Budgeting Guidelines

Most agencies specifically define allowable costs in this area. In some cases, it may be necessary to determine whether or not space will be available at UC Denver to accommodate the requested change. ​

Costs in this category usually are for formal contracts with third parties who will perform a substantive portion of the programmatic effort. This section does not include the routine procurement of supplies, products or services.

NOTE: When programmatic effort is being completed at other CU campuses and UC Denver's affiliates, costs are considered "consortium/contractual" costs.

The budget for this category should be developed by the sub-recipient. When routing your application, please be sure to include documentation that the business office for the sub-recipient(s) has reviewed and approved the budget.​

These costs should be for services of a professional nature to be rendered by persons other than University of Colorado faculty or staff. If possible, requirements for the category should be detailed in the following manner:

• name
  
• institution
  
• nature and extent of services to be provided
  
• expected rate of compensation and total fees
  
• travel (if needed, detail each trip and provide a total of all trips)
  
• per diem - up to maximum per day on federally-sponsored projects:
  
  • Federal Domestic Per Diem rates
    
  • Federal International Per Diem rates
    
  • Colorado State Travel Management Program​
    
  • State of Colorado domestic and foreign Per Diem rates
    
  • State of Colorado mileage reimbursement rate​
    

List all items of equipment and the anticipated costs per item.

Federal Sponsors:

On federal budgets, equipment means an article of non-expendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of one year or more and an acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the organization for financial statement purposes, or $5,000.

University of Colorado Denver uses $5,000 and useful life of one year or more for the capitalization level. Any item with a useful life of less than one year or a cost of less than $5,000 is not considered to be capital equipment and should be included elsewhere in the budget (e.g., Supplies, Other Expenses).

Non-Federal Sponsors:

Other sponsors may have different policies regarding the definition of equipment. Please check the sponsor's policies and instructions. To the extent there is flexibility to use university policy, or if no sponsor policy is identified, use the University of Colorado Denver policy which means handling the same way as described above for federal sponsors.​

(also known as “F&A,” Indirect Costs, Overhead)

Most sponsoring agencies allow reimbursement of these costs as a percentage of the total direct costs associated with a project. The type of program and the location of the project can impact the rate used, as well as the base to which the rate is applied. Some agencies specify this percentage; otherwise, please follow UC Denver policy.

All federally-funded projects are subject to the UC Denver's Negotiated Rate Agreement​ unless otherwise specified by the federal sponsor. ​

From time to time, the University updates its fringe benefit rates. Please check for the most current fringe benefit rates when you begin to budget for your project's personnel costs.

For Faculty Positions, please list:

• proper titles
  
• institutional base salary, or salary adjusted for future cost-of-living increases
  
• fringe benefits (please see current fringe benefit rates​)
  

Personnel costs for those individuals who have UC Denver appointments but are paid through other organizations (e.g., Denver Health and Hospital Authority, the VA, CU Boulder) must be included as sub-recipient costs. Faculty with joint UC Denver and VA appointments must submit a Memorandum of Understanding when applying for federal funding.

For Non-Faculty Positions, please list:

• proper titles
  
• institutional base salary, or salary adjusted for future cost-of-living increases
  
• fringe benefit rates as applicable
  

For non-faculty positions, and for persons to be hired at some point in the future, salaries should be comparable to pay scales for similar job classifications. Salaries for future years of support should be in line with University policy.

Increases may vary throughout the year and should be checked periodically with for the most current-cost-of-living increase rates. Any increases should be detailed in the budget summary. The increase for National Institute of Health proposals should be 3%.

Items not included in any of the above categories should be listed here. Listing by major categories is allowable. Common expenses in this section include, but are not limited to:

• animal board
  
• equipment maintenance
  
• equipment rental
  
• UC Denver usage and maintenance fees (e.g., UC Denver Cancer Center's DNA sequencing and analysis core costs)
  
• subject reimbursement
  

When using lab animals in your research, please include in the budget justification:

• number of animals to be used
  
• location of animal housing
  
• daily maintenance cost per animal
  
• other costs
  
• number of expected maintenance days
  

Please visit the Office of Laboratory Animal Resources for more information regarding lab animals and research.

Please check the sponsoring agency's guidelines for any specific items to include here.

Any annual increase should be detailed in the budget justification with a statement which reads: "Each category has been increased by ___% per year to account for anticipated inflationary cost increases.​"

Amounts may be requested in this category for both outpatient and inpatient care costs. Only costs which qualify for patient care should be identified as "patient care."Subject reimbursement and travel are not considered patient care costs and should be included under Other Expenses.

NOTE: Patient care costs for University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) facilities are subject to approval by the University Research Administration at UCH. Failure to obtain University of Colorado Hospital approval of your budgeted costs may result in UCH's inability to support your research. Please contact UCH to obtain UCH approval of the patient care costs you have budgeted.​

Individuals who will not contribute a measurable percentage of effort and thus will not be receiving salary support should be identified either as unpaid consultants or collaborators, depending on their employment status with UC Denver. Salary figures listed on the budget must be consistent with payroll records or be verified with individual department records.

For budgets proposed to begin in the future, it is appropriate to calculate a 3% increase to the current salary to compensate for cost-of-living increases. Additional increases of 3% per employment year are also appropriate for the same reason. ​

The personnel section is one of the most important areas of the budget. Finished work should be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that each position is listed and calculated correctly. Only faculty can be Principal Investigators​ for research activities administered through OGC at CU Denver. If you are unsure of eligibility, please review the Principal Investigatory Eligibility page.

Each person listed as personnel must be a CU Denver employee paid through the CU Denver payroll system. Notwithstanding the foregoing, prospective CU Denver employees may be listed as personnel. Follow the process described below for inclusion of prospective employees on grant proposals.

Naming Prospective CU Denver Employees on Grant Proposals

OGC recognizes there are situations when an individual named on a grant proposal has not commenced employment at CU Denver. In such instances it is permissible to include the prospective individual on the proposal as long as certain requirements are met. Please follow the steps below for inclusion of the person in the proposal:

1. Provide the following information in either a letter of offer or e-mail communication from the appropriate appointing authority:
   
   1. Name
      
   2. Date of appointment
      
   3. Salary
      
   4. Proposed UCD FTE
      
2. Complete and submit the form entitled Documentation of PHS Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Policy (form). This form must be submitted for any Public Health Service (PHS) grant before the individual can be named on the grant proposal. Complete the form as follows:
   
   1. Section A, Proposal Information must be completed.
      
   2. Section B, Collaborator Information may be skipped.
      
   3. Section C, Collaborator FCOI Policy Statement must be completed.
      
      1. Select Option 2, "I will follow the Conflict of Interest Policy established and enforced by the University of Colorado Denver."
         
      2. Include Name of prospective UCD employee in Investigator/Key Personnel section.
         
   4. Section D Approval
      
      1. This section will be completed by the OGC
         

If the prospective employee information and form is not completed prior to the grant deadline, the individual may not be included by name in the grant proposal. The position may be included with the “TBN” (To Be Named) designation, or will need to be removed completely from the proposal. COI disclosure must be completed within 60 days from date of employment for the new employee.

A current university PI must complete and approve the routing process for a prospective PI.

Salary

Grants and Contracts will confirm appropriate institutional base salary is used in budgets and will question variances.

To calculate the requested salary:

(person - months) x (Institutional Base Salary) = Requested Salary
        NIH Usage of Person Months FAQs

The proposal must be routed to OGC via InfoED.

To ensure that the application presents a consistent and meaningful whole, OGC review of the completed application involves verification of:

• administrative data
  
• budget data
  
• budget justification
  
• personnel assignments
  
• involvement of supporting personnel and organizations
  

For more information about the University of Colorado's fiscal policies, please visit the UC Denver Financial and Business Services fiscal policies​ web page or email Xenia.

Trainee expenses are appropriate on training grants only and fall under several categories:

• stipends
  
• tuition and fees
  
• dependency allowances
  
• travel allowances
  

Other direct costs may also be requested as part of a training application. National Institutes of Health policy allows trainee costs on pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training grants only. ​

Please provide a brief itinerary. List the purpose for the proposed travel and for whom the travel funds are requested. Excessive amounts should be adequately justified. The increase(s) should be detailed in the budget justification with a statement such as:

Each category has been increased by ___% per year to account for anticipated inflationary cost increases.

• CU Procurement Service Center - Travel Procedural Statement
  

It is acceptable to ask for LESS than the total requested salary needed to conduct the work proposed in the grant, but you should not request more. You may also request no salary at all (please see the University's Cost Sharing Policy); however, effort should be shown whether or not salary is requested. Each sponsor's policy regarding voluntary cost share should be carefully reviewed.