SF-424A: The Federal Budget Information Form

The SF-424A is Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs, the federal form that turns your grant budget into a standard layout: federal and non-federal shares, costs by object class category, quarterly cash needs for the first year, and federal funds needed in later years. Where the SF-424 cover form says who is applying and how much is requested, the SF-424A shows what the money buys. Reviewers and grants officers use it to check whether your numbers hold together.

SF-424 vs SF-424A: companions, not alternatives

The names suggest a choice, but a non-construction application normally needs both, filed in the same Grants.gov package.

Construction programs use the SF-424C, which organizes costs by construction stage (land, architectural and engineering fees, site work, demolition, construction, contingencies) rather than object class. You do not choose between A and C. The form in your Workspace is the one the agency wants, and a few programs that mix construction with program activity ask for both.

The fillable SF-424A comes inside your opportunity's application package in Grants.gov, as a browser webform or a downloadable PDF. Use the copy from your own Workspace. Sample PDFs on agency websites and the Grants.gov forms repository are for previewing only.

Section by section

Section A, Budget Summary. One row per grant program, function or activity, with its assistance listing number. For a new application, leave the unobligated funds columns (c) and (d) blank, and enter the federal share in column (e) and non-federal share in column (f) for the first funding period, usually a year. Column (g) and line 5 total automatically in the electronic form. Most applicants fill one row.

Section B, Budget Categories. The core of the form, covered line by line below. Columns (1) to (4) hold up to four programs, functions or activities, and column (5) totals them. Some agencies instead tell you to use the columns for budget years. Follow your notice. Line 7 records anticipated program income.

Section C, Non-Federal Resources. Cost share or match by source: applicant (8b), state (8c) and other sources such as donors (8d), totaled in 8e. Our guide to documenting cost share and in-kind contributions covers what counts and how to prove it.

Section D, Forecasted Cash Needs. Federal and non-federal cash needs by quarter for the first year. Agencies use it for cash management. An implausible pattern, such as the whole year drawn in the first quarter, invites questions.

Section E, Federal Funds Needed for Balance of the Project. Estimated federal funds for up to four future funding periods on a multi-year project.

Section F, Other Budget Information. Line 21 explains unusual direct costs. Line 22 states your indirect rate type (provisional, predetermined, final or fixed, or the de minimis rate), the base it applies to, and the total. Line 23 is for remarks. The printed form instructions still mention a 10% de minimis rate; the regulation now allows up to 15%, as explained below.

Section B, line by line

• 6a Personnel: salaries and wages for your own employees. Not contractors or outside consultants.
• 6b Fringe Benefits: employer-paid benefits on the salaries in 6a, at your actual or negotiated fringe rate.
• 6c Travel: staff transportation, lodging and per diem.
• 6d Equipment: tangible property with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit cost at or above the lesser of your capitalization threshold or $10,000 (2 CFR 200.1, as revised in 2024; the old figure was $5,000).
• 6e Supplies: tangible items that are not equipment. A $1,200 laptop belongs here.
• 6f Contractual: contracts and subawards with other organizations.
• 6g Construction: construction or major renovation, unallowable without specific statutory authority. Usually blank on an SF-424A.
• 6h Other: allowable costs that fit nowhere above. The Grants.gov instructions list individual consultant costs, local travel, insurance, professional services, printing and publications, and training costs such as tuition and stipends.
• 6i Total Direct Charges: the sum of 6a to 6h.
• 6j Indirect Charges: your indirect cost recovery.
• 6k Totals: 6i plus 6j. In column (5), this must equal the Section A total on line 5.

The 6d versus 6e boundary catches more applicants than any other line. It is set by your capitalization policy and the $10,000 ceiling, not by whether an item feels like equipment, and putting an item in the wrong line can trigger prior-approval requirements you did not plan for.

A worked Section B example

Illustrative only: a fictional nonprofit requesting one year of federal funds, with no negotiated indirect cost rate.

The indirect base is not $198,940. Modified total direct costs leave out the equipment ($12,000), the participant stipends ($9,000, which are participant support costs), and the part of the subaward above $50,000 ($10,000). That leaves $167,940, and 15% of it is $25,191. Section F, line 22 would state the de minimis rate, the $167,940 base and the $25,191 total. On the SF-424, item 18 would show a federal request of $224,131, assuming the agency asks for the first budget period and this is a one-year project.

Getting line 6j right

You can only claim indirect costs at a rate you are entitled to: either the rate in your negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, or, if you have no current negotiated rate, a de minimis rate of up to 15% of modified total direct costs (2 CFR 200.414(f)). You cannot pick a rate because it looks reasonable.

Modified total direct costs include salaries, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward. They exclude equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the part of each subaward above $50,000. Some programs cap indirect costs below your rate by statute or policy; the notice will say so. Our explainers on how indirect cost rates are calculated and which costs are direct and which are indirect go deeper.

The checks reviewers run first

Before anyone judges whether your budget is reasonable, they check whether it is correct:

1. Does 6i equal the sum of 6a to 6h, in every column?
2. Does 6k in column (5) equal Section A, line 5, column (g)?
3. Do the SF-424A figures agree with item 18 on the SF-424? The cover form is usually filled early and the budget finalized late, so they drift.
4. If match is required, does Section C agree with the non-federal lines on the SF-424 and with your match documentation?
5. Does every category total match the budget justification to the dollar?

The form gives the numbers; your budget narrative shows the math behind each one. Build both from one spreadsheet that uses the Section B categories as rows from the first draft, and the SF-424A becomes a transcription of arithmetic you have already checked. Our categorized budget builder produces a budget you can map straight onto Section B, and the cost principles in 2 CFR 200 decide what can go on any line at all.