Grant Budget Builder
Add line items and get a clean grant budget table with direct and indirect costs, ready to adapt to any funder.
The grant budget builder above turns a list of line items into a grant budget table. Choose a category for each line (personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, or other), describe it, enter the amount, and set an indirect cost rate. The builder totals your direct costs, applies the rate, and shows the total request. It does not save your entries, so copy your lines into a spreadsheet or your application before you leave the page.
How the builder calculates indirect costs
The builder applies your indirect rate to all direct costs. That matches many foundation budgets, which apply a flat overhead percentage to the whole project. It does not match the federal base. Federal awards apply the rate to modified total direct costs, a narrower base that leaves out items such as equipment, rent, participant support, tuition remission, and any subaward amount past the first $50,000. If your budget has any of those, calculate the base by hand and enter the indirect amount separately, or the builder will overstate your request. The federal de minimis rate for organizations without a negotiated rate is up to 15% of modified total direct costs for awards issued on or after October 1, 2024.
A sample grant budget
The illustrative budget below is for a fictional one-year after-school tutoring program applying to a federal program. It shows the math behind each line and the effect of the modified base.
| Category | Line item and calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel | Program director: $70,000 x 25% effort | $17,500 |
| Personnel | Program coordinator: $46,000 x 100% effort | $46,000 |
| Fringe benefits | $63,500 personnel x 28% fringe rate | $17,780 |
| Travel | Local mileage between three sites: 4,000 miles x $0.60 per mile (illustrative rate) | $2,400 |
| Equipment | None; no item costs $10,000 or more per unit | $0 |
| Supplies | Reading curriculum and assessments: 300 students x $40 | $12,000 |
| Supplies | Ten laptops for tutoring sessions: 10 x $900 | $9,000 |
| Contractual | External evaluator, fixed price from written quote | $15,000 |
| Other | Participant support: stipends and take-home materials for parents at family workshops, 24 workshops x $250 | $6,000 |
| Total direct costs | $125,680 | |
| Indirect costs | 15% de minimis rate x $119,680 modified base (total direct costs minus $6,000 participant support) | $17,952 |
| Total request | $143,632 |
Entered into the builder at 15%, the same lines would produce $18,852 in indirect costs, $900 too high, because the builder would include participant support in the base. The laptops sit under supplies because each costs less than the $10,000 federal equipment threshold.
From table to application
Federal applications transfer these category totals onto the SF-424A budget form; our section-by-section SF-424A guide shows where each one goes. Every line then needs a written justification, which the budget narrative template lays out category by category. For more worked examples, including foundation and operating budgets, see our grant budget template and examples; for what belongs in each category, see grant budget line items; and for the rules on overhead, see our explainer on overhead versus direct charges.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good example of a budget?+
A good grant budget example shows every figure as a calculation and makes the total traceable. The sample on this page, for a one-year program, lists each cost by category, shows how indirect costs are calculated on modified total direct costs rather than on everything, and arrives at a total a reviewer can check line by line.
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