Budget Categories
These are three common budget categories.
Salaries/Personnel, fringe benefits, supplies, equipment, travel, occupancy, postage other, indirect costs, total direct costs, modified total direct costs.
This acronym refers to an organization’s Indirect Cost Rate.
IDCR
True or false: grant budgets and the projects they support should always connect back to departmental and city priorities.
True.
These are two examples of match/cost share sources.
Cash or In-kind
This term refers to the official start and end dates during which grant funds may be spent.
Award or performance period
What is the difference between supplies and equipment?
Typically, equipment is anything with a purchase price of $5,000 or more, while supplies is anything under $5,000.
These types of costs represent the overhead and administrative expenses of running the organization.
Indirect Cost
This is what funders require if you want to shift money between budget lines after a grant has already started.
Budget modification or amendment
This is one example of an in-kind expense.
staff time, donated space
Which budget category is most important when planning for sustainability: personnel, supplies, or travel?
Personnel
These expenses belong in the travel category?
Flights, lodging, daily per diem
Why should you include Indirect Costs in your budget?
It pays your salaries and the salaries of all administrators in Metro.
This document typically explains the reasoning behind each cost category.
Budget narrative or justification
What’s the difference between an in-kind and cash match?
In-kind is donated resources, while cash is money used to support
This type of extension allows a grantee to extend the award period without receiving additional funds.
No cost extension
This term refers to total direct costs minus any capital equipment.
Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC)?
This is the person you should ask for help with calculating or applying Indirect Costs.
Herb and the Cost Planning Office
These are unexpected costs that are planned for by setting aside a small percentage of the budget?
Contingency costs
Is another grant an in-kind or cash match?
Cash match
This is why sustainability planning matters when making a budget.
It ensures the work can continue after the end of grant funding.
True or false: the “Other” category can be used to pad your budget to reach the maximum allowable request.
False – expenses in the “Other” category must be allowable and itemized.
These percentages represent a typical range for an IDCR.
5%, 10%, 15%, occasionally 20%
This term describes expenses that the funder prohibits.
Unallowable Costs
What is the maximum match Metro will allow?
There is no cap, it just has to be in the budget.
This is what happens to grant-funded personnel if there is no sustainability plan.
They get let go.