SBIR STTR Budget Template, Excel Cost and Indirect Rate Builder, Fringe Overhead G&A Rates, Phase I and Phase II Proposal Budget

Build an SBIR or STTR proposal budget from your own company numbers.

This Excel workbook helps you work out fringe, overhead and G&A rates from a 12-month company budget, list your people and other costs by period, and roll them into a budget by year and by phase, with fee, total price, award-cap checks and work-share checks. The Proposal Summary tab gives you a one-page cost summary to use when you fill in your agency's budget forms.

WHAT'S INSIDE (8 TABS)
- Start Here: tab map, color legend and key terms in plain English
- Inputs: company, program (SBIR or STTR), budget periods, award caps, fee and work-share minimums from your solicitation
- Direct Labor: 15-row roster with role, pay, hours in each period and yearly raises
- Other Direct Costs: 20 item rows for materials, equipment, travel, subcontractors, consultants and the research partner
- Indirect Rates: fringe, overhead and G&A cost pools from your company budget, the computed rates, and an override column for a provisional or negotiated rate
- Budget: each cost line by period and phase, with fee, total price, award-cap check and work share, plus information-only flags for NIH and NSF indirect-cost limits
- Proposal Summary: rates, budget, caps and work share on one page
- Checks: 31 checks that roll up to one master check

RATE TERMS, IN PLAIN WORDS
- Fringe: employee costs on top of pay (payroll taxes, insurance, retirement, paid time off)
- Overhead: costs that support the technical work but are not tied to one project, like lab rent and equipment upkeep
- G&A: the cost of running the company (finance, legal, leadership, office)
- Each rate is a group of costs divided by the dollars it is spread over
- Work share: how much of the work your company does versus outside partners.

SAMPLE COMPANY
The workbook comes filled in for an invented company, Halcyon Ridge Photonics, so you can see how it works before you type your own numbers. The company and all sample numbers are made up.

GOOD TO KNOW
- Built for Microsoft Excel. No macros, add-ins or external links.
- Yellow cells are the only cells you type in.
- Award caps, fee limits and work-share rules differ by agency and change over time. The sample values are examples, so confirm each one in your current solicitation.
- The Proposal Summary is a planning page. Agencies use their own budget forms; use it to fill those in.
- Format: Excel (.xlsx)
- This is a digital download. Nothing is shipped.

Download it, open Start Here, and follow the six setup steps to build your first budget.

Educational, not financial or legal advice.