How much indirect cost can you charge on your grant budget?

How much indirect cost can you charge on this grant budget?

Enter your direct costs. The calculator finds your modified total direct costs (MTDC) with the first-$50,000-of-each-subaward and $10,000-equipment rules applied, the indirect cost at the 15% de minimis rate or your own, the effective rate you really get on direct costs, and, if the funder caps the total request, how much direct budget fits under the cap.

Your numbers, not grant or accounting advice. It applies the U.S. federal Uniform Guidance definition (2 CFR 200.1 and 200.414) to amounts you type; every threshold is editable because foundations, states and agencies set their own. Your funder's notice and your grants office decide what is allowed. Nothing is uploaded: the inputs are used in this browser tab only.

1. Direct costs for the whole award ($)

Salaries and wages Fringe benefits Materials and supplies Travel Services and consultants Other direct costs

Usually excluded from MTDC:

Tuition remission, scholarships Participant support costs Rental costs Patient care charges

Equipment, one price per line

Subawards, one total amount per line

2. Rate, base and limits

Indirect rate (%) Rate applies to Equipment threshold per unit ($) Subaward amount in the base ($) Funder's total award cap ($, optional)

The budget

In the base	Amount

Excluded from MTDC	Amount

Totals

Line	Amount

At other rates

Rate	Indirect	Total request	Share of direct

The rows are arithmetic on what you typed. Rates above 15% need a negotiated rate agreement with your cognizant agency; check the notice of funding for any lower cap.

What's recognised

Input	Handling

More: What is MTDC, and how to calculate indirect costs on a grant budget.

Common questions

What is MTDC and why is it not just my direct costs?

Modified total direct costs are your direct costs minus items the federal Uniform Guidance excludes from the indirect-cost base: equipment of $10,000 or more per unit, tuition remission, participant support costs, rental costs, patient care charges, scholarships and fellowships, and the part of each subaward above the first $50,000. Indirect is a percent of that smaller base, so your effective rate on total direct costs is lower than the nominal rate.

What is the de minimis indirect cost rate?

An organisation that has never had a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement may elect a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of MTDC under 2 CFR 200.414 (raised from 10 percent for awards on or after October 1, 2024). Funders such as foundations often set their own, lower caps.

Does the $50,000 subaward limit apply to each subaward or the total?

Each subaward. The first $50,000 of every subaward is in the MTDC base for the life of the award; only the excess is excluded. Two $80,000 subawards put $100,000 in the base, not $50,000.

Does this give grant or accounting advice?

No. It does arithmetic on the numbers you type using the federal definition, with every threshold editable. Your funder's notice of funding, your negotiated rate agreement and your institution's grants office decide what is allowed. Nothing is uploaded.