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.
Activity Budget for Conducting a Workshop
| Particular of Expense | Rate per unit | No of Units | Total in Rs |
| Trainer Fees | @ Rs 1000 per day | 3 days | 3,000 |
| Venue | @ Rs 500 per day | 3 days | 1,500 |
| Rental for Furniture | @ Rs 500 per day | 3 days | 1,500 |
| Rental for Equipment | @ Rs 100 per day | 3 days | 300 |
| Catering Exp for Lunch and tea two times | @ 100 per person | 55 persons X 3 days = 165 | 16,500 |
| Conveyance paid to attendees |
@ Rs 50 per person per day |
50 attendees x 3 days = 150 |
7,500 |
| Printing of handouts | @ Re 1 per page | 50 pages x 50 copies = 2500 pages | 2,500 |
| Grand Total | 32,800 |