Your budget not only outlines your needs, but also defines the financial scope and management of your project.

At UMKC, most project budgets are developed in collaboration with your department or division’s fiscal officers. The Office of Research Services is here to help as well, whether you need sample spreadsheets, budget development and review, or any other guidance.

How do I organize my budget?

1. Identify projects costs
   Consider all of your expenses as you develop your budget request, including direct costs and facilities and administrative (F&A) costs.
   
   Consider these costs along with your direct budget needs for your initial project year and subsequent years—and be sure to provide justification for any escalations or exceptions.
   
   

   Budget templates

   We’ve developed these UMKC-customized spreadsheets to help you calculate your project budgets.

   • NIH budget template FY24(.xls) (also applicable as a general template for budget requests)
   • NSF budget template FY24(.xls) (budget without subcontract)
   • NSF budget template FY24(.xls) (budget with subcontract)
   
   

   With these budget spreadsheets, you may need to change fringe benefits or F&A rates, depending on your budget personnel or project.

   NIH Salary Cap
   NIH restricts the amount of direct salary to Executive Level I of the Federal Executive Pay scale.

2. Determine if cost sharing is required

   Some funding agencies require you to share the costs of your project with another institution. The funding agency will state this budget requirement in their funding announcement.

   In most cases, you should not cost-share university dollars—e.g., personnel time, F&A costs, money, equipment, etc.—unless the funding agency specifically requires it. Voluntary cost sharing will not gain you extra points with the proposal review team.

   A few cost-share facts:

   • You cannot share the same time or money on two or more grants.
   • If you are applying for a federal grant, you can't use other federal moneys as cost-share.
   • If you plan to use state funds as cost-share, make sure those state funds are not actually federal flow-through dollars.
   
   

   Be aware that anything you volunteer in your cost-sharing budget becomes part of the grant agreement. You will need to document that you have donated your cost-share as promised. Third party cost-sharing that is proposed to the sponsor also has to be documented at the end of the project.