Hi guys, I was wondering if FIRST requires that we send our most recent year’s budget before going to our competition(s). For example, do we send exactly how much we spent and how much we gained? And if we do, where can I find details about what is expected?
Thanks
You are not required to submit a budget to FIRST. You can include pricing on the BOM that you show at competition, but team budgets are not required (and I’m not sure if they’re even accepted).
Robot budget, yes. You need to fill out an official Bill of Materials that documents all the materials used on your robot and their cost. This documents that you’re in compliance with the $3500 maximum robot budget.
Team budget, no. There is no general requirement that you submit your team’s budget to FIRST. This MAY be a requirement of a grant you’re receiving, however. Talk with the organization that’s providing you the grant to find out, though that information should be contained in whatever agreement you signed to receive your grant money.
Having your team budget information CAN be useful, however. Both from obvious budgeting standpoint and for getting awards. The Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship Award requires that you have a formal business plan available for judges to review in the Pits. A budget is obviously a very important part of a business plan. It’s also useful in some small part for Chairman’s to show that you have a focus on creating a sustainable program that will be making a long term difference.
FIRST asks for a total team budget in TIMS.
Your team’s main adult contact enters that number.
No budget breakdown is requested though.
Wow, to all of you guys - thanks so much!
I was not aware of the Bill of Materials requirement but I do have all of our expenses and income documented so it shouldn’t be to hard to create a BOM.
This has been extremely helpful. I’m glad people from other teams are truly willing to offer advice. By all means, keep up the gracious professionalism!
If you don’t have a BOM yet, you need to scramble to assemble a detailed report of the materials on the robot. All materials that you used on the robot must be documented and the costs detailed. The materials you used from the KOP must also be listed, but you list those as $0.00 value.
Use the template found at the bottom of this page.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/competition-manual-and-related-documents