Budgeting
You know what an effect measures, what Include Fringes % and Required Spend % do, and where you read an effect's total.
An effect is a total of the costs that count toward one funding condition. Assigning an effect to an account changes neither the account's cost nor any total of the budget.
Public funders and regional programmes tie their money to conditions, such as a share spent in the region, local hires or a minimum total. You set up one effect for each condition and assign it to every account that counts toward it. At any time, even while you are still building the budget, the effect's total shows how much of the budget counts toward the condition.
A company split changes who pays a cost (see [split costs between companies](/kb/article/split-costs-between-companies)). A fringe changes the amount of a cost. An effect does neither, however many accounts you assign it to. When you assign an effect, KOSMA only adds figures to the effect columns of the grid, to the printed budget and to **Topsheet Info**.
Funders count wage fringes differently: some count them in full as eligible costs, some in part, some not at all. In **Include Fringes %**, you set for each effect the percentage at which wage fringes count toward it.
An example: an account counts 50% toward an effect, and the effect's **Include Fringes %** is 100. The effect then gets 50% of the fringe that this account's wage creates. Supplements always count in full. Extra costs count toward the effects of their **Collect In Budget Account**, whatever effects the wage account has. **Include Fringes %** applies only to effects; company splits do not use it. When you change **Include Fringes %**, KOSMA updates the effect's figures at once.
Some funders require you to spend at least a set percentage of the funding they give you, for example in their region. An effect for such a minimum spend is a spending effect. In **Required Spend %**, you enter that percentage for each effect, as a whole number from 1 to 1000.
KOSMA uses **Required Spend %** only in the **Effects** widget of **Topsheet Info**. The grid does not show it.
In Budgeting, click  **Topsheet Info**. The **Effects** widget lists every effect that is in use and not hidden, in the order of the **Effects** settings. It shows the effect's total in the budget under **Budget**. What **Required** shows depends on the financing:
- Without a financing plan: **Required** shows the effect's **Required Spend %**. KOSMA does not compare it with **Budget**. - With a financing plan: **Required** shows the funding assigned to the effect, multiplied by **Required Spend %**. **Variance** shows **Budget** minus **Required**, in red when it is negative.
In the grid, you can show a column for each effect. For the steps, see [show company and effect columns](/kb/article/show-company-and-effect-columns). In the grid toolbox, the list under **Show or hide columns** offers every effect, hidden ones included. Groups, categories and totals show the sum of the rows below them. When you close Budgeting, KOSMA hides the effect columns again. **Topsheet Info**, the grid columns and the printed budget show the same figures.
You can read effect figures with every licence, Free included, and as a guest without editing access. To create an effect or assign it to an account, you need a licence that covers Budgeting, and you must be signed in. See [define and assign effects](/kb/article/define-and-assign-effects).
Markdown