Checklist of possible costs	
		Salary and related costs	
		Salary costs include salaries, wages, shift premiums, foreign service directives, overtime allowances, acting pay, reclassifications, bilingual bonuses, pay equity payments, relocation, education leave, and training and development leave.	
		Employee benefits payments (commonly referred to as EBP) are currently calculated at 20 per cent of total salary costs. They consist of employer costs for superannuation, the Canada Pension Plan, and employment insurance plans and must be considered as incremental costs when calculating the human resources component of a submission. While EBP is not charged to departmental operating budgets at this time, it is a cost to government that must be funded. Your financial services can provide the latest rates for calculating EBP.	
		Accommodation costs	
		These costs fall under one of three scenarios.	
		First, if new staff is going to work out of office space owned or leased by Public Works and Government Services, the latter charges an accommodation premium. This is currently calculated at 13 per cent of total salary costs and must be included in any costing of new salaries. While the sponsoring department must fund these costs, the monies to cover them are held centrally. Your financial services can provide the latest rate for calculating this premium.	
		Second, if new staff is going to work out of office space owned by your department, you should check with your financial services about how to deal with these costs.	
		Third, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) usually provides accommodation for staff working outside Canada. This is done on a cost-recovery basis under the TBS’ departmental Common Services Policy (http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca/Pubs_pol/dcgpubs/TB_93/CSP_e.asp). Because providing office and living space requires long lead-time, you should inform DFAIT as early as you can of any plans to post staff abroad.	
		Other operating costs	
		These include: travel; conferences; freight; postage; training; personal and professional service and other contracts; internal or external communications; personal computers; software; furniture; office supplies; internal professional services such as legal counsel, auditors, evaluators; and corporate services such as IT, library, mail room, management of information, telecommunications, and security.	
		They also include minor capital (i.e., operating inputs that can substitute for capital expenditures but are not investments in basic program infrastructure). Because departmental management does not control minor capital separately, managers have the discretion to reallocate it freely within their operating budgets. These costs must include any replacement or maintenance expenses.	
		Major capital	
		This is capital that a department controls separately. It includes the acquisition or construction of land, buildings, engineering structures and works, car fleets, ships, planes, as well as the costs of major alterations, repairs, or renovations to extend the life of such assets.	
		Major capital may include requirements that exceed a department’s project authorities or limits. These costs must take in any replacement or maintenance expenses. You should use a life-cycle approach in costing such initiatives.	
		The Goods and Services Tax and Harmonized Sales Tax	
		The GST and HST are not charged to departments’ operating budgets but to an accountable advance account in the normal course of budgeting and accounting. As such, there is no need to show these taxes separately in proposals seeking new resources to carry out government programs and policies.	
		You should, however, display the GST and HST separately in costing major initiatives that fall under the TB’s Project Management Policy. In many such ventures, these taxes can be significant. These must be included in calculating a project's costs and reviewing these against a department's TB delegated authority for project approvals. Listing them separately also allows for more transparency when presenting proposals to Treasury Board ministers.	
		Transfer payments	
		These are transfers of money, goods, services, or assets made from an appropriation to individuals, organizations, or other levels of government, without the federal government receiving goods or services directly in return.	
		They include grants, which are transfer payments that are not subject to being accounted for or audited, but for which eligibility and entitlement may be verified or for which the recipient(s) may need to meet certain pre-conditions.	
		They also include contributions, which are conditional transfer payments for a specified purpose made under a contribution agreement that is subject to being accounted for and audited.