A sound financial footing is essential for a well-run animal care program, and it is important that program directors and managers have a working knowledge of program finances. Animal care programs are being forced to do more with less while operational expenses continue to climb or remain flat at best. Given this new reality, informed and relentless financial management is more important than ever to ensure that programs meet their various stakeholders’ needs. Innovative programs are adapting a proactive budgeting and tracking process in which every cost is challenged with the intent to reduce or eliminate it eventually, and embedding this process in a general management culture that is committed to unyielding continuous improvement through eliminating unnecessary work while providing researchers and animals with faster, better, cheaper, safer services.
Effective and inventive fiscal management is of interest to many other laboratory animal constituencies, including
The parent organization, be it a university, governmental agency, or company looking for a quality program whose cost is reasonable and competitive. In addition, internal institutional groups (internal audit, budget offices, etc.) evaluate whether the program is fiscally sound.
Researchers want a well-run program that is affordable. Most universities and some private companies charge daily housing (also known as per diems) and other fees”“researchers pay attention to these rates and “comparison shop””“often without appreciating that variances between institutions’ per diem rates are due to differential institutional subsidies rather than operating costs. Daily housing fees may not be as prevalent at governmental agencies or companies, but researchers still want to ensure that the animal care program provides necessary resources.
Attractive wages and employee benefits are critical to maintaining animal care program staff. It is also important that fiscal managers embrace change and prepare for constant improvement and updating of resources needed by the animal program staff, such as supplies, equipment, and repairs and renovations.
Funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and foundations, require the animal care program to properly charge expenses according to funding agency guidelines. Billing rates should be based on actual costs.
Inspection and accrediting agencies (e.g., the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] and Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care [AAALAC]), although not interested in program finances, focus on whether necessary staffing, equipment, repairs and renovations, and so forth, have been funded and provided. These agencies help assure private and funding sources that animal use is justified and humane, and can have a favorable impact on an investigator’s proposal review. It is critical that animal program management ensure adequate financial resources to support these needs.
Sound financial management should tell the financial story in clear terms. It should meet the needs and format of the institution being served, and include acceptable accounting practices, sound budget planning, and frequent monitoring and adjustments. It should constantly examine practices and expenses, striving to reduce or eliminate wasteful spending and practices. It is very important to remember that unlike most supplies and services used by the investigators, animal care and maintenance is usually a monopoly and therefore will be viewed critically. The more transparent and fiscally sound the accounting practices, the easier it will be for the manager to tell the program’s story.
Financial management comprises four processes: planning, budgeting, monitoring, and cost accounting (Alford 2001). Each of the four steps should be performed on a regular (monthly is recommended) basis for both short-term and long-term management. To ignore any steps truly jeopardizes fiscal management in any organization.
© 2018 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.