Budget Preparation

When preparing a proposal budget, begin by reviewing the sponsor’s guidelines and application materials. The guidelines will detail project-specific allowable direct and indirect (F&A) costs and required budget formats. All budgets must be prepared in accordance with agency-specific guidelines, the U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance Cost Principles, University of Maine System (UMS) Administrative Practice Letters (APL) (Section VIII, in particular, is focused on sponsored projects), and University of Maine Policy and Procedures. Next, create the project’s scope of work, which will determine the type of sponsored project, and ensure the use of the correct indirect cost rate from the very beginning of the budget building process.

ORA uses a required budget spreadsheet template (Excel) to build budgets for proposal submissions. Please refer to the instructions included in the template for specific guidance on how to use the template, and contact ORA Proposal Staff if you require assistance. Be sure to download a new spreadsheet for every proposal to ensure that all rates and formulas are current. This ORA spreadsheet is required regardless of the sponsor’s requested budget format.

A proposal budget is:

a carefully calculated and detailed document that outlines the total funds needed to conduct a sponsored project
a financial expression of the project that includes a detailed breakdown of the estimated costs, including personnel, travel, supplies, and facilities and administrative (F&A) costs
always accompanied by a narrative budget justification

A guide to budget preparation can be found here