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Calcimator

Laboratory Budget Calculator

Plan annual laboratory budgets from personnel, reagents, equipment, maintenance, and indirect costs with industry benchmark comparisons.

Inputs

%
%
%

Results

Total annual budget ($)

$844,821.00

≈ 20 Teslas

Monthly budget ($)$70,402.00
Personnel cost ($)$507,000.00
Reagents & consumables ($)$48,000.00
Equipment cost ($)$92,857.00
Maintenance cost ($)$28,000.00
Indirect costs ($)$168,964.00
Budget per FTE ($)$140,804.00
Personnel share (%)60
Reagent share (%)5.7
Equipment share (%)11
Cost per productive hour ($)$78.22
Direct Cost Per FTE$112,642.86
Maintenance (%) Total3.31%
Indirect (%)20%
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter annual costs for major budget categories: personnel, consumables, equipment, and facilities.
  2. Set overhead rate and indirect cost percentage from your institution's rate agreement.
  3. Input grant funding amounts and other revenue offsets.
  4. Review the net annual lab operating cost and cost per researcher or project.
  5. Use the breakdown to build grant budget justifications and identify areas for cost reduction.

How the result changes with Full-time equivalents (FTE)

Full-time equivalents (FTE)Total annual budget ($)
20$2,463,571.00
70$8,244,821.00
130$15,182,321.00
180$20,963,571.00

What each input means

Full-time equivalents (FTE)
Total full-time equivalent lab staff (researchers, technicians, managers).
Average salary ($)
Average annual base salary per FTE.
Benefits rate (%)
Benefits as percentage of salary (health, retirement, FICA, etc.).
Reagent budget per FTE ($)
Annual reagent and consumable budget per FTE.
New equipment capex ($)
Annual capital expenditure on new equipment purchases.
Existing equipment value ($)
Total acquisition value of existing equipment (for depreciation and maintenance).
Maintenance % of equipment
Annual maintenance as percentage of total equipment value (industry: 5-15%).
Indirect cost rate (%)
Indirect costs as percentage of direct costs (facilities, admin, utilities).

What each result means

Total annual budget ($)
Comprehensive annual laboratory budget including all cost categories.
Monthly budget ($)
Total budget divided by 12 months.
Personnel cost ($)
Total salaries plus benefits.
Reagents & consumables ($)
Total annual reagent and consumable budget.
Equipment cost ($)
New capex plus depreciation of existing equipment (7-year straight-line).
Maintenance cost ($)
Annual maintenance and service contract costs.
Indirect costs ($)
Facilities, admin, utilities, and other overhead.
Budget per FTE ($)
Total budget divided by number of FTE.
Personnel share (%)
Personnel as percentage of total budget (benchmark: 50-70%).
Reagent share (%)
Reagents as percentage of total budget (benchmark: 15-25%).
Equipment share (%)
Equipment as percentage of total budget (benchmark: 5-15%).
Cost per productive hour ($)
Total budget divided by productive lab hours (1,800 hrs/FTE/year).

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Full-time equivalents (FTE) = 6, Average salary ($) = 65000, Benefits rate (%) = 30, Reagent budget per FTE ($) = 8000 = 8 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Total annual budget
    Total annual budget = directCosts + indirectCosts
    844821 = $844,821
  3. Calculate Monthly budget
    Monthly budget = totalBudget / 12
    70402 = $70,402
  4. Calculate Personnel cost
    Personnel cost = totalSalaries + totalBenefits
    507000 = $507,000

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