Free Federal Grant Personnel, FTE, and Level-of-Effort Calculator
Use this calculator to turn staff salaries and effort commitments into the personnel and fringe benefit lines of a federal grant budget. Enter each person's role, salary, and level of effort as a percentage or FTE, choose a calendar, academic, or summer appointment, and the calculator converts effort into person-months, the unit that agencies such as NIH and NSF use in proposals and progress reports. It applies annual salary escalation and your fringe benefit rate across each grant year, limits charges to any sponsor salary cap, and separates the cost-shared and unrecovered amounts your organization must cover. Personnel charges must reflect actual effort and your organization's written compensation policy, as required under 2 CFR 200.430.
For example, a community health nonprofit preparing a three-year federal application plans to budget its program director, who earns $85,000 a year, at 30% effort on a calendar-year appointment, with a 3% annual raise and a 28% fringe rate. The calculator shows 3.6 person-months per year and Year 1 costs of $25,500 in salary and $7,140 in fringe benefits. By Year 3, salary rises to $27,053, and the three-year personnel request totals $100,887, ready to enter in the budget and explain in the budget justification.
Rules last reviewed: 2026-10-05 — 2 CFR 200.430 · 2 CFR 200.306 · NIH Salary Cap Summary
This is a planning tool, not legal, financial, or agency guidance. Always confirm your organization's salary and fringe rates, the notice of funding opportunity, any sponsor salary limitation, and your award terms before submitting a proposal.
Project Setup
Range: 1-5 years
Year 1 begins in 2027
Use fewer than 12 for a partial year, such as a final 6-month budget period.
Applied to salaries starting in Year 2.
The sponsor's annual full-time salary limit, if any (for example, the NIH salary cap). Check the current figure in the sponsor's notice. Leave blank if no cap applies.
Personnel
Blue fields are inputs. Add a row for each person or role.
| Employee / Role | Pay Basis | Salary | Appointment | Effort | Fringe % | Cost Share % | Vary by Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % |
Personnel Budget Results
| Measure | Year 1 2027 | Year 2 2028 | Year 3 2029 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person-Months (committed) | 3.60 | 3.60 | 3.60 | 10.80 |
| Salary Requested | $25,500 | $26,265 | $27,053 | $78,818 |
| Fringe Requested | $7,140 | $7,354 | $7,575 | $22,069 |
| Total Requested from Sponsor | $32,640 | $33,619 | $34,628 | $100,887 |
| Total Personnel Cost | $32,640 | $33,619 | $34,628 | $100,887 |
Detail by Person
| Employee / Role | Year | Appointment | Effort | Person-Months | Monthly Rate | Salary Requested | Fringe Requested | Total Requested | Total Personnel Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Director | Year 1 | calendar | 30% | 3.60 | $7,083 | $25,500 | $7,140 | $32,640 | $32,640 |
| Year 2 | calendar | 30% | 3.60 | $7,296 | $26,265 | $7,354 | $33,619 | $33,619 | |
| Year 3 | calendar | 30% | 3.60 | $7,515 | $27,053 | $7,575 | $34,628 | $34,628 | |
| Program Director — Subtotal | 10.80 | $78,818 | $22,069 | $100,887 | $100,887 | ||||
Personnel Cost Composition by Year
Note: Salaries escalate at the start of each grant year. Partial years are prorated by project months. Summer effort uses the academic-year monthly rate. Salary caps are compared on a monthly basis and are not escalated. Verify final figures against your organization's compensation policy, fringe rate agreement, and the sponsor's budget guidance.
Related tools & guides
- Grant Budget Escalator Calculator— escalate personnel costs in later grant years..
- Indirect Cost Rate Calculator— apply your rate to the correct MTDC base..
- Cost Share and Match Calculator— track cost-shared effort against the requirement..
- Federal Grant Proposal Submission Checklist— keep personnel documentation on schedule..
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a person-month, and how is it calculated?
A person-month is the effort one person devotes to a project, expressed in months. Multiply the percent effort by the number of months in the appointment: 25% effort on a 12-month calendar appointment is 3.0 person-months, and 10% effort on a 9-month academic appointment is 0.9 person-months. Agencies such as NIH and NSF request effort in person-months, and the effort charged must reflect the time actually devoted to the project under 2 CFR 200.430.
What is the difference between calendar, academic, and summer appointments?
A calendar appointment covers all 12 months of the year. An academic appointment covers the 9- or 10-month academic year, and summer covers the remaining months, typically 3. Faculty on academic appointments are often budgeted separately for academic-year and summer effort, so add a row for each. This calculator pays summer effort at the academic-year monthly rate, which is common practice; confirm your institution's policy.
How does a sponsor salary cap affect my budget?
Some sponsors limit the salary rate that can be charged to an award. NIH, for example, caps salaries at the federal Executive Level II rate, which is typically adjusted each year. If a person earns more than the cap, only the capped rate can be charged and your organization covers the difference. With an illustrative cap of $225,000, an investigator earning $240,000 at 20% effort can charge $45,000 in salary instead of $48,000; the $3,000 difference and its fringe are unrecovered costs.
How should I handle cost sharing for personnel?
Enter the percentage of the person's salary and fringe your organization will contribute. The calculator still counts the full effort in person-months, because cost-shared effort is part of the person's committed effort, but charges only the remainder to the sponsor. Include only cost sharing the funder requires or that you intend to provide: cost sharing in an approved budget becomes a commitment that must be documented and tracked under 2 CFR 200.306.
What fringe rate and escalation rate should I use?
Use your organization's negotiated or approved fringe benefit rate, or actual benefit costs if you have no rate agreement, and use separate rates where your organization does, since summer and part-time staff often carry different rates. For escalation, follow your written compensation policy or use a reasonable, documented estimate; many grant budgets assume about 3% per year. To escalate other budget categories, use the Grant Budget Escalator Calculator.