This guide helps Principal Investigators (PIs) and project staff develop proposal budgets that comply with sponsor requirements and CUNY and RFCUNY policies. A proposal budget serves two main purposes:
- Estimate the cost of completing project objectives and ensure the proposal is realistic.
- Track financial activity against the approved budget throughout the life of the award.
Preparing a Budget: Proposal budgets are developed by the PI and reviewed by the CUNY SPS Grants Office before entering the pre-award review and routing process. PIs should use the CUNY SPS Internal Budget Template when developing proposal budgets. The template incorporates current fringe benefit rates and standard budget categories to help ensure compliance with sponsor and institutional requirements. For practical guidance, see the RFCUNY Pre-Award Budget Preparation Tips.
Key Budget Components
Personnel Costs (PS): Include all personnel working on the project, their roles, level of effort, salary, and applicable fringe benefits.
Other Than Personal Service (OTPS): May include project-related supplies, equipment, travel, consultant services, and subawards to collaborating institutions. Always follow the sponsor’s specific budget guidelines.
Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A / Indirect Costs): Most awards F&A, also known as indirect costs, which reimburse the institution for shared infrastructure and administrative support (e.g., facilities, utilities, compliance, and research administration). F&A rates are federally negotiated for each CUNY institution and published by the Research Foundation of CUNY (RFCUNY).
For CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS), the current federally negotiated F&A rates are:
- 41% of Salary & Wages for on-campus projects
- 30% of Salary & Wages for off-campus projects
For non-federal sponsors (e.g., New York State, New York City agencies, private foundations, or congressional-directed funding), indirect cost rates may be set or capped by the sponsor. In these cases, the Research Foundation of CUNY (RF) generally prefers an indirect rate of 10% of total direct costs, unless the sponsor specifies a different limit. Some sponsors, such as New York City agencies, often cap indirect costs at approximately 9%.
The CUNY SPS Grants Office reviews all proposal budgets to ensure the appropriate F&A rate is applied in accordance with sponsor guidelines and CUNY policy.