2025 Federal Administration Transition Information & Resources - This will be updated as new information is available.

Stanford
Office of Research Administration

Budgets and Budget Justifications

Proposal budgets and budget justifications are the financial road maps of sponsored projects.  When thoughtfully and strategically built they both help propel proposals to award and pave the way for effective post-award management.  Below are templates and resource links to help you build successful budgets and budget justifications. 

Questions?  Concerns? Contact the Client Advocacy & Education team.  We're here to help!

Templates

SU Sponsored Project Detailed Budget Template with FY25 Fringe Rates and FY25 and FY26 IDC Rates (1.83 MB)

Stanford Sponsored Project Budget Justification Template - Updated with FY25 Fringe Benefit Rates and FY25 and FY26 IDC Rates

  • Within the budget and budget justification template an annual cost-of-living increase of 3% is assumed for salaries and a 3% escalation rate is assumed for all other categories except where noted.  These increases have been projected into all years of the budget template and are standard budgeting practice for Stanford sponsored projects.  Users may amend the pre-programmed escalation rate(s) to coincide with current Stanford University Budget Office planning assumptions and/or to reflect recent historical growth in costs.  Please note, the UBO's planning assumptions are used by the University Budget Office for planning purposes only and are subject to change. What may be appropriate at the university level may not be applicable at the school or department levels.

Links & Notes for Common Budget Categories

Personnel Costs

PI Effort

Stanford requires a commitment of effort on the part of the PI on all sponsored projects with the following exceptions. This requirement applies even if a sponsor does not require a commitment of effort on the part of the PI and/or does not allow the direct charging of PI salary. PI effort may be expended during the academic year, summer quarter only, or both. 

Note: If a sponsor does not allow the direct charging of PI salary and the project does not meet one of the 3 below PI effort exceptions, PI effort must be cost shared. 

Stanford tracks and manages effort primarily through direct salary charges to sponsored projects, cost sharing salary charges, or a combination of direct charging and cost sharing.

The requirement of PI effort does not extend to:

  1. Equipment grants
  2. Seed grants for students/postdocs where the faculty mentor is named as PI, dissertation support, training grants, or other awards intended as "student augmentation “
  3. Limited-purpose awards characterized by Stanford as Other Sponsored Activities, including travel grants, conference support, etc.

See RPH 3.1 Preparation and Submission of Proposal Budgets   for more information.

*Graduate Student Research Assistantships

Effective 9/1/23, the University contribution of tuition allowance granted to non-SoM funded Research Assistants increased to 55%, and 45% will be charged to the source funding on sponsored awards that pay Stanford's full facilities & administrative (F&A) cost rates.

Fringe Benefits

  • DoResearch- Stanford Rates
  • Fringe Benefit Notes:
    1. Faculty members do NOT accrue vacation leave or sick leave. Short absences for personal business, illness, jury duty, military duty, and similarly limited absences normally are with full salary. Under conditions specified in the Faculty Handbook, sabbatical leave may be granted by a school dean.
    2. For budgeted staff project personnel that accrue vacation and sick leave, such as Academic Staff Researchers (ASRs), we do NOT show or include their Vacation Accrual and/or Disability Sick Leave (DSL) Rates in proposal budgets.
      • The Vacation/DSL Accrual is assessed at the time of the salary expenditure (salary * Vacation/DSL Accrual rate = accrual). The accrual enables Stanford to charge the appropriate funding source for the vacation earned by benefits-eligible staff as they are working. Vacation/DSL Accrual is assessed as it is earned, rather than as it is taken. Application of the rates build a central University fund to pay for vacation salary when staff either take vacation or leave the University.   
        • Let’s look at an example:
        • Dr. Cardinal, an ASR, has an annual salary of $120,000 and was budgeted for 100% effort on a federal award in FY24.
        • Dr. Cardinal's Budgeted 100% Salary for FY24$120,000  
          Dr. Cardinal's Budgeted Fringe Benefits for FY24 (28.4%)$34,080  
          Total$154,080  
        • During FY24, Dr. Cardinal works 100% on the federal award as proposed and takes vacation for the half the month of April.  
        • Review the below chart to see how Dr. Cardinal's salary, fringe benefits (28.4% for FY24), and vacation accrual (8.9% for FY24) will post to the federal award and the difference between the total incurred amount and that which was budgeted above. 
        • Vacation Accruals and Credits on a Federal Sponsored Project
        • When the ASR takes vacation, the award to which their salary is being charged will NOT be charged for the commensurate amount of their salary and benefits.  If the ASR takes all the vacation they accrue while working on a project, the vacation accrual charges and credits will net to zero.  
        • IMPORTANT: In practical application, staff working on sponsored projects often take less vacation time than they accrue resulting in sponsored projects incurring the cost of vacation accruals without receiving all the offsetting credits.  When this occurs, incurred personnel costs will exceed budgeted personnel amount.  This will require investigators and award managers to either rebudget from other project budget categories, as available and allowed by the given award's terms and conditions, to cover the additional personnel costs or identify another funding source to support the project costs in excess of those awarded from the sponsor.  If you are constructing or managing a project budget with a significant amount of personnel that accrue vacation, it is highly recommended that you discuss with your investigator the financial implications of vacation accrual costs and devise a proactive management plan.
        • For more information on which employees at Stanford accrue vacation and sick leave, review the Stanford Administrative Guide 2.1.6.

Equipment

  • Know what qualifies as Capital Equipment and can be counted toward the acquisition cost vs. must be budgeted separately.
    • Note: Capital equipment quotes often include maintenance service contract and/or extended warranty line items.  Neither of these should be included in the budget line item for capital equipment.  Maintenance service contracts covering the time the proposed project will be active are generally an allowable Other Direct Cost on sponsored projects.  However, they must be budgeted separately from the capital equipment budget line item.  They will incur IDC, and they should be explicitly spoken to in the budget justification. Extended warranties are nearly always unallowable on sponsored projects and thus should neither be budgeted for nor charged to sponsored projects.  Extended warranties can be charged to most non-sponsored awards/PTAs.
  • Oracle Financials -> Stanford iProcurement - For equipment quotes
  • California Partial Exemption for Sales & Use Taxes for Research & Development Equipment
    • California affords partial exemption from sales and use taxes for research and development equipment purchases.  Qualifying purchases must pay the remaining state tax and local and district taxes.
  • Fabricated Equipment, “a unique individual piece of equipment or scientific instrument built by Stanford personnel,” may be budgeted on sponsored projects (in Section C. Equipment) if it meets federal regulations and university policies. Fabricated Equipment is exempt from the MTDC Indirect Cost (F&A) Rate and subject to Stanford’s 2.6 Fabrication Property Management policy.

Supplies

Travel

  • Egencia - Stanford Travel's Online Booking Tool
  • gsa.gov - Per Diem Rates
  • When budgeting lodging costs for conference attendance, we recommended, if you can identify from the conference website or other available information what the conference room rate has historically been or will be and if this rate is higher than the gsa.gov lodging rate for the conference location, to budget the conference room rate as opposed to the gsa.gov lodging rate and explain this in the associated budget justification.  
  • Conversely, when budgeting lodging costs when it is known the lodging costs will be substantially less than the gsa.gov lodging rate for the given location(s), we recommend budgeting the known lower lodging costs and, again, explain this in the associated budget justification.  This is a common occurrence when individuals travel and stay at another institution's or research facility's guesthouse/onsite accommodations.
  • Field Work allowability and budgeting instructions will be explicitly outlined in the FOA/PA. Read the FOA/PA carefully and follow the specific guidance provided.

Food Costs

  • “Meals may be allowable for subjects and patients under study, or where specifically approved as part of the project activity, provided that such charges are not duplicated in participants' per diem or subsistence allowances” – per NIH Grants Policy Statement. These costs should be budgeted with Patient Costs, when appropriate.
  • Meals associated with an activity (conference or workshop) must be budgeted and justified in the proposal (or formal re-budget) and approved by the sponsor. These costs should be budgeted with Travel Costs, when appropriate.
    • NOTE: Unless otherwise allowable and included on the sponsor-approved budget, Stanford travelers must use the per diem option for travel meals when the funding source is a sponsored award – per Stanford Fingate Travel Meals Policy.
  • Food costs for an activity that are not integral to the success of the Project Goals (SOW) are generally not allowable (i.e. lab meetings, coffee breaks, etc.). 

Other Direct Costs

Animal Care

  • There are two types of animal costs: purchase of laboratory animals and cost of animal care. These costs must be budgeted separately at Stanford.
    • Animal purchases are considered technical supplies and full F&A costs will apply.
    • Animal care provided by Stanford's VSC (Veterinary Services Center) is budgeted separately from animal purchases and is burdened with a special F&A rate.  On sponsor budget forms, assuming there is no dedicated line for animal care, enter animal care under "other expenses."  Within the ORA Budget Template on tab 3. Other Direct Costs, enter animal care in the Animal Care cost region.
      • Note: Many VSC rates list both federal and non-federal figures.  This is because the VSC charges animal care expenses to two expenditure types (ET) which are subject to associated animal care Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs:
        • For federal sponsors and CIRM ET 58720 - INTERDEPT FED CIRM VSC SVC CHG  is used.  This ET does not include VSC F&A costs. The associated VSC F&A costs are automatically calculated by the Oracle Financials system and charged separately to ET 56920 VSC FED ANIMAL CARE CHARGE.  Thus, for a federal project for which you are budgeting animal care costs, always use the federal VSC rates.  Moreover, at minimum you will have two IDC rates on the sponsor budget forms and the ORA budget template: 1) the project's default IDC rate e.g. Organized Research - On Campus and 2) Animal Care IDC.
        • For non-federal (and other non-sponsored) awards ET 58710 - INTERDEPT  NONFED VSC SVC CHG is used.  For this ET the associated VSC F&A costs are automatically calculated by the VSC billing system and included in ET 58710.  Thus, for a non-federal project for which you are budgeting animal care costs always use the non-federal VSC rates.  Moreover, be aware during post award when your non-federal project incurs animal care expenses the animal care total costs (direct and indirect) will be charged each month as a single direct cost line only and there will be NO animal care IDC expense lines on your non-federal/non-CIRM award's expense/general ledger reports.  

Consultants

  • A consultant, a specialist who offers professional advice or service, should be budgeted based on anticipated hours of work to be performed.  Typically consultants are setup and paid as Independent Contractors (ICs).  As such, before budgeting anyone as a consultant/independent contractor on a sponsored project, it is critically important to first confirm the individual and/or work meets all University, Federal and State requirements for status as an independent contractor - there are quite a few!  
    • For example, Stanford employees are NOT eligible to be ICs during, or within 12 months after, their employment due to tax policies.
    • Refer to the Independent Contractors (ICs) on Fingate for more requirements for an Independent Contractor classification and the procurement process for independent contractors
  • For additional questions about IC classification, departments should contact their local HR Business Partners and consult with an Employee & Labor Relations Specialist.  If the individual and/or work being performed do not legally qualify for IC status, budgeting and subsequently hiring the individual as a contingent worker may be the appropriate option.
  • If you determine someone is appropriate to budget as a consultant/IC on a sponsored project, you will need to include the following in the budget and budget justification:
    • Name and title
    • Daily salary rate
    • Number of days engaged
    • Other expenses (e.g., travel)

  • NIH Note: The NIH allows individuals to be listed in the role of Other Significant Contributor  who will “contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project, but are not committing any specified measurable effort (i.e., person months) to the project. These individuals are typically presented at "effort of zero person months" or "as needed." Individuals with measurable effort may not be listed as Other Significant Contributors (OSCs). Consultants should be included if they meet this definition.  OSCs are not considered senior/key personnel, but you must include biosketches for OSCs. 

Data Management & Sharing

  • NIH has issued the Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy (effective January 25, 2023) to promote the sharing of scientific data. Under the DMS policy, NIH expects that investigators and institutions to plan and budget for the managing and sharing of data.  
  • Note, all NIH DMS costs included in NIH budgets must be incurred during the performance period of the project, even for scientific data and metadata preserved and shared beyond the award period.
    • For example, if the plan is to preserve and share data for 10 years in a repository with a deposition fee, the cost for the entire period must be paid before the end of the award period.)  
  • Examples of reasonable and allowable data management and sharing costs that investigators may request funds toward include:
    • Curating data
    • Formatting data to required/accepted standards or for transmission to, or storage data a repository for long-term preservation or access
    • Preparing metadata to foster discoverability, interpretation, and reuse
    • Preserving and sharing data through established repositories, such as data deposit fees; if DMS Plan proposes deposition to multiple repositories, costs associated with each proposed repository may be included.
    • Developing supporting documentation
    • De-identifying data
    • Local data management considerations (e.g., unique and specialized information infrastructure necessary to provide local management and preservation
 Unallowable Data Management & Sharing Costs
  • Any infrastructure costs that are already part of Institutional Overhead (IDC); for example, Lane Library costs should not be budgeted since they are part of our IDC.
  • Any costs associated with routine conduct of research, including costs associated with collecting or gaining access to research data.
  • Refer to the RMG NIH Data Management & Sharing guidance for additional information.

Participant Support Costs

  • Participant support costs (PSC) are defined in the Uniform Guidance as direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects. PSC is excluded from the MTDC base.
  • Federal Awards: refer to the specific program announcement to which you are applying, and as needed, contact the sponsor, to determine if you are allowed to budget for PSC.
  • Non-federal Awards: do NOT propose PSC on non-federal sponsored projects unless required by the sponsor. Categorize such costs using the expenditure types for travel, stipend, etc.
  • Additional PSC Budgeting and Charging Considerations

Patient Care

  • If Patient Care is to be included in your budget, ensure you seek clarification from your PI on if these are "research" patient care costs or "usual/standard" patient care costs. The costs of routine or ancillary services provided by hospitals to individuals participating in a research program can be categorized as "research patient care" costs and are appropriate to include in your proposal budget. Expenses for routine services or items that would have normally occurred without the existence of this research or study are considered "usual patient care" and are not appropriate to include in your proposal budget.
  • RMG has constructed a Budgeting Patient Care worksheet to aid you in this determination and calculation for proposal budgets. Contact your RMG representative for further information.
  • If you are budgeting Patient Care costs, where will the activities take place? If services are at CTRU, utilize the budgeting workbook. CTRU services are always off-campus, and the budget template will calculate this. A second rate schedule should be used in the PDRF.

Miscellaneous Examples of “Other Direct Costs” 

  • Honoraria for non-employees
  • Hospital employee salaries
  • Maintenance contracts, warranties, training costs, etc. for equipment. (Review Accounting Manual 2.2 for a breakdown of costs that can be subsumed with cost of the equipment and costs that should be categorized separately as “Other Direct Costs.”
  • Postage (typical F&A-type costs but appropriate as a direct cost when it specifically benefits the aims of the project)
  • Publication costs

Facilities & Administrative Cost Rates