Why Project Personnel Costs for Sponsored Research?

For today’s research-intensive organization, tracking personnel costs for sponsored research is a major factor. That’s because the majority of project costs stem from research personnel required to complete the project. Many departments, institutes, and universities we speak with are challenged with fully capturing the true costs of projecting and tracking personnel costs associated with sponsored research.

Why is this area of grant management so challenging?

Two areas add to the complexity of projecting personnel costs:

• Difficulties calculating salaries and fringe benefits distributed across multiple grants
• Projecting these costs on individual grant budget periods that might not align with your organization’s fiscal year

Projecting personnel costs is critical and should start during proposal development. Calculating the amount of salary to be paid during specific budget periods is fundamental to recovering the true cost of the research. Additionally, as the project gets underway, you can help ensure a successful and cost-effective project by accurately evaluating the cost of research personnel. That’s why many organizations use grant management software systems that include functionality for both pre-award and post-award administration.

Effectively tracking and monitoring these expenses will give you lots of advantages. From ease of management to accurate budgeting and proactive salary management, your organization will get the most benefit with a grant accounting software system to track, monitor, and manage costs of research personnel. Learn more about how Fund Manager can help you here.