Grant Budget Template (Free Excel and Google Sheets Download)

What should a grant budget include?

A grant budget should list every cost of the project by category, show how each number was calculated, and tie each cost to an activity in your narrative. For federal applications the categories are set by the SF-424A: personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, construction and other, followed by total direct charges, indirect charges and totals. Foundation and state funders often use a simpler version, so always follow the funder's own form when it gives one.

For a longer look at writing the budget section of a proposal, see how to write a grant proposal, step by step. To find funders whose forms you will be filling in, use FindGrants search.

What are the SF-424A budget categories?

Section B of the SF-424A lists the object class categories on line 6: a Personnel, b Fringe Benefits, c Travel, d Equipment, e Supplies, f Contractual, g Construction, h Other, i Total Direct Charges, j Indirect Charges and k Totals. The Grants.gov form instructions define what belongs in each, and they are the source for the list on this page.

• 6a. Personnel. Salaries and wages of your own employees working on the project. Consultants, contractors and subrecipients do not go here.
• 6b. Fringe Benefits. Employer costs on top of pay, usually a rate applied to the salaries you requested. Only fringe charged as a direct cost belongs here.
• 6c. Travel. Project travel by your employees: transportation, lodging and subsistence. Travel by consultants or contractors goes under Contractual. Local travel by employees not in travel status goes under Other.
• 6d. Equipment. Tangible property with a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit cost at or above the threshold that applies to you. The threshold depends on your own capitalization level and the funder's rules, so check your notice of funding opportunity.
• 6e. Supplies. Tangible property that is not equipment: materials, consumables, and items below the equipment threshold.
• 6f. Contractual. Contracts and subawards, including third-party evaluation contracts. Individual consultants go under Other, according to the form instructions.
• 6g. Construction. Construction or major renovation. Most non-construction awards leave it blank.
• 6h. Other. Costs that fit nowhere else and are allowed under the program: for example individual consultants, local travel, insurance, printing, and training.
• 6i. Total Direct Charges. The sum of lines 6a to 6h.
• 6j. Indirect Charges. Indirect cost under your negotiated rate agreement, the de minimis rate where you are eligible, or the program's own terms. A cost is either direct or indirect, never both.
• 6k. Totals. The sum of 6i and 6j. For a new application it should match the total in Section A of the same form.

Source: the Grants.gov form instructions for the SF-424A, Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (OMB 4040-0006), read on 2026-10-11, and the SF-424 family page on Grants.gov. Forms and instructions are revised over time, so check the current version and your notice of funding opportunity.

What does the free template contain?

One row per cost, then a summary block that adds the rows up by SF-424A line. Columns:

• SF-424A line and Object class. Every row is tagged with one of the categories above, so the summary adds itself up and matches the form.
• Line item. What you are buying, in words a reviewer can follow.
• Basis of calculation. The arithmetic in plain words, such as annual salary x percent of time, or trips x cost per trip.
• Quantity and Unit cost. Total cost is quantity times unit cost. Keep the two separate so a reviewer can check your math.
• Cost share (match) portion. The part of a line your organization or a partner pays. Federal request is total cost minus this amount.
• Justification. One sentence on why the cost is needed and reasonable. This becomes the start of your budget narrative.

The file includes labelled EXAMPLE rows for each category, an example indirect row, and a summary that produces lines 6a to 6k. The totals use plain addition and SUMIF formulas, so they work in Excel and Google Sheets.

How do I write a budget justification?

Write one plain sentence for every line that says what the cost is, how you calculated it, and why the project needs it. For example: program director, 50 percent of an annual salary, leads the project. Use the same category names as the budget, keep the arithmetic visible, and explain any cost share. The free template has a Justification column so the sentences live next to the numbers.

How to set up the template

1. Download and open the template. Download the CSV and open it in Excel or import it into Google Sheets.
2. Read the example rows. The example rows are labelled EXAMPLE and are not real costs. Use them to see how quantity, unit cost and cost share work.
3. Replace the examples with your costs. Enter one row per cost. Pick the right SF-424A line and object class for each row, and keep the names exactly as written so the summary adds them up.
4. Set cost share. In the cost share column, enter the part of each line paid by your organization or a partner. Leave it at zero when no match is required.
5. Set your indirect costs. Edit or delete the example indirect row. Use the rate and base your rate agreement or the funder allows.
6. Check the summary against the funder's form. Compare the summary block with the funder's budget form and your narrative, then write a justification sentence for each line.

When you need a multi-year federal budget

The free CSV is a single-period sheet. It does not carry salary escalation across years, work out fringe by person, or build an indirect cost base for you. If you want those built and tested, Palavir, the company behind FindGrants, sells an Excel workbook on Etsy. Details below come from the listing.

More questions

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