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Information regarding completing the Financial Information section of the online application and project funding acquittal.
All applicants are required to complete the budget form in the online application. You must demonstrate thorough planning by including all income and expenditure associated with your activity. If your application is successful you will be required report your actual income and expenditure against your original budget figures in the online funding acquittal report.
Your budget is one of the key components of your application and provides evidence for the assessment criteria of financial responsibility. Your budget should demonstrate value for money, accurate costings and financial self-sufficiency. The assessment criteria details can be found in the program guides.
Check your program guideCheck the program guide for the program you are applying to before you proceed. The program guide will outline how much you can apply for, what items you may or may not include in your budget, and the assessment criteria that relate to your budget. Review current program details here.
The Financial Information section includes:
Some expenses may be offered to you for free or at a discount. This might be borrowed equipment, the use of a rehearsal space, donated or discounted goods or services, volunteers (including you), negotiated discounted fees and allowances. Anything given to your project at no expense to you is considered in-kind.
All in-kind items must be included as a budget item under the in-kind expenditure category. The corresponding recognition of in-kind income is created automatically in your online application, and you do not need to enter any in-kind income budget items. The total in-kind expenditure will always equal the total in-kind income.
If, for example, you are hiring a venue, which would normally charge $2000, and you have successfully negotiated an $800 (40%) discount, you would include venue hire fee as a budget item under the expenditure category of $1200 and $800 under the in-kind expenditure category.
Funding RequestYour funding request is the difference between your expenditure minus your income. As you enter and save budget items the key financial totals, including your funding request, will update at the top of the budget form.
TaxationThe Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers any grant payment to be taxable income for the purposes of your annual income tax return. Before you apply for a grant you are encouraged to discuss your tax implications with your tax agent or the ATO.
If you are registered for GST you must show your expenditure items exclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would only show lighting hire of $500. If your activity is funded, the department payment will include a 10% GST component to cover those items on which GST is payable.
If you are not registered for GST you must show your expenditure items inclusive of the GST component. For example, you have been quoted $550 including GST for lighting hire. In your expenditure budget you would show lighting hire of $550. If your activity is funded, the department payment will include the GST component for those items on which GST is payable.
Building your budgetYou must create a title for every budget item you enter in order for the budget amount to also save.
Click the Add New Item button to add more budget items.
All amounts must be in Australian dollars.
Budget NotesUse the Notes to explain how each item relates to the delivery of your activity and how the amount was calculated. The Notes field has a limit of 1000 characters including spaces. If you copy and paste information into the Notes field ensure you clear all formatting first and do not paste more than 1000 characters including spaces.
Indicate if items are Confirmed (C) or Not confirmed (NC) in your notes for each budget amount and indicate if you have provided a quote for this item in your support material. It is recommended that you provide quotes for major expenditure items in your support material.
Use the Notes to refer to appropriate rates of pay or, where applicable, negotiated fees based on industry standards for your sector. Refer to Salaries and fees in the Financial Definitions at the end of this page for further details.
Use the Additional Notes section to indicate which items you want the department to support and include details relevant to the budget overall.
Use the Save button frequently to ensure your expenditure and income items are saved as you progress through the budget.
Do not enter any URLs or web links in the Financial Information section of the online application or acquittal.
Technical SupportContact Online Grants Support if you require further assistance.
It is important that you refer to the financial definitions outlined below as you build your budget.
Expenses related to the management and administration of the activity. For example telephone/internet, insurance, postage and stationery. Eligible expenditure items in this category may also include audit costs and accessibility costs (expenditure associated with making your activity accessible to participants or audiences with a disability).
Marketing, promotion and distributionCosts associated with marketing to your target audience. For example information, promotion and audience engagement activities, advertising, graphic design, merchandise photography, videography, public relations and production of marketing collateral.
Preparation, development, production and exhibition/presentationCosts related to the remount, production and delivery of the activity or its deliverables, including the costs of presentation and exhibition. Eligible items may include venue hire, lighting hire, set construction, manufacturing costs, recording fees, rehearsal space hire, props and audio visual costs.
Salaries, fees and living allowancesExpenditure in this category should include salaries, fees and allowances for all key personnel, with separate components itemised in the budget notes. We support appropriate rates of pay for all people involved in your activity. Refer to the following websites for information on industry standard payment rates:
If these standards do not apply to your activity then you must outline how reasonable rates have been calculated. For long-term activities, it may be appropriate to pay artists a rate based on a yearly salary for a similar kind of work. If this is the case, you need to clearly explain the rationale for the pay rate in your budget notes.
Travel and freightCosts associated with transporting people, equipment or goods. Eligible items may include fares (taxi, airplane, bus etc.), tolls, land or air freight, and vehicle hire.
Most grant programs do not fund 100% of your activity costs. Check the program guide for the program you are applying to for details. In most cases you will need to demonstrate at least 20% income, which may include in-kind support. You can check your income to expenditure ratio in the funding totals at the top of the budget form.
Earned incomeMay include ticket sales, product sales, performance fees, royalties, artwork and/or merchandise sales. For performances, this amount should factor in the number of performances, average ticket price and projected venue capacity.
Corporate sponsorshipList any income received through sponsorship from corporate bodies or businesses. Income received through government sponsorship should be included in the relevant government income category.
Philanthropic donationsMay include contributions from fundraising, crowdfunding, donations, gifts and bequests.
Creative Australia, other Federal Government, other State Government, local governmentAll grants and sponsorship being sought from local government, State Government, Australian government, Creative Australia, and other government sources must be included, whether or not this support has been confirmed. If your application is to be assessed by a peer assessment panel, we will attempt to confirm the status of any pending funding applications directly with the funding body prior to the panel assessment. Do not include department grant funds being requested as part of this application.
Other incomeIf you are making a cash contribution, or someone is providing cash to the activity, list this item as a cash contribution or similar. Include any other income source that does not fit within any of the above categories and provide enough detail to identify the income source.
