It uses significant personnel time to verify salaries, check fringe benefit rates, verify the application of multiple overhead rates to the proper MTDC categories, and so forth. None of these activities add value to the proposal itself. All of these activities could be eliminated if there were a method of verifying figures as they are first recorded and instantly revising forms as changes are made. GAMS provides this method. GAMS lets researchers develop a budget that is not specific to any one sponsor, permitting reuse of the same budget for multiple grant sources.
PIs enter data into generic budget categories that are recognized by all sponsors.
Then, GAMS translates the generic budget into the required format for each potential sponsor. GAMS contains specially tailored questions that help institutions assess the long-term commitment for facility modifications, personnel, or administrative research centers that will affect the research enterprise beyond the term of the proposal. GAMS tracks special reviews that are needed for sensitive areas like safety plans, hazardous materials handling, live tissue handling, and human subject testing. GAMS quickly helps a PI through the process of entering general information about a proposal, defining the budget periods to be covered, and then specifying budget amounts for each category of expenditure spread across those multiple periods. GAMS provides a running total of the developing budget, including fringes and overhead, for comparison with a target value.