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AFB Form Expressions: Real World Scenarios

Emily Yeomans

Expression fields in the Advanced Form Builder (AFB) allow you to perform calculations directly in form fields. This is especially powerful in research budgeting scenarios or compliance checks, where complex formulas often need to be applied consistently across records.

This article provides real-world examples of how expression fields can automate calculations such as salary effort, fringe benefits, indirect costs, cost sharing, and multi-period totals.

Example 1: Salary & Fringe Calculations

Scenario: A PI requests 25% effort on a project, with fringe benefits applied at 30%.

Fields Used:

  • Annual Base Salary (field1) = 100,000
  • Percent Effort (field2) = 25%
  • Fringe Rate (field3) = 30%
  • Salary Requested (field4)
  • Fringe Requested (field5)
  • Total Personnel Costs (field6)

Expressions:

field4 = {{field1 * field2 / 100}}  

field5 = {{field4 * field3 / 100}}  

field6 = {{field4 + field5}}  

Result:

  • Salary Requested = $25,000
  • Fringe Requested = $7,500
  • Total Personnel Costs = $32,500

Example 2: MTDC Indirect Cost Calculation

Scenario: NIH caps indirect cost recovery at the first $25,000 of each subaward.

Fields Used:

  • field1 = Direct Costs (total, including subaward)
  • field2 = Subaward Amount
  • field3 = F&A Rate
  • field4 = MTDC Base (Expression Field)
  • field5 = Indirect Costs (Expression Field)

Expressions:

field4 = {{field2 > 25000 ? field1 - field2 + 25000 : field1}}

field5 =  {{field4 * field3 / 100}}

Results

  • Example A: Direct Costs = $150,000, Subaward = $60,000, F&A = 50%
    • MTDC Base =  {{ 60,000 > 25,000 ? 150,000 - 60,000 + 25,000 : 150,000}} 
      • Since 60,000 > 25,000 is true, use the first expression, and result is -> 150,000 − 60,000 + 25,000 = 115,000
    • Indirect Costs = 115,000 × 50 / 100 = 57,500
  • Example B: Direct Costs = $150,000, Subaward = $10,000, F&A = 50%
    • MTDC Base = {{ 10,000 > 25,000 ? 150,000 - 10,000 + 25,000 : 150,000}}
      • Since 10,000 > 25,000 is false, use the second expression, and result is -> 150,000 (subaward ≤ 25k, so fully included)
    • Indirect Costs = 150,000 × 50 / 100 = 75,000

Example 3: Cost Sharing Requirements

Scenario: Institution commits to a 20% cost share.

Fields Used:

  • Sponsor Direct Costs (field1) = $200,000
  • Cost Share % (field2) = 20%
  • Institutional Cost Share (field3)

Expression:

field3 = {{field1 * field2 / 100}}

Result:
Institutional Cost Share = $40,000

Example 4: Multi-Period Budget Rollup

Scenario: A project spans 3 years with separate period budgets.

Fields Used:

  • Period 1 Direct Costs (field1) = $100,000
  • Period 2 Direct Costs (field2) = $110,000
  • Period 3 Direct Costs (field3) = $120,000
  • Cumulative Direct Costs (field4)

Expression:

field4 = {{field1 + field2 + field3}}  

Result:
Cumulative Direct Costs = $330,000

Example 5: Escalating Salary Projections

Scenario: Salaries escalate by 3% annually.

Fields Used:

  • Base Year Salary (field1) = $80,000
  • Escalation Rate (field2) = 3%
  • Year 2 Salary (field3)
  • Year 3 Salary (field4)

Expressions:

field3 = field1 * {{1 + field2 / 100}}  

field4 = field3 * {{1 + field2 / 100}}  

Result:

  • Year 2 Salary = $82,400
  • Year 3 Salary = $84,872

Example 6: Participant Support Stipends

Scenario: A program funds stipends for multiple participants across multiple sessions.

Fields Used:

  • Number of Participants (field1) = 10
  • Stipend per Participant (field2) = $500
  • Number of Sessions (field3) = 4
  • Total Participant Support (field4)

Expression:

field4 = {{field1 * field2 * field3}}  

Result:

  • Total Participant Support = $20,000

Example 7: Concatenating Fields

Scenario 7a: Automatically create a reporting-friendly field that combines project title and PI name.

Fields:

  • Project Title (field1) = “Climate Impact Study”
  • PI Last Name (field2) = “Nguyen”
  • Project Display Name (field3)

Expression:

field3 = field1 + " (" + field2 + ")"  

Result:
Climate Impact Study (Nguyen)

Scenario 7b: Concatenate sponsor, award number, and fiscal year into one identifier.

Fields:

  • Sponsor Code (field1) = “NSF”
  • Award Number (field2) = “12345”
  • Fiscal Year (field3) = “2025”
  • Combined Award ID (field4)

Expression:

field4 = {{field1 + "-" + field2 + "-" + field3}}  

Result:
NSF-12345-2025

Example 8: If/Then/Else Logic

Scenario 8a: Flag whether a project is modular or non-modular based on cost threshold.

Fields:

  • Total Direct Costs (field1) = 300,000
  • Budget Category (field2)

Expression:

field2 = {{ field1 > 250000 ? "Non-Modular" : field1 > 0 ? "Modular" : "" }}

  • This would result in “Non-Modular” when Total Direct Costs > 250000, “Modular” when 250000 >= Total Direct Costs > 0, and blank when Total Direct Costs <= 0.

Result:
Non-Modular

Scenario 8b: Apply different indirect cost rates depending on sponsor type.

Fields:

  • Direct Costs (field1) = $100,000
  • Sponsor Type (field2) = “Federal” or “Industry”
  • Federal F&A Rate (field3) = 50%
  • Industry F&A Rate (field4) = 60%
  • Indirect Costs (field5)

Expression:

field5 = {{ field2 == 'Federal' ? field1 * field3 / 100 : field2 == 'Industry' ? field1 * field4 / 100 : "" }}  

  • This would result in multiplying by the appropriate federal or industry rate if Sponsor Type is answered with one of those values, but would also result in Indirect Costs being blank if Sponsor Type is not answered, or isn’t set to “Federal” or “Industry”

Result (Federal): $50,000
Result (Industry): $60,000

Scenario 8c: Apply fringe only if effort > 0%.

Fields:

  • Effort % (field1)
  • Salary (field2)
  • Fringe Rate (field3)
  • Fringe Costs (field4)

Expression:

field4 = {{ field1 > 0 ? field2 * field1 / 100 * field3 / 100 : 0}}  

Result:field3 ={{field1 * field2 / 100}}

  • Effort = 0 → Fringe Costs = $0
  • Effort = 25% (Salary = $100k) → Fringe = $7,500

Example 9: Compliance Risk Rating

Scenario: Automatically assign a risk level based on multiple compliance-related answers.

Use additive logic with comparisons, following the equals/any-answer patterns documented in Advanced Form Builder: Display/Ignore Logic.

Fields:

  • export_control_flag (checkbox)
  • pi_prior_noncompliance (checkbox)
  • foreign_component_flag (checkbox)
  • human_subjects_risk (Clinical Trial, Full Board, Expedited)
  • undisclosed_coi_flag (checkbox)
  • Risk Score (field6)
  • Risk Rating (field7)

Expression:

An example risk score formula using those fields could be:

field6 = {{ (export_control_flag == 'Yes' ? 1 : 0) * 3 + (pi_prior_noncompliance == 'Yes' ? 1 : 0) * 3 +

(foreign_component_flag == 'Yes' ? 1 : 0) * 2 + (human_subjects_risk == 'Clinical Trial' ? 3 :

human_subjects_risk == 'Full Board' ? 2 : human_subjects_risk == 'Expedited' ? 1 : 0) + 

(undisclosed_coi_flag == 'Yes' ? 1 : 0) * 2 }}

Where the bolded instances of 3, 2, 1, 0 are the desired risk weighting factors. 

Then an example risk rating field could be:

field7 = {{ field6 >= 5 ? "High" : field6 >= 3 ? "Medium" : field6 > 0 ? "Low" : "" }}

Which would leave the Risk Rating field blank until the Risk Score field had been calculated

Results

Here’s how the rating would look in practice:

  • Case 1: A study flagged for export control (3 points) and prior noncompliance (3 points).
    • Risk Score = 6
    • Risk Rating = High
       
  • Case 2: A study with Full Board IRB review (2 points) and a foreign component (2 points).
    • Risk Score = 4
    • Risk Rating = Medium
       
  • Case 3: A study with no export control, no foreign component, and expedited IRB review (1 point).
    • Risk Score = 1
    • Risk Rating = Low

Example 10: Clinical Trial Budgets

Clinical trial budgets often include one-time fees, per-patient reimbursements, and either percentage-based or flat indirect costs. Expression fields allow you to capture these parameters at a high level and easily generate both the FOA maximum and realistic enrollment scenarios.

Example Parameters (Pfizer FOA):

  • StartupCosts = $5,000 (one-time)
  • Data Storage = $1,000 (one-time)
  • Study Closeout = $2,000 (one-time)
  • Per-Patient Reimbursement = $100
  • Indirect Costs (flat) = $5,000
  • Planned Enrollment = 100 patients
  • Realistic Enrollment = 60 patients

Fields

  • field1 = Startup Costs
  • field2 = Data Storage Costs
  • field3 = Closeout Costs
  • field4 = Per-Patient Reimbursement
  • field5 = Planned Patients (from FOA)
  • field6 = Realistic Patients (institution assumption)
  • field7 = Indirect Costs (flat)
  • field8 = FOA Budget (max)
  • field9 = Realistic Budget

Expressions

FOA Maximum Budget:

field8 = {{field1 + field2 + field3 + (field4 * field5) + field7}}

Realistic Enrollment Budget:

field9 = {{field1 + field2 + field3 + (field4 * field6) + field7}}

Results (with the example values)

  • FOA Budget (100 patients) = $23,000
  • Realistic Budget (60 patients) = $17,000

Best Practices

  • Retain IDs and Short Labels when replacing form objects with expression fields so reporting remains consistent: https://support.cayuse.com/hc/en-us/articles/44084024655123-Replacing-Form-Objects-with-Expression-Field-Objects
  • Use Preview Mode to validate that expressions return expected results before publishing.

 

 

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