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8. Budget preparation

Detailed guidelines on budget preparation are available at Chapter 17 Finance. For contractual issues to consider at this stage, see also Chapter 10 Donor contract management.

Programme, finance and programme support staff needs to be involved in preparing budgets. Usually, the Proposal Writer will prepare the initial draft of the budget by entering the line items, with advice from the programme support staff about what support items will be required. The Finance Manager should assist with the costs, accounting and checking of the budget.

All budgets should be reviewed and approved by the CO Finance Manager before submission. A pre-submission review of the budget should ensure that items in the annexed budget checklist are covered and that the correct donor format has been used. The supporting CARE International Member should check that all required member-related costs (ICR/ADRET, monitoring, desk officer recoveries) are included.

8.1 Emergency response quick budget checklist

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Checklist

  • What initial relief costs charged to the ERF should be allocated to budgets to reimburse ERF?
  • Can assessment costs be built in?
  • Is the correct level of CARE International Member ICR/ADRET included?
  • Is the correct level of CO programme support and management costs built in?
  • Has the correct exchange rate been used?
  • Does the budget account for price rises that may result from the emergency?
  • Are CARE’s proposed costs realistic and comparable with other agencies?
  • Have sufficient funds been included for:
    • all existing and incoming emergency personnel, salaries and support costs?
    • assessment costs?
    • safety and security equipment and personnel?
    • telecommunications equipment, call charges and personnel?
    • adequate support costs for transportation and warehousing, which may have increased?
    • visibility?
    • finance costs such as audit fees, money handler fees, etc.?
    • monitoring and evaluation? (including AARs or evaluations)

Refer to Chapter 17 Finance, section 7 budget preparation guidelines for more information.

Annex 8.12 Donor Budget Formats
Annex 8.13 Generic Budget Formats
Annex 8.14 Sample Budgets