A well-planned budget is the financial expression of your project’s work plan. This section gives you the template and tools to build it, the cost principles that govern it, and guidance on personnel, non-personnel, and special considerations such as cost sharing and indirect costs.
Budget Tools and Requirements
Includes:
- Budget Template
- Budget Narrative
- Budget Development Checklist
- Build Budget with Claude
This section includes the OSP budget template, budget narrative guidance, and a budget development checklist to help you account for every cost in your work plan.
Fundamental Cost Principles
Before you fill in the template, understand the principles every sponsor expects: costs must be allowable, allocable, reasonable, and consistently treated.
Personnel Compensation
Salary, wages, and fringe benefits, within sponsor and University rules.
Costs Other Than Personnel
Equipment, travel, participant support, materials and supplies, publications, tuition, research subjects, and collaboration costs.
Collaborating With Others Pre-Award
Define roles, budgets, and responsibilities with internal and external partners early, such as subawardees and consultants.
Rate Schedules
Access current sponsored project rate schedules, including Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rates, fringe benefit rates, graduate assistant tuition, travel reimbursement, and animal research rates.
Determining Which Rate
Learn how Syracuse University determines the appropriate Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate for sponsored projects, including off-campus rates, sponsor limitations, and requests for rate exceptions.
Other Budget Considerations
- Unusual Circumstances: preparing accurate budgets even when sponsors require modular or fixed-price formats.
- Cost Sharing: when and how to include allowable, documented cost sharing.
- Indirect or Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs: applying the correct rates; current figures are on the Rate Schedules page.
- Non-Allowable Costs: costs that cannot be charged to sponsored projects.
- Ordinarily Unallowable Direct Costs: costs unallowable as direct charges except under unusual circumstances.
For current F&A, fringe, travel, and animal per diem figures, see Rate Schedules. This page explains how to apply them; the rate figures themselves live there.