Indirect Cost Rate Calculator

Calculate your organization's indirect cost rate (NICRA) from admin salaries, rent, utilities, IT, and other overhead divided by your modified total direct cost base.

Inputs

Admin Salaries ($)

Admin Fringe Benefits ($)

Rent / Occupancy ($)

Utilities ($)

Insurance ($)

IT / Technology ($)

Depreciation ($)

Other Indirect ($)

Total Direct Costs ($)

Capital Equipment ($)

Subawards Over $25K ($)

Participant Support ($)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Indirect Cost Rate (%)

24.07%

Total Indirect Pool

$180,500.00

≈ 12 used cars

MTDC Base$750,000.00

Indirect Charged to Grant$180,500.00

De Minimis (10%) Amount$75,000.00

Negotiated vs De Minimis$105,500.00

Overhead per Direct $0.24

Largest Category %61.2%

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your indirect (overhead) expenses by category: admin salaries, admin fringe, rent, utilities, insurance, IT, depreciation, and other indirect costs.
Enter Total Direct Costs, then any amounts to exclude from the base: capital equipment, subawards over $25K, and participant support costs.
Review the Calculated Indirect Cost Rate as a percentage of the MTDC base, along with the Total Indirect Pool and MTDC Base amounts.
Check how much you can charge to a grant at your calculated rate versus the de minimis rate (10% of MTDC) allowed without a negotiated rate.
Use the rate in grant budgets and negotiate with your cognizant federal agency for a formal rate agreement.

How the result changes with Total Direct Costs ($)

Total Direct Costs ($)	Indirect Cost Rate (%)	Total Indirect Pool
100,000,000	0.18%	$180,500.00
350,000,000	0.05%	$180,500.00
650,000,000	0.03%	$180,500.00
900,000,000	0.02%	$180,500.00

What each input means

Admin Salaries ($): Salaries for executive, finance, HR, and other admin staff.
Admin Fringe Benefits ($): Fringe benefits for administrative staff.
Rent / Occupancy ($): Office rent, mortgage, and related occupancy costs.
Utilities ($): Electric, gas, water, internet, phone.
Insurance ($): General liability, D&O, property, and umbrella insurance.
IT / Technology ($): Shared IT infrastructure, software licenses, tech support.
Depreciation ($): Depreciation on shared equipment and improvements.
Other Indirect ($): Audit fees, legal, accounting, postage, printing, etc.
Total Direct Costs ($): All direct program costs (salaries, travel, supplies, contractual, etc.).
Capital Equipment ($): Equipment items >= $5,000 (excluded from MTDC base).
Subawards Over $25K ($): Portion of subawards exceeding $25K per sub (excluded from MTDC).
Participant Support ($): Participant support costs like stipends, tuition (excluded from MTDC).

What each result means

Indirect Cost Rate (%): Your calculated indirect cost rate (indirect pool / MTDC base).
Total Indirect Pool: Sum of all indirect/overhead expenses.
MTDC Base: Modified Total Direct Costs (direct costs minus exclusions).
Indirect Charged to Grant: Indirect costs you can charge using your calculated rate.
De Minimis (10%) Amount: What you'd recover using the 10% de minimis rate instead.
Negotiated vs De Minimis: Additional recovery from a negotiated rate vs the 10% de minimis.
Overhead per Direct $: Indirect cost dollars per direct cost dollar.
Largest Category %: Percentage of indirect pool from the largest single category.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Admin Salaries ($) = 85000, Admin Fringe Benefits ($) = 25500, Rent / Occupancy ($) = 36000, Utilities ($) = 6000 = 12 input(s) provided
Calculate Indirect Cost Rate
24.07 = 24.07%
Calculate Total Indirect Pool
Total Indirect Pool = adminSalaries + adminFringe + rent + utilities + insurance + itCosts + deprec...
180500 = $180,500
Calculate MTDC Base
MTDC Base
750000 = $750,000
Calculate Indirect Charged to Grant
Indirect Charged to Grant = mtdcBase * (indirectCostRate / 100)
180500 = $180,500

Engine last updated August 6, 2026.

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