TRAC fEC: the forecasting and accounting for full economic costs at a project level.

From 2005 all institutions are calculating the fEC of each research project, on a reliable and comprehensive basis. This is used to set the price for grants made by Government (the Research Councils and other government departments [OGDs] and informs the price on projects for other sponsors. The fEC of a project is made up of directly incurred costs, directly allocated costs, and indirect costs (the latter two types of cost use the rates produced from the annual TRAC process). This classification determines how they are recorded and validated. Directly incurred costs are recorded on the basis of standard costs established at the time of project approval. TRAC is a holistic approach, producing costs of Teaching, Research and other actvities. The initial focus of TRAC fEC is on research projects and there is detailed guidance in this area because the public funding of Research is now based on fEC.