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Indirect cost calculator (de minimis and MTDC)

Enter your grant's direct costs. See the base, the de minimis amount, and what a negotiated rate or a funder's cap would give instead.

Your direct costs

One line per budget item, for the whole grant.

    Subawards: enter each subaward's total for the whole grant, and give it a name. Lines with the same name count as one subaward, so its first $50,000 is only counted once.

    Equipment means one item that costs $10,000 or more (or your lower capitalization level) and lasts more than a year. Cheaper items go under supplies.

    Paste from a spreadsheet
    Each row needs a name and an amount. A category column helps. Header and total rows are skipped.

    Rates

    Up to 15%, if you have no negotiated rate. A lower rate is fine.

    From your indirect cost rate agreement.

    Many foundations allow a flat percent for overhead.

    Everything stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.

    Your indirect costs

    You may use up to the de minimis rate only if you have no current negotiated rate. It's a choice, not a requirement. Your award terms can set a different rate.

    Line by line

    Soyo is a guide, not an accountant or lawyer. Check your award terms.

    How it works

    1. Add your direct costs

      Type them in, or paste rows from your budget spreadsheet.

    2. See what counts

      Each line shows whether it's in the MTDC base, and why.

    3. Compare the options

      De minimis, your negotiated rate and a funder's cap, side by side.

    What the rules say

    Indirect costs are the shared costs of running your organization that don't belong to one project: the main office, the bookkeeper, insurance, the audit. Grants often pay a share of them as a percent of your direct costs.

    Modified total direct costs (MTDC) is the base most federal rates use. It's your direct costs minus a few kinds of cost: equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rent, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the part of each subaward over $50,000. (2 CFR 200.1)

    The de minimis rate. If you have no current negotiated indirect cost rate, you may use a rate of up to 15% of MTDC on federal awards. You don't need to document how you got it, and you can choose a lower rate. Once you use it, you use it for all your federal awards until you negotiate a rate. (2 CFR 200.414(f))

    A negotiated rate comes from a rate agreement with your federal cognizant agency. Federal agencies generally must accept it. (2 CFR 200.414(c))

    Your award may set a different rate

    • These numbers apply to federal awards made on or after October 1, 2024. Older awards may still use the earlier rules: a 10% de minimis rate, the first $25,000 of each subaward, and a $5,000 equipment threshold.
    • Some programs limit indirect costs by law or in the award terms. In 2025 some agencies tried to cap rates on research grants, and courts blocked the NIH cap.
    • In May 2026 the federal Office of Management and Budget proposed a rewrite of 2 CFR 200. It isn't final yet, and summaries of it say it doesn't change the de minimis rate.

    Checked against 2 CFR 200.1 and 200.414 (as revised in 2024), as of November 10, 2026.

    Questions

    What is the de minimis rate now?

    Up to 15% of modified total direct costs, for federal awards made on or after October 1, 2024. Before that it was 10%. It's for organizations with no current negotiated rate, and you may choose a lower rate. (2 CFR 200.414(f))

    What's excluded from MTDC?

    Equipment, capital expenditures, patient care, rent, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the part of each subaward over $50,000. Everything else in your direct costs counts. (2 CFR 200.1)

    Can I use it with a private foundation?

    The de minimis rate is a federal rule. Private foundations set their own limits, often a flat percent of direct costs or of the total request. Enter the foundation's cap to see what it allows. Federal money passed to you through a state or another nonprofit still follows the federal rules.

    What if I have a negotiated rate?

    Use it. Federal agencies generally must accept it (2 CFR 200.414(c)). Enter the rate and the base your agreement names. Many use MTDC; some use salaries and wages, or total direct costs.

    Does this replace my accountant?

    No. It does the arithmetic and shows its work. Your award terms, your rate agreement and your accountant have the final word.

    Soyo is a guide, not an accountant or lawyer. Check your award terms.

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