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.
About this calculator
An indirect cost rate expresses how much overhead — costs that support the whole organization rather than any single program, like admin salaries, rent, utilities, IT, insurance, depreciation, and similar shared expenses — you're allowed to recover per dollar of direct program spending. This calculator sums those overhead categories into a single indirect cost pool, then builds the denominator using the federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) definition of Modified Total Direct Costs: your total direct costs minus capital equipment purchases, the portion of any subaward above $25,000, and participant support costs like stipends or tuition, all of which are excluded from the MTDC base by rule because they don't proportionally drive overhead the way salaries and routine expenses do. The rate itself is simply the indirect pool divided by that MTDC base, expressed as a percentage.
From there, the calculator shows what that rate would let you recover on a given grant (MTDC base times your rate) and compares it against the 10% de minimis rate — the flat rate any organization that has never negotiated its own rate can claim without federal approval, per 2 CFR 200.414. It also flags your single largest overhead category as a share of the total pool, useful for spotting where cost allocation scrutiny is likely to land during an audit or negotiation. This tool computes a rate from the numbers you enter; it does not replace the actual negotiation process with your cognizant federal agency, which examines your full cost allocation methodology, not just the summary totals here.
Inputs
Results
Indirect Cost Rate (%)
24.07%
Total Indirect Pool
$180,500.00
≈ 12 used cars
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 375,000 | 48.13% | $180,500.00 |
| 562,500 | 32.09% | $180,500.00 |
| 1,125,000 | 16.04% | $180,500.00 |
| 1,875,000 | 9.63% | $180,500.00 |
What each input means
- Admin Salaries ($)
- 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 Parameters4 parametersAdmin Salaries ($) = 85000, Admin Fringe Benefits ($) = 25500, Rent / Occupancy ($) = 36000, Utilities ($) = 6000 = 12 input(s) provided
- Calculate Indirect Cost Rate24.07 = 24.07%
- Calculate Total Indirect PoolTotal Indirect Pool = adminSalaries + adminFringe + rent + utilities + insurance + itCosts + deprec...180500 = $180,500
- Calculate MTDC BaseMTDC Base750000 = $750,000
- Calculate Indirect Charged to GrantIndirect Charged to Grant = mtdcBase * (indirectCostRate / 100)180500 = $180,500
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are capital equipment and large subawards excluded from the MTDC base?
The MTDC Base is Total Direct Costs minus Capital Equipment, the portion of Subawards Over $25K, and Participant Support. These categories are excluded per 2 CFR 200's Modified Total Direct Costs definition because they don't proportionally drive overhead the way salaries and routine program spending do — a $200,000 equipment purchase or a $500,000 subaward doesn't generate five times the rent, utilities, or admin support that a comparable amount of direct staff salary would.
How does the calculator compare my negotiated rate against the de minimis rate?
De Minimis (10%) Amount applies the flat 10% rate to your MTDC Base, which any organization without a prior negotiated rate can claim under 2 CFR 200.414 without federal approval. Negotiated vs De Minimis then subtracts that flat amount from Indirect Charged to Grant (your MTDC Base times your calculated rate), so a positive number means your negotiated rate recovers more than the de minimis option would, and a negative number means the de minimis rate is actually more favorable.
What does the Largest Category % output help me identify?
It divides your single biggest indirect cost line item — admin salaries and fringe are combined into one category for this comparison — by the Total Indirect Pool. A high percentage concentrated in one category (say, admin salaries dominating at 60% of the pool) is exactly the kind of allocation a cognizant federal agency tends to scrutinize closely during rate negotiation, since it signals the rate is heavily dependent on one cost driver rather than distributed across several.
Does this calculator produce an officially negotiated indirect cost rate?
No. It computes a rate from the indirect pool and MTDC base figures you enter, which mirrors the federal Uniform Guidance methodology, but an actual Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) requires your cognizant federal agency to review your organization's full cost allocation methodology and supporting documentation, not just summary totals. Use this tool to estimate and sanity-check your rate before or during that negotiation process.
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