Budgeting for your event
A budget template can be provided as part of the conference planning to help assess the costs and income for the event.
The Faculty will not underwrite the costs of an event and so will not provide financial support if costs are higher than the budget. The Head of Finance will approve the project budget, and may also advise on the inclusion of some overhead costs, if these can be recovered.
SETTING THE BUDGET
Setting the budget gives the lead organiser and the Faculty an idea of how much funding and administrative support are needed for the event to go ahead. Planning should be done at least 12 months in advance (where possible, and particularly for large events) in order to secure funding, speakers, and guarantee a venue.
COST
Below are some key costs to consider. A PDF of the costs to consider is also available to download.
When you've obtained a quote and accepted it, please prepare a purchase order and share this with the supplier as soon as possible.
Speaker(s) |
Are you covering all/some of the speaker’s travel & accommodation costs? Specify how many UK & Europe or elsewhere for speaker cost purposes etc. |
Venue(s) |
How much is the hire of the lecture theatre? How much is the hire of the breakout rooms? How much is the hire of the dining hall/room for dinner? |
AV / IT |
How much is the hire of the AV equipment, photographer, technical support, & post-production editing? |
Catering |
Will you be offering lunch? Will you be offering tea/coffee breaks during your event? Will you be hosting a dinner/dinners? Will this be at a separate venue? Will you be hosting a drinks reception? |
Accommodation |
If accommodation is required - how much is the accommodation p/night? Is there an overall accommodation fee from the college/venue that includes a B&B cost p/night? |
Other Costs |
A Research Assistant
Printing/photocopying and distribution costs
|
**Guide to hours spent on organising an Event/Conference:
Type of event | Hours |
---|---|
One-day conference | 50 |
One and a half day conference | 75 |
Two day conference | 100 |
Every additional day | +50 |
If Accommodation is required | +20 |
To estimate the staff cost of organising an event, simply multiply the number of hours above by the rate per hour of the staff (depending on the staff's grade).
VAT
VAT may be applicable on the supply of goods and services, and this may not necessarily be included in the quote. The University has a VAT tax team that can assist with VAT queries; however, the University has also published a summary of VAT on services and goods relating to the hiring of conference facilities from external providers that serves as a useful guidance. The Decision Tree is particularly helpful.
Generally speaking, the hiring of conference venue, accommodation, and dinner at a College will be exempt from VAT provided that the facilities are for the provision of a conference/educational event to fee paying students/fee paying conference attendees.
FUNDING
The Research Facilitator and Research Administrator will provide guidance to all Faculty members who are seeking funding for events or other research activities. The Funding Checklist attached can be used in advance of discussions on funding, since this may affect the range of funders that will consider the event. A couple of useful links to help start your research into funders are below.
-
Research Information for Staff – applying for funding and managing projects.
** The Academic Organiser should justify any request to funders which include travel & accommodation fees for workshop delegates & conference speakers (particularly if applying to the British Academy).
Academic Organiser should consider how an event fits into their research programme or plan. For example, if a workshop is being organised to establish new collaborations and it is expected that research projects may result from it, then an application could be submitted to a funder for a larger project, of which the workshop is just part. Similarly, a conference at the end of a two year project may be considered by Research Councils as part of the impact plan, disseminating the results to interested stakeholders outside the academic community. The conference budget should therefore be included in the project funding application.
Funders commonly take up to 6 months to announce decisions of funding applications. The Academic Organiser should therefore consider how much work should be put into the event planning before funding is secured.
SURPLUS
If a surplus is generated the conference organiser may propose additional expenditure e.g. writing up or publishing proceedings. This will need to be approved by the original funder (this will be PRC if funded the Faculty) and will need to be spent within the same financial year. There is no mechanism for carrying forward a surplus from an event from one financial year to the next (the University’s year-end is 31 July).
SPONSORSHIP OR DONATION
If you are soliciting a contribution from an individual/Law firm/company, it is important to establish whether their contribution is a commercial sponsorship or a philanthropic donation. Where there is a material benefit to the contributor this will be classed as sponsorship and the accounting treatment will reflect this. VAT is chargeable on sponsorship, so you must know whether the amount agreed by the sponsor is inclusive or exclusive of VAT.
You may consult with the Head of Development to identify which category the contribution you are seeking will fall under.