X5 training

This twenty minute presentation is aimed at new administrators, research facilitators, finance officers or other departmental staff who need to have an understanding of full economic costs (FEC) and who will be creating costings in X5. It is a prerequisite for the 'X5 for costing creators' course below. 

INTRODUCTION TO FEC VIDEO 

After viewing the FEC video, you may find the handout of the slides helpful:

Introduction to FEC handout - 2025 FEC rates   

Please note that training videos should not be viewed via Remote Desktop, as this tends to cause sound and quality issues. Please also avoid viewing them in Chrome, as you may not be able to rewind/fast-forward when viewing them via this browser. If you have any other technical problems viewing them please email the X5 helpdesk.

Course description

This online course is a hands-on PC-based course with practical exercises. It is aimed at new administrators, research facilitators, finance officers or other departmental staff who will be creating costings in X5 and need an overview of the costing creation process. This course is a mandatory requirement for any users who require the role of Costing Creator in X5.

Course format

Training is divided into 9 modules, each consisting of a half hour training videos (found below), followed by an individual training activity to carry out in a separate training environment. You should allow 7-9 hours to watch all of the training videos and complete the activities for all modules, but this can be spread as you like over your booked week (please note the training environment gets wiped every weekend so training cannot be extended into another week).

How to book

Training for new costing creators should be requested via the X5 User Access form when initially requesting X5 access for a new user. When completing the form, a specific week can be requested for the user to complete the training in. The X5 training team will then email a training invite to the user, along with the training activities, links, and instructions that they will need. 

Where refresher training for existing users is required, please email the X5 training team if you would like to redo the training activities. The below training videos are available to view or re-watch at any time.

Course training videos

• Introduction – overview of course
• Module 1 – navigating and searching
• Module 2 – creating a project and costing
• Module 3 – costing overview and entering DA staff cost
• Module 4 – entering costing details: DI staff, student and equipment costs
• Module 5 – entering costing details: facilities, non-staff and external collaborator
• Module 6 – pricing and completing your costing
• Module 7 – reviewing and submitting your costing into workflow
• Module 8 – processing costings in the workflow
• Module 9 – creating award costings, review and further information

Technical requirements for viewing the videos

Please note that you will need to be logged on with your Single Sign On (SSO) to view the videos, and if viewing them remotely, you may also need to be connected to VPN. Some browsers work better than others depending on the device you are using to access them, so if you encounter any issues with viewing the videos, please try to access them in another browser.  If you have any other technical problems viewing them please email the X5 helpdesk.

An overview of the collaborative costing process can be found in the X5 collaborative costing information session video which was recorded in November 2020.

The video covers why we have internal collaborative costings, the process from start to finish, and what to do if you encounter problems.

You can also view the X5 collaborative costings overview  PowerPoint slides from the session. 

For more detail on the internal collaborative costings process – particularly the workflow side of things – please also refer to the X5 guide to collaborative costings   

• External collaborator or subcontractor    (explains the difference between them and where to put their costs in X5)
• FEC FAQs    (published by UKRI – useful when doing costings for the Research Councils)
• X5 costing creator checklist    (a list of possible costs that could be requested on a grant application – useful when working with new PIs)
• Creating a new project and costing    (useful if you are a new or infrequent user of X5 and need to create a new project)
• Editing a draft costing    (useful if you are a new or infrequent user of X5 and need to populate a costing)
• X5 and award set-up: FEC and non-FEC awards    (an explanation of how research awards are set up on Oracle – useful for new users with both pre and post award responsibilities)
• Guide to collaborative costings    (explains the internal collaborative process in X5)
• Current X5 bugs    (existing issues and how to work around them in X5)