Apportionment Policy

The project or programme budget for a particular project or programme will include:

• The direct costs for delivering the outputs agreed with the funder.
• Additional and indirect costs that are not directly attributable to the specific project / programme but which are needed for the organisation to function effectively and be in a position to be able to take on the various projects/programmes e.g. rent, administration and finance functions, governance costs, IT support costs etc.

Where required by funders, financial reports are prepared and may include supporting documentation for all types of costs i.e. copies of invoices/receipts, payroll records etc.

The Wheel’s apportionment policy is generally determined by reference to staff time as given to a particular project to deliver the project outcomes. In projects where there are several people involved, to varying different levels of time commitment, the total time commitment of all involved is used to calculate a cumulative total.

Example:

If a project requires the time of one FTE staff person (even if, in fact that is made up of a variety of different people), indirect costs as far as is practicable will be apportioned based on the staff time input as a percentage of total staff compliment of the organisation.

There are a variety of approaches by funders to cost allocation and they are all valid depending on the nature of the funding programme:

• Project won by open tender: in such cases if The Wheel has won a contract from a public or other source on the open market, the tender price and competitiveness and value for money has already been established and in most cases the funder/contracting agency simply requires evidence of the service having been provided at the agreed price;
• Some EU programmes (e.g. Erasmus) have a pre-determined daily rate for specific input. In these cases evidence of the staff member’s contract and timesheets supporting the work having been completed are required and the claim amount is then calculated at a standard daily rate;
• Some funders require a detailed account of all expenditure with relevant backup for salaries or other costs and these claims are generally made in arrears and funds drawn down once claims have been reviewed. It is often the case that this funding may be partly pre-financed in order that the projects or programmes can proceed and are not held up due to a lack of funding.

SSNO (Scheme to Support National Organisations) has been a consistent source of funding for The Wheel since the Scheme’s inception. It funds salaries, and does not fund any overhead costs of the organisation. Overhead apportionment is not relevant therefore to that source of funding.