Budget

Use the OSP Budget Development Tool to generate an accurate estimate of project costs. Detailed information on costs and rates is available, but the budget tool is the quickest way to generate an accurate cost estimate for your project.

The output from the budget tool can be translated into a fully loaded budget, which is preferred by some corporate sponsors. For example, assume a faculty member on an academic appointment is salaried at $10,000/month, and plans to expend 10% effort (77 hours) on a research project for one semester (9,272 ÷ 77). The fully loaded cost for that effort (salary, fringe, F&A) is $9,272. The fully loaded hourly rate is $120.42.

The conversion of effort into labor hours entails some ambiguity, because it requires you to estimate how many hours a week you work on all university activities. This can be highly variable and, of course, affects the final hourly rate. The best approach is to calculate a reasonable average rate and then use it consistently in all your fully loaded budgets.