting can be difficult • Can’t easily compare multiyear costs

  17. Microsoft Word Example Year 1 MATERIALS, SUPPLIES AND SERVICES $24,936 Expendables Office supplies $ 300 Printing/photocopying$500 Services Consultant fees 4-day Modified Interaction Guidance training workshop $12,000 Supervised practice sessions $9,000 MINI training $1,400 Transcription 2 focus group interviews with PHNs $176 @ 4 hr/interview = 8 hrs @ $22/hr Food and refreshments 4-day training workshop @ $250/day $1,000 Focus groups (2 groups x $40) $80 Participant Costs Honorarium for 16 families($30 gift certificates) $480

  18. Budgets created in Microsoft Excel • Advantages: • Can be entered to auto calculate individual expenses, subcategories and total expenses • Budget database already set-up if funded and will save staff time • Can easily compare budget items across years • Disadvantages: • More work at the beginning but will save time if you need to ‘play’ with budget • Have to have good knowledge of Excel to set-up budget lines with auto calculations

  19. What is a budget justification? • Justifications are used to link budget items to your research requirements For example: • You may feel it is evident why you need 3 RA’s but it may not be evident to the reviewers • Explain why you have to travel during high season • Demonstrate why equipment is really needed

  20. How do you create a budget justification? • Go through the budget line by line and provide a brief rationale for each item you are requesting funding for • Your justification should be in the same order as you presented your budget • Include tasks for staff to justify full-time or part-time needs (especially if non-students) • Be specific if you have quotes from retailers or supplies be sure to say so

  21. Budget Justification Example Materials, Supplies and Services General Office Supplies & Printing and Photocopying: Year 1- $800 General office supplies will be needed by RA to run the day to day operation of the study. Photocopying and printing costs are required to produce training materials; manuals; protocols; recruitment materials; workshop materials; consent forms. Year 2 - $1,200 General office supplies will be needed by RA to run the day to day operation of the study. Photocopying and printing costs are required to produce training materials; manuals; protocols; recruitment materials; workshop materials and consent forms. In addition in year 2 in-service materials; conference materials; ministry meeting materials; grant report; and publication materials will also need to be published. Consultation Fees: Year 1- $21,000 Dr. X will be paid for her time to facilitate the 4-day workshop for PHNs and for her time to conduct supervised practice session with the PHNs. The first 3 days of the workshop will train PHN on how to conduct the MIG intervention session. The last day of the workshop will train the PHNs how to administer the AMBIANCE and WMCI.

  22. Budget Justification Example Transcription Fees: Year 1 -$176 A professional will be paid to transcribe 2 PHN end of year focus group (2 hours of data x 4 hours transcription x $22/hr =$176) Food & Refreshments: Year 1 -$1,080 Lunch, coffee/tea & snacks will be catered for 6 PHNs, 1 manager and 1 facilitator for the 4-day MIG training workshop. Coffee/tea & snacks will be served for the PHN focus group2 (6 PHNs + 1 facilitator). Year 2 - $40 Coffee/tea & snacks will be served for the PHN focus group (6 PHNs + 1 facilitator). Participant Costs: Year 1 -$480 Participants will be given a $30 gift certificate for participating in the training phase of the study (16 families total). Year 2 - $640 Participants will be given a $30 gift certificate for participating in the intervention phase of the study (16 families total). An additional $10 gift certificate will be given to the families that participate in the in-depth qualitative interviews.

  23. Budget Tips - Staff • Make sure you use the correct fringe benefits rates for staff • Include raises for Roll 1 staff if it is a multiyear study (including salary and benefits) • Quote the maximum salary level • If employing trainees make sure to quote the current stipend and include increases if a multiyear study • Be sure to include current vacation pay % for part-time/temporary staff

  24. Budget Tips - Equipment • Demonstrate through your justification that equipment is really needed • Demonstrate how the equipment meets the short and long term research needs • Indicate if there are no equipment alternatives in your department or through collaboration • Request these items in your first year of a multiyear budget • Append quotes from vendors for equipment and maintenance

  25. Budget Tips - Dissemination • Include a budget line for manuscript preparation and look into the costs of publishing in appropriate journals • Explain why you have to travel during high season if applicable • Cost out airfare, hotels and ground transportation – get quotes from vendors • Use McMaster Travel policy for meal per diems and $/km amounts • Make sure you include current conference fees • Include costs for printing posters or conference talk materials • Make sure to state who will be traveling and the purpose of the travel

  26. Overall Budget Tips • Don’t grossly underestimate or inflate your budget these are reds flags for reviewers • Don’t use estimates when you can base a budget item on a past expenditure or a cost quote from a vendor • Be sure to include taxes, any shipping/handling fees or exchange rates for budget items • State if any supplies, services or staff time will be given IN KIND • A detailed and carefully costed budget makes it more difficult for committee members to recommend a global cut Make sure you follow the agencies budget rules!!!!!

  27. How can Research Support Services help you? • RSS can help by costing the following: • Supplies • Services • Equipment/Maintenance • Travel • Personnel • RSS can also assist with: • Setting up budget in Word or Excel • Inputting budget items into spreadsheet • Drafting budget justification

  28. Research Office Contact Information • Research Support Specialists Amanda Bradford-Janke ext.26899 bradfor@mcmaster.ca Jennifer McGugan ext. 23220 mcgugj@mcmaster.ca Sandy Brooks ext. 20215 sbrooks@mcmaster.ca

More Related