Session 5: Successfully managing a grant contract end to end with practical tips

Session layout

Budget, types, budget monitoring and control
Grant contract terms and condition
Challenges and Tips for grant management

Budget basics

A budget is estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period, usually the project period for a grant.

It is financial plan (blueprint) of the project plan. One need to budget the plan and not vice versa.

Budget is a Planning (align with objectives)Tool, Control (within policy framework) Tool, Compliance (ceiling) Tool and Mirrors the Financial Report

A budget covers quantitative, qualitative and cost aspects.

The purpose of budget is to:

Ascertain reasonable estimation of costs for interventions/activities in a grant proposal/award.
Segregates costs-direct/common/indirect or OH costs
Cost matching/sharing (co-financing) for multi donor grant, in kind match.
Is a framework for donor-donee in a grant award
Enables course correction based on measurement of actual achievements versus estimates
Statement of SOF and Estimated Costs
Enables Recognition-activity, group, period, income, expenditure, deficit, surplus

Pre requisites

Organisation structure
Data
Chart of accounts
Managerial support
Formal process for formulation

Types of Budgets:

Activity budget

Activity based budget as the name suggests, covers the costs required for implementing a project activity.

In ABB, one looks at resources required for completing an activity and the resources cost

For example, if project strategy is to build capacity of civil society leaders, workshops is an activity. Workshops costs would be towards hiring resource persons, booking a venue, transportation cost, food, lodging and materials and handouts.