Proposal Budget Information

Your Sponsored Projects Officer can help you with many budgeting issues. If you don't know which SPO is assigned to your department, you can look it up on our contacts page.

Direct costs

In accordance with the ASU Policy on Consistent Treatment of Direct and Facilities & Administrative costs (also referred to as the ASU costing policy), direct costs are those costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, or that can be directly assigned to such activities easily with a high degree of accuracy (reference OMB Circular A-21, D.1.) Direct costs may include salaries, fringe benefits, equipment, travel, subcontracts, tuition, and operations as described below.

Salary

Normally only salary for faculty, technicians, research associates and assistants, post doctoral associates and other technical or programmatic personnel that are necessary to meet the goals of the project are allowed as direct costs.

List the amount of time to be spent by each ASU employee who will work on the project and the rate of pay.

Compensation on sponsored projects must not exceed a faculty member’s authorized base rate of pay at ASU.

Time can be shown in percent of full-time effort or in person-hours, -days, or -weeks or -months. Percent of full-time effort or months is the preferred method because hours, days and weeks vary by pay period, and using those units of measurement can create some discrepancies in budgeting estimates versus actual costs. See person-months calculator.

Employment period	Dates	Weeks	Days	Hours
1 work month		4.3 weeks	22 person days	176
Academic Year (AY)	Aug 16 through May 15	39.0 weeks	195 person days	1560
Fiscal Year (FY)	July 1 through June 30	52.0 weeks	260 person days	2080
Summer (3 months)*	May 16 through Aug 15	13.0 weeks	65 person days

*NSF budgets for summer salary are generally limited to 2 months per summer

New job classifications and compensations must conform to ASU Human Resources classifications.

Observe the current NIH annual salary rate limitation. For FY2007 awards, effective 1/1/07 through 12/31/07 the full time, 12 month appointment rate is $186,600. For complete instruction, including calculation examples, see the NIH release at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-033.html. See additional rate information for previous fiscal year awards at
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/salcap_summary.htm.

Use a suggested annual escalation factor of 4%, starting on August 16 for AY appointments and July 1 for fiscal year appointments.

Budgeting for administrative/clerical support is allowed only if an “unlike circumstance” exists as described in the RSP 508-01, Charging Direct and Facilities & Administrative Costs to Sponsored Projects, and the inclusion of such costs is supported by a CAS Exception Form and is also justified in the budget narrative.

Budget undergraduate student wages at rates between ASU's minimum wage of $6.75 per hour and the ASU maximum of $15.00 per hour. Increases may be added based on experience. Contact Student Employment Office at 5-5186 for further information or go to http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/usi/usi305-01.html .

Budget Graduate Research Assistant/Associate salaries within the Arizona Board of Regents range as set by each college. Contact your college’s Business Manager for the approved rates. Your SPO may also be able to provide rates or go to http://researchadmin.asu.edu/informationsheets/GRA_rates.doc.

Calculating TA/RA Salary. Salary, ERE and Tuition Remission for a TA/RA can be calculated when the only known cost is the Total Project Cost. This formula takes into account the 50.5% F&A rate and the exclusion of tuition remission from F&A. It can come in handy when rebudgeting. Click here to get the Excel Spreadsheet with the formula.

Employee related expenses (ERE, also called Fringe Benefits)

Postdoctoral students on training grants are not eligible for student health insurance unless they are enrolled in a degree program, budget $200 per month for insurance as a direct cost in training agreements.

Position classification	% of salary	ERE (refer to the Fringe Benefit Breakdown)
Faculty/academic Professionals	25% of direct salary	FICA, health and dental insurance, unemployment , worker's compensation, retirement, life/long term disability, risk management
Staff (50% or more)	32% of direct salary	FICA, health and dental insurance, unemployment , worker's compensation, retirement, life/long term disability, risk management
Staff (less than 50%) or Hourly Employees	10% of direct salary	FICA, unemployment, worker's compensation, risk management
Graduate Research Assistant/Associate or Teaching Assistant/Associate	9.2% of direct salary	student health insurance**, unemployment, worker’s compensation, risk management
Tuition Remission (Graduate Research Assistant/Associate or Teaching Assistant/Associate)***	41.3% of direct salary	Excluded from MTDC
Student Employees (hourly)****	4% of direct salary	worker's compensation, unemployment, risk management, miscellaneous
Contributed Effort of Faculty, Academic Professionals or Staff (50% or more)	15% of contributed effort portion of salary	Represents the portion that is easily documentable in the ASU accounting system.

** In order for a Teaching or Research Assistant/Associate to qualify for Student Health Insurance coverage, the TA or RA must hold a half-time (.50FTE) appointment and be registered for 6 or more credit hours of classes (not including audit courses).
*** Tuition remission is budgeted at 41.3% and this amount of ERE is excluded from MTDC. No F&A should be charged to tuition remission. The total rate for graduate student ERE is 50.5%.
**** Payments to students not enrolled in the summer, working more than 20 hours per week, or enrolled less than half-time are subject to FICA at the current rate of 7.65%. Nonresident alien students admitted to the U.S. on an F1 or J1 visa status are exempt from FICA.

Operations

Normally, costs such as office supplies and routine postage are considered F&A (indirect) costs and can only be budgeted as direct if an “unlike circumstance” exists as described in the RSP 508-01, Charging Direct and Facilities & Administrative Costs to Sponsored Projects. If "unlike circumstances" exist, completion of the CAS Exception Form and a justification in the budget narrative are required. Refer to http://www.asu.edu/fs/advantage/ExpCodes2.html.

Cost category	Budget information
Expendable lab materials & supplies	best estimate (check catalogs and historical records)
Publication charges	approximately $75 per page
Copy services	best estimate ($.03/page in house; $.06/page at ASU Copy Service)
Long distance telephone	best estimate (includes installation, long distance, computer network access charges, etc.)
Postage/express mail	best estimate ($.41 1 oz. letter; $.26 postcard; 7% surcharge ASU Mail Services)
Office supplies	best estimate (check catalogs and historical records)
Equipment maintenance	best estimate (check historical records or contact Purchasing for annual contract rates)
Consultants	actual daily rate with proper documentation (many federal agencies specify maximum daily rate is $537). NSF FY06 Consultant Fee is not limited with an effective date of 3/15/06, but the consultant fee must be reasonable and comparable. Note, however, that all funds awarded prior to the incorporation of the revised conditions dated 03/15/06 are still subject to the consultant rate of pay limitation until all of those funds are expended.
Subcontracts	written estimate/quotation on subcontractor's letterhead with subcontractor's authorized signature
Space rental	quote (approximately $10-$15/square foot depending on location/size)
Renovation	contact ASU Planning and Construction for estimate
Lab animal costs	contact ORSPA or Animal Care Program for per diem and purchase rates

Travel

Follow ASU Travel Policy FIN 500 to budget travel expenses. There are seven established per diem rates, ranging from $29.50-$40 per day, depending on the travel destination. Lodging also varies according to travel destination. The reimbursement structure and the Meals/Lodging Index are published in FIN 509 and are available on the internet at http://www.asu.edu/fs/travel/traveln.html or http://www.policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/homepage/mtt/perdiem/travel.htm (direct link).

Transportation equals the estimated round-trip airfare, or $.445 per mile (effective 11/15/06) if driving is appropriate. Proposed travel should include location, purpose, and cost. Foreign travel should be budgeted separately.

Tuition and fees

For complete tuition and fee information, see http://www.asu.edu/sbs/tuition_semester_selection.html. Tuition and fees that are budgeted in non-scholarship/fellowship proposals are currently considered compensatory and should be budgeted as a salary expense and should include associated Fringe Benefits and F&A costs. To determine if scholarships/fellowships are compensatory, see the Financial Services guide at http://www.asu.edu/fs/TaxDept/chart/Guideintro.html.

Capital equipment

Separately list any major equipment purchase of $5,000 or more (effective 7/1/03). Include an additional 7% for in-state sales tax or 5% out-of-state use tax (exclusive of R & D equipment qualifying for tax exemption) plus any applicable shipping, insurance, and installation charges. These costs cannot, however, be considered in determining whether an item is capitalized as equipment. Equipment rental should be listed as operational costs. Computer software is not considered as capital unless valued in excess of $50,000. Exception: Some sponsors (such as DOE, Sandia, etc.) do consider software as capital. Including the basis of the equipment figures, telephone quotes, vendor catalog prices or bids strengthens capital budget requests. Facility renovations equal to or in excess of $100,000 are capitalized (effective 7/1/03).

Facilities & administrative (F&A) costs

(formerly "indirect costs")

Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs are those costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified readily or specifically with a particular sponsored project normally including most administrative/clerical salaries, office supplies, basic telephone service, and routine postage in addition to other indirect costs (OMB Circular A-21.E.1)

Calculation

When full F&A costs are allowable, apply the appropriate F&A rate to the modified total direct costs (MTDC) base. Items included in the MTDC base are:

Salaries and wages
Fringe benefits (except tuition remission)
Travel
Operations (computer software, copy services, consultant services, materials and lab supplies, office supplies (if allowed), publication/page charges, telephone/mailing costs, and subcontracts (first $25,000 only)

Items not in the MTDC base are:
Student and participant support costs (including stipends, tuition, dependency allowances) for scholarships and fellowships. Refer to http://www.asu.edu/fs/advantage/ExpCodes2.html

Tuition Remission (35%)
Capital equipment (items over $5,000)
Subcontracts over the first $25,000
Rental/maintenance of off-campus space
Patient care fees

If the rate used is less than the University’s negotiated rate, F&A costs should be calculated on total direct costs, versus modified total direct costs. Contact your ORSPA site officer for assistance.

Rates

Set by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services agreement dated 04/30/07.

		Effective 7/1/07-6/30/08 Negotiated Rate	Effective 7/1/08-6/30/11 Negotiated Rate	Effective 7/1/11 & Beyond Provisional Rate
Research	on campus	50.5%	52.5%	52.5%
	off campus*	26.0%	26.0%	26.0%
Instruction	on campus	53.0%	53.0%	53.0%
	off campus*	26.0%	26.0%	26.0%
Other activities	on campus	36.0%	36.0%	36.0%
	off campus*	26.0%	26.0%	26.0%

*An off-campus rate is applicable to those projects that directly pay rent and more than 50% of the salaries and wages for this project support effort in the rented facility. Refer to the Facilities & Administrative Rate Application Guidelines for On/Off Campus.