Grant Budget & Indirect Cost Calculator

Total request = direct costs + indirect costs. Indirect costs are your rate times the base it applies to, usually modified total direct costs (MTDC). If you have no negotiated rate, 2 CFR 200.414 lets you use a de minimis rate of up to 15% of MTDC. Enter one budget period below to see each number.

a. Personnel

Salaries for people on the project. Effort is the share of their time spent on this project in the budget period.

b. Fringe benefits

Fringe rate (% of personnel)

Benefits such as payroll taxes, health insurance and retirement, as a percentage of salaries. Use your organization's actual rate.

c. Travel ($)

e. Supplies ($)

Materials and items below the equipment threshold.

d. Equipment

Items with a useful life over one year that cost at least the lesser of your capitalization level or $10,000 each (2 CFR 200.1). Equipment is not part of MTDC.

f. Contractual

A subaward passes part of the project's work to another organization. Only the first $50,000 of each subaward counts toward MTDC.

Contracts for services ($)

Vendors and consultants you buy services from. Services are part of MTDC.

h. Other

Participant support ($)

Stipends, travel and fees paid for training participants. Not part of MTDC.

Rent, tuition and other excluded costs ($)

Rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships, patient care and capital expenditures. Not part of MTDC.

All other direct costs ($)

For example publication costs or software subscriptions. Counted in MTDC.

j. Indirect costs

Indirect costs (also called facilities and administrative, or F&A) cover shared costs like rent, accounting and IT that are not charged to one project.

Rate type

De minimis rate (no negotiated rate), applied to MTDC

Negotiated indirect cost rate agreement

No indirect costs

Rate (%)

The de minimis rate cannot exceed 15% (2 CFR 200.414(f)). The calculation uses 15%.

Base in your rate agreement

Cost share

Required cost share (% of total project cost)

Budget summary (SF-424A categories)

Indirect base used: :
MTDC
Total project cost
Your cost share

Planning aid only. Nothing you enter is sent to GovGrantsUSA. Rules as of October 2026 from 2 CFR 200.414 and 200.1.

Frequently asked questions

Under 2 CFR 200.414(f), an organization without a current negotiated indirect cost rate (including a provisional rate) may elect a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs (MTDC). No documentation is required to use it. Awards issued before October 1, 2024 may still reference the older 10 percent rate, so check your award terms. Read 2 CFR 200.414.

MTDC is the base most indirect rates apply to. Per 2 CFR 200.1, it includes salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and the first $50,000 of each subaward. It excludes equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the part of each subaward above $50,000. Read the definition in 2 CFR 200.1.

Under 2 CFR 200.1, equipment is tangible property with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit cost at or above the lesser of your capitalization level or $10,000. Cheaper items are usually budgeted as supplies.

Use the base and rate written in your negotiated rate agreement. Agreements commonly use MTDC, total direct costs, or salaries and wages. Pick the matching base in the calculator.

No. The export uses the same cost categories as the SF-424A budget form (personnel, fringe, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, construction, other, indirect) so it is easy to copy over, but you still complete the official form in your application package.

Sources

Official sources this tool is based on, checked October 2026.

Planning aid only. Federal rules change; confirm against the cited official source and your award terms.

Independent platform. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. Data from public federal sources.

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