Free AI-Assisted
NIH Modular Budget Builder
Build NIH modular budgets from personnel effort, salary cap, fringe, and F&A—with module count, 5-year projection, and PHS398 justification text. Free, no account.
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Key facts
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Inputs | Fiscal year, personnel (IBS, effort %, fringe), F&A rate, equipment, consortium direct/F&A, escalation |
| Salary cap | Auto-filled from NIH Executive Level II caps (FY 2010–2026) |
| Appointments | 12-month calendar or 9-month academic with effort % ↔ person-months conversion |
| Outputs | Module count, direct/F&A totals, cap salary & cost share per person, 5-year summary |
| Justification | PHS398 personnel paragraph and variance narrative when modules differ by year |
| Effort tracker | Cross-grant ledger flags personnel exceeding 100% total effort |
| Export | Copy justification text; download multi-year budget CSV |
| Runs in browser | Yes — calculations run locally |
| Account required | No |
What it does
Preparing an NIH modular budget still means stitching together spreadsheets, standalone salary-cap calculators, and manual module rounding—one wrong fringe or cap cell compounds across personnel lines and justification text. The NIH Modular Budget Builder integrates effort %, institutional base salary, NIH salary cap, fringe, F&A, consortium direct and indirect costs, and $25,000 module rounding in one live calculator.
Select the grant fiscal year to auto-fill the NIH Executive Level II salary cap. Add personnel with calendar (12-month) or academic (9-month) appointments; enter effort as percent or person-months with automatic conversion. Each row shows cap-limited allowable salary, institutional cost share above the cap, and fringe. Enter negotiated F&A rate, equipment (excluded from indirect), consortium direct and F&A (F&A excluded from the $250,000 modular test), other direct costs, and annual salary escalation (default 3%) for up to five years.
The results panel updates on every keystroke: total direct costs, module count, consortium F&A, F&A, and total project cost. A yellow banner appears when direct costs excluding consortium F&A exceed $250,000, prompting a detailed-budget view. Copy auto-drafted PHS398 personnel justification (person-months format) and an additional narrative when module counts vary across years. The Effort Tracker tab flags investigators over 100% effort across multiple grants. Save snapshots in the History tab or export the full multi-year table as CSV.
Why researchers use it
- Replace three disconnected spreadsheets with one integrated effort-to-module flow
- Auto-apply NIH salary cap by fiscal year without manual lookup
- See cap-limited salary and institutional cost share per person inline
- Catch $250,000 modular threshold before submission
- Generate PHS398-ready personnel justification with person-months formatting
- Flag over-committed effort across concurrent grants
Best for
- Drafting R01, R21, or other NIH modular budgets before sponsored-programs review
- Checking whether a budget stays under the $250,000 modular direct-cost threshold
- Calculating fringe and F&A on cap-limited PI salary with institutional cost share
- Projecting 5-year modular budgets with salary escalation
- Preparing consortium subaward direct and F&A lines for modular applications
When to use this vs alternatives
Use this tool when you need a fast, PI-facing modular budget with cap math, module rounding, and justification text in one session. Institutional Excel templates and Cayuse/Kuali remain the system of record for final submission but are heavy for quick what-if calculations. Standalone NIH salary-cap calculators handle cap math only—you still re-enter figures into a separate budget sheet. For sample-size justification paragraphs on grant applications, use Power and Effect Navigator.
What makes it different
Enterprise eRA suites and university Excel templates integrate with institutional fringe tables but require IT access and do not draft PHS398 justification text. Standalone cap calculators isolate one step. The NIH Modular Budget Builder targets the PI workflow: live module count, transparent per-person cap and cost-share columns, consortium F&A handling per NIH policy, multi-year escalation, effort ledger, and copy-ready justification—without login or server storage.
How to get started
- Open the Budget Builder tab and select your NIH fiscal year (salary cap auto-fills).
- Click Load example to see a realistic single-PI R01 with postdoc and consortium costs, or add personnel rows manually.
- Enter IBS, effort % (or person-months), and fringe rate for each person; add F&A rate and project costs below.
- Review modules, totals, and per-person cap salary in the results panel; watch for the $250K modular threshold banner.
- Copy justification text or Export CSV; use Effort Tracker to check total effort across grants; save snapshots in History.
Frequently asked questions
How is the NIH salary cap applied?
Why is consortium F&A excluded from the $250,000 modular test?
When does the tool recommend a detailed budget?
Are budget calculations stored on a server?
Can I use an AI agent with this tool?
Client source code & registry
Last updated . Pepkio builds free lab calculators alongside bioinformatics CRO services.