Budgets
Q. How do I add someone to the budget?
A. The PIs and Key Persons listed under Investigator and Key Person tabs will be automatically included in the Budget Persons screen. You can select those whom you want to add to the Personnel Budget Details for a salary line item by highlighting their names and clicking OK. If you want to add a person who is not listed as an investigator or key person, here is what you do: Open the budget in Edit mode, then select Edit---Persons (or the "Running Man" icon) to open the Budget Persons screen. Then click the Search button to search for a UMB employee by last name, and click OK to add him/her to the Budget Persons screen. Enter the person's Institutional Base Salary. Add this individual to the personnel budget line item by opening Items---Personnel Budget (or the "Iron Man" icon). In the Personnel Budget screen, click Add, then select the person and click OK.
Q. I need to include a research technician in my budget but I will recruit the person only if I get the award. How can I budget for this person?
A. You can search for "TBA" in the person table and add this position to the Budget Persons screen. This table has been pre-populated with several TBA's in each personnel category for these situations, and situations where the name of the person is not known. You will need to add a job code (999999) and calc base (salary) to this person in the Budget Persons window.
Q. How do I add a budget item that is not on the list of available budget items (cost elements)?
A. Most budget items should fit under one of the existing cost elements, which match those on the Grants.gov SF424 R&R Budget form. To request that a new cost element be added, contact the Office of Research and Development.
Q. How are cost elements and F&A bases related?
A. Cost elements are mapped to either receive F&A or not receive F&A for each defined rate type.
Q. How do I apply the NIH Salary Cap?
- The NIH Salary Cap is tied to the federal Executive Level I salary level. Effective January 1, the federal Executive Level I salary level was increased to $199,700.
- The NIH Salary Cap applies only to proposals being submitted to NIH, AHRQ or SAMHSA.
- The PHS SF424 R&R application instructions state the following for detailed budgets: for Base Salary, "Enter the annual compensation paid by the employer for each Senior/Key person. This includes all activities such as research, teaching, patient care, or other.” For UMB, this translates to Institutional Base Salary (IBS). There is further clarification under the application instructions for field name "Requested Salary”: “Any adjustment for salary limits will be made at the time of award.”
- Similarly, the PHS398 instructions require the Institutional Base Salary, and state that any adjustment for salary limits will be made at the time of award.
- When the investigator's IBS exceeds the NIH salary cap, enter the salary cap amount as the base salary in budget year 1.
- The annual inflation increase should normally be applied.
- In the Yes/No questions, check YES for the question about the sponsor’s salary cap.
Q. Why did Coeus pick a particular rate to apply to my proposal?
A. Coeus looks at several data elements within the proposal to decide what rates should be applied to a budget. These data elements include the Start & End Dates and the Activity Type on the Proposal Tab, the OH Rate Type on the Budget Summary Tab, and the on/off campus flag on each budget line item.
Q. I am in an off-campus building. How do I designate the off-campus F&A rate?
A. The on- or off-campus designation is on the Budget Summary Tab. Select off-campus or on-campus from the On/Off Campus dropdown menu. Do not leave the selection at "Default".
List of UMB on-campus buildings and examples of off-campus buildings
Q. If my F&A rate isn't standard what do I do? I’m applying for a grant and the sponsor’s policy allows an overhead rate that is lower than the Federal rate.
A. First determine whether the F&A rate should be applied to Total Direct Costs (TDC), Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC - the base used for Federal awards), or Salaries and Wages (S&W). Use the "OH Rate Type" dropdown menu on the Budget Summary tab to choose the correct rate type (base). Standard F&A rates and definitions
To change the rate from the default rate to the percentage allowed by the Sponsor, go to Edit → Rates to change the default rate. The F&A rate used must be an established rate available in the Sponsor's policy or application instructions. In the Applicable Rates column, adjust the rates as needed for ALL years shown. Select OK. To change all the Rates back to the default values (Institute Rates), Select Reset.
