Grant Budget Management System (GBMS)

The Grant Budget Management System (GBMS) is a web-based application designed to assist researchers, administrators, and grant managers in creating and managing grant budgets. The system streamlines the budgeting process, tracks personnel costs, and calculates direct and indirect costs efficiently.

Live Demo

Access the live application here.

Features

User Authentication: Secure login and registration system.
Grant Management:
- Create and manage grant budgets.
- Assign roles to team members (PI, Co-PI, etc.).
Dynamic Budget Calculation:
- Calculate yearly and total costs dynamically.
- Integrate fringe and indirect cost calculations.
Excel Export: Download grant budgets as well-formatted Excel sheets.
Responsive Design: Accessible on desktop and mobile devices.

Technologies Used

Programming Languages

Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
Backend: PHP (>=8.0)

Database

MySQL: Used for storing user data, grant details, and budgeting information.
JawsDB: Cloud-hosted MySQL database for Heroku deployment.

Tools and Frameworks

PhpSpreadsheet: For generating downloadable Excel files with budget details.
Dotenv: For managing environment variables in local development.
Composer: For dependency management in PHP.
Heroku: For hosting the application.

Database Schema

Users Table

The Users table serves as the backbone of the system, storing critical user data for authentication and role management. Each user has attributes like:

Unique username and email for login and identification.
Organization affiliation, which can help manage grants across multiple institutions.
Integration with other tables ensures seamless role assignment (e.g., PI, Co-PI, or viewer) for various grants through the grant_users table.

This table highlights how the system supports a multi-user environment for collaborative grant management.

Grants Table

The Grants table captures vital information about grants, making it a central hub for managing research projects. Key details include:

Funding agency information (e.g., NSF, NIH) to identify the source of the grant.
Duration and financial data to manage long-term projects.
Direct relationships with users (through the user_id) and budget items ensure tight integration of administrative, financial, and operational data.

This table showcases how the project accommodates comprehensive grant tracking.

Budget Items Table

The Budget Items table is a granular tracker of financial allocations within grants. Highlights include:

Tracking multi-year budgets across up to six years.
Attributes like description, amount, and hourly rate, ensuring precise financial records.
Relationships with the Grants and Budget Categories tables enable categorization and contextualization of spending.

This table emphasizes the system's ability to handle complex financial data in detail.

Budget Categories Table

The Budget Categories table defines and enforces the structure of the budget. It provides:

Predefined categories (e.g., Personnel Compensation, Equipment, Travel) that align with funding agency requirements.
Restrictions to ensure compliance with grant rules, such as limits on equipment spending.

This table simplifies grant budgeting by providing clear frameworks for categorization.

Fringe Rates Table

The Fringe Rates table is an auxiliary but important component for calculating personnel costs. It includes:

Role-specific rates (e.g., Faculty, GRAs) to standardize cost projections.
Multi-year rates to align with the duration of grants.

This table demonstrates the system's ability to support accurate financial forecasting.

Grant Users Table

The Grant Users table links users to grants with specific roles (e.g., creator, PI, Co-PI, or viewer). Key attributes include:

Role assignment, which dictates user permissions.
Status tracking (e.g., pending, accepted, rejected) to manage collaboration.

This table highlights the system's collaborative nature and robust access control mechanisms.

Notifications Table

The Notifications table adds a dynamic layer of communication, allowing users to:

Receive updates about their grants, such as invitations or role changes.
Track notification statuses (e.g., read or unread) for follow-up actions.

This table enhances usability by keeping users informed about project developments.

Salaries Table

The Salaries table provides a standardized reference for personnel compensation. Key features include:

Role-specific hourly rates for budgeting personnel costs.
Multi-year data to handle grant durations effectively.

This table supports transparent and consistent budgeting for human resources.

Key Highlights

Centralized Grant Management: The Grants table connects users, budgets, and notifications, ensuring a streamlined workflow.
Comprehensive Budget Tracking: The combination of Budget Items and Budget Categories tables ensures that every dollar is categorized and tracked accurately.
Collaborative Environment: The Grant Users table enables multi-role assignments, allowing diverse teams to collaborate effectively.
Dynamic and Scalable: The modular design, with auxiliary tables like Fringe Rates and Salaries, ensures the system can adapt to complex funding requirements.

Here's my Entity-Relationship Model for this project:

More details about database can be found in grant_budget.sql.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

PHP (>=8.0)
Composer
MySQL
Git

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/dristanta-silwal/grant-budget-management-system
cd grant-budget-management-system

Install dependencies:
```
composer install
```

Configure environment variables:

Create a .env file in the root directory with the following:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_PORT=3306

Set up the database:
- Import the provided SQL schema into your MySQL database:
```
mysql -u your_username -p your_database < grant_budget.sql
```
Run the application locally:
```
php -S localhost:8000
```
Access the application:
- Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000.

Deployment on Heroku

Install the Heroku CLI and log in:
```
heroku login
```

Create a Heroku app and add JawsDB:

heroku create
heroku addons:create jawsdb

Push your code to Heroku:
```
git push heroku main
```
Access your application using the Heroku-provided URL.

Usage

Login/Register: Start by creating an account or logging in.
Manage Grants:
- Add new grants with details like title, agency, and duration.
- Assign personnel roles and calculate costs dynamically.
Export Data:
- Download the budget as an Excel file for offline use.

Screenshots

Login Page

Register Page

Budget Management Dashboard

Notifications

Create Grant

Manage People

Manage Budget

Generated default Excel file

Click Here to View

Running the Project

Locally

Follow the installation steps to set up the project on your local machine.

On Heroku

Access the live application at the live demo link.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

Fork the repository.
Create a new branch:
```
git checkout -b feature-name
```
Make your changes and commit them:
```
git commit -m "Add feature-name"
```
Push to your branch:
```
git push origin feature-name
```
Submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contact

For any inquiries or feedback, please contact Dristanta Silwal at dristantasilwal003@gmail.com.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 12 Commits
assets		assets
docs		docs
.gitignore		.gitignore
Procfile		Procfile
README.md		README.md
add_budget.php		add_budget.php
add_people.php		add_people.php
composer.json		composer.json
composer.lock		composer.lock
create_grant.php		create_grant.php
db.php		db.php
delete_grant.php		delete_grant.php
download.php		download.php
footer.php		footer.php
forget_password.php		forget_password.php
grant_budget.sql		grant_budget.sql
grants.php		grants.php
header.php		header.php
index.php		index.php
login.php		login.php
logout.php		logout.php
manage_people.php		manage_people.php
notifications.php		notifications.php
register.php		register.php
search_users.php		search_users.php
style.css		style.css
update_fringes.php		update_fringes.php
update_role.php		update_role.php
update_salaries.php		update_salaries.php

dristanta-silwal/grant-budget-management-system

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