Do you really know how much it costs your facility to synthesize an oligonucleotide or peptide? An informal survey of facility managers at almost any gathering brings home the point that most of us have only a vague idea of what our services truly cost. While it is relatively easy for most facilities to determine their total annual expenses, it is often much more difficult to determine the costs associated with any individual service. The most important ingredient in calculating true costs is quality record keeping. While this may seem obvious, most facilities' records are probably not kept in such a way that the needed information can be extracted. Many are not even computerized! The first step in keeping useful records is to develop and use a system for separating costs according to their end functions - oligo synthesis, peptide synthesis, protein sequencing, etc. Working with your accounting department, you can develop your own cost centers or project codes to sort out these fiscal destinations. Then use the codes. If your lab develops the routine of assigning expenses, then you should be able to generate cost reports almost effortlessly. If your accounting department does not have this capability, you should try to develop a lab internal accounting system. Include only a minimum of input as double accounting to no apparent end can kill enthusiasm for the project. Clearly, a computer database/spreadsheet program is a boon, if not a necessity. It is important to break down your efforts into realistic components. For oligo synthesis, the parameters might be columns used, synthesis scale, and bases per oligo. Once expenditures are properly tracked, production must also be monitored.
For the past several years we have kept detailed records of our production expenses associated with peptide and oligonucleotide synthesis. The information gleaned from this exercise may prove useful to other core laboratories. Our most expensive service (in terms of operating costs) is the synthesis of oligo-nucleotides. Using a base unit of one base of a 0.2 umol oligo synthesized (without purification), we produced 68,000 units in fiscal 1992 (9191-8/92). This includes higher and lower micro-molar syntheses factored in pro-rata. The funds designated to this project (labor, material, and university overhead) were approximately $272,000, or about $4.00 per base, columns included. In the case of peptides, our unit was one residue synthesized from 2 mmole cartridges. We produced 2,400 units in fiscal 1992 at a proportioned cost of $106,000, or about $44.25 per residue (purified). Again, this price includes labor and overhead. The costs of syntheses were individually calculated since there is a tremendous difference in the cost of reagents depending upon the particular amino acid. Additional services, such as peptide sequencing and amino acid analysis are included in our costs as part of our quality control. We maintain a separate identity in the database for each of these sub-services against the day when they will be offered as separate, charge-back services.
Obviously, the accuracy of your cost estimates increases with time as the sampling of expenditures and volume of production becomes statistically significant. With a flexible database, it is possible to provide customers with realistic cost estimates for each service and hence, to determine and to justify individual user fees. In addition, good accounting can prevent one service from unknowingly subsidizing another and can readily highlight trends in the cost effectiveness of each service.
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