Standard 8: Timely and comprehensive project financial set-up.

• Primary responsible: Budget managerThe budget manager is the individual assigned and vested with management oversight of one or more business units. This individual must be from the D Band or higher designated by the division or department head. (BM) [typically the project manager/chief of party (PM/CoP)]
  • The BM converts the proposal budget into the format required for entry into the CRS financial system.

• Others involved: Finance manager (FM), head of programming (HoP), head of operations (HoOps), regional staff (e.g., deputy regional director for management quality (DRD/MQ) or regional finance officer (RFO))
  • The FM provides technical assistance to the PM/CoP as needed in coding the budget, secures the necessary approvals, and enters the detailed budget once approved;
  • The HoP supports with a quality-control check;
  • The DRD/MQ or RFO provides final approval.

Collaboration between budget and finance managers is critical, particularly for projects with complex donor reporting requirements. Finance staff can use their understanding of the CRS financial system to determine the best way to use its capacities and work around its limitations in financial analysis and donor reporting.

• Immediately after signing the agreement or receiving a pre-award letter, with updated budgets entered at the beginning of each subsequent fiscal year.

Note: Expenses cannot be charged against a donor budget until the budget is entered in the CRS financial system. 

Prepare the Budget Template Form (BTF) after updating the budget, whenever possible: Although there is urgency to complete the budget entry process, the budget should be entered in the financial system only after it is updated to reflect any changes in the operating context (e.g., exchange rate fluctuations, security issues that affect project activities and costs) and any initial adjustments needed to activity plans or schedules (see Standard 8, key action 3). Be sure to secure any necessary donor approvals for budget revisions prior to entering them in the financial systems.

Follow the steps below to ensure accurate entry of the new project budget in the financial system:

1. The BM meets with finance staff for guidance on any special budget coding considerations to ensure CRS can meet project-specific financial requirements. It’s especially important for the BM to reach out to finance early on if he/she is not experienced in this process. For tracking in-kind contributions, including in-kind components of any CRS cost share, the BM and finance may need to develop a plan to collect data on these contributions (see "Monitoring Cost Share" in the Planning and Managing Cost Share policy).
2. After conferring with finance, the BM follows the process outlined in the Steps for Converting Donor Budgets to CRS Financial System Budgets guidance to translate the donor-approved budget into the CRS BTF, which is needed to enter the budget into the CRS financial system.

TIP for externally funded projects: If the donor requirements are particularly complex, consider involving the RFO or HQ experts in budget set-up, and/or consider joint BM-finance development of the BTF.

3. The PM/CoP updates the Gateway records associated with the new project, to facilitate the processing of the New Donor Source Project Number (DSPN) Form (step 7). See Setting up a New Award, DSPN, and Project in Gateway. Specifically, the PM/CoP:

• Confirms that the “status” field in the Gateway Opportunity record associated with the project has been updated to “Approved.”
• Enters the required information in the Gateway Project record, DSPN record, and (for grants) the Award record. These records are automatically generated when the Opportunity record status is changed to “Approved.”
• For grants, attaches the Agreement Review Summary and the fully-executed Agreement.

4. The HoP reviews the BTF and supports the BM as needed to draft the Budget Maintenance Approval Form (BMF). The HoP shares the BTF/BMF package (along with the approved budget, for grants) with the FM.
5. The FM (or delegate) reviews the BTF/BMF package and provides feedback to the BM, copying the HoP and HoOps.
6. The FM updates the Budget Reconciliation Form (BRF) and shares the BTF/BMF/BRF package with the country representative, for onward submission to the region for review and approval.
7. Upon regional approval, the FM:

• Obtains any additional approvals outlined in the Budget Maintenance Approval Matrix.
• Confirms that the PM/CoP has completed the Gateway updates outlined above.
• Submits a New DSPN Form.

8. The FM posts the approved BTF in the CRS financial system, after securing all necessary approvals. The FM also posts the cash grants and cost share budget per PRO-FIN-BUD-004.02 (Grant and Cost Share Budget Input into SunSystems).

Update the budget for re-entry each fiscal year: CRS first enters budgets in the financial system upon signing agreements for externally funded projects, or following internal project approval for discretionary funded projects. However, at the start of each fiscal year, all project budgets must be re-entered into the system. If the BM does not proactively provide finance with an updated project budget—in a format that can be entered in the financial system—an outdated version of the budget (from the APP) will prevail in the system. This outdated information will lead to inaccurate budget information, and will complicate financial analysis and reporting.