How to Build a Multi-Year Grant Budget in Google Sheets or Excel

Why a Spreadsheet Is the Right Place to Build a Multi-Year Budget

Multi-year grant budgets fail in predictable ways: a salary increase gets applied in Year 2 but not Year 3, fringe is calculated on the wrong base, or indirect costs are charged on equipment that should have been excluded. A hand-typed budget hides these mistakes. A spreadsheet built with clear assumptions and formulas exposes them.

This guide walks through building a three-year federal-style grant budget in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Every formula below works the same way in both programs. Once your numbers are final, you will summarize them in the Budget Overview step of the free GrantCraft Proposal Builder. GrantCraft is not affiliated with Google or Microsoft, and this article is educational, not financial or legal advice. Always follow your funder's budget instructions and forms first.

If you need a refresher on allowable costs before you start, read grant budget fundamentals and federal cost principles.

Step 1: Set Up an Assumptions Block

Put every rate you will reuse in one small block at the top of the sheet. When a rate changes, you edit one cell and the whole budget updates.

A2 / B2: Annual salary escalation, 3%
A3 / B3: Fringe benefit rate, 30%
A4 / B4: Indirect cost rate, 15%
A5 / B5: Total amount requested (from your application), 471422

Formulas refer to these cells with absolute references such as $B$2. The dollar signs lock the reference so it does not shift when you copy a formula across Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3. Use the rates your organization actually has: a negotiated indirect rate agreement, your real fringe rate, and the escalation your HR policy supports. The numbers here are illustrations only.

Step 2: Lay Out Categories and Years

Start the budget grid at row 6. Put column headers in row 6 (Category, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Total) and use the standard federal cost categories as rows:

Row 7: Personnel
Row 8: Fringe Benefits
Row 9: Travel
Row 10: Equipment
Row 11: Supplies
Row 12: Contractual
Row 13: Other
Row 14: Total Direct Costs
Row 15: MTDC Base (a helper row for the indirect calculation)
Row 16: Indirect Costs
Row 17: Total

Columns B, C, and D hold Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3. Column E holds the multi-year total. Keep line-item detail (each position, each trip) on a separate tab and let the summary rows pull from it, so the summary stays readable.

Step 3: Enter the Core Formulas

Salary escalation

Type the Year 1 personnel amount into B7. In C7, apply the escalation to the prior year and round to whole dollars:

=ROUND(B7*(1+$B$2),0)

Copy that formula into D7. It becomes =ROUND(C7*(1+$B$2),0) automatically, while $B$2 stays fixed.

Fringe benefits

Fringe is personnel multiplied by the fringe rate. In B8:

=ROUND(B7*$B$3,0)

Copy it across to C8 and D8. If different staff have different fringe rates, calculate fringe per person on your detail tab instead.

Total direct costs

In B14, add the seven direct cost rows: =SUM(B7:B13). Copy across.

Indirect costs on the right base

Many federal awards calculate indirect costs on Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC), not total direct costs. Under the definition in 2 CFR 200.1, MTDC includes salaries, fringe, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward. It excludes items such as equipment, capital expenditures, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant support costs, and the portion of each subaward over $50,000.

In the example, Equipment (row 10) and participant stipends in Other (row 13) are excluded, so the MTDC base in B15 is:

=B14-B10-B13

Then indirect costs in B16:

=ROUND(B15*$B$4,0)

A note on the 15% rate: under the 2024 revisions to the Uniform Guidance, which took effect October 1, 2024, 2 CFR 200.414(f) lets recipients without a current negotiated rate elect a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of MTDC. If you have a negotiated rate agreement, use that rate and base instead. Our indirect cost rate negotiation guide and 2 CFR 200 explainer cover the details.

Grand total and row totals

In B17: =B14+B16. In column E, total each row across the three years, for example =SUM(B7:D7) in E7, then copy down to E17.

Example: A Three-Year Budget

Here is what the finished grid looks like with a 3% escalation, a 30% fringe rate, and a 15% rate on MTDC. Equipment is a single Year 1 purchase, Contractual is an external evaluator, and Other is participant stipends.

Category	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Total
Personnel	$80,000	$82,400	$84,872	$247,272
Fringe Benefits (30%)	$24,000	$24,720	$25,462	$74,182
Travel	$4,000	$4,000	$4,000	$12,000
Equipment	$12,000	$0	$0	$12,000
Supplies	$3,000	$2,500	$2,500	$8,000
Contractual	$15,000	$15,000	$15,000	$45,000
Other (participant stipends)	$5,000	$5,000	$5,000	$15,000
Total Direct Costs	$143,000	$133,620	$136,834	$413,454
MTDC Base (excludes Equipment and Other)	$126,000	$128,620	$131,834	$386,454
Indirect Costs (15% of MTDC)	$18,900	$19,293	$19,775	$57,968
Total	$161,900	$152,913	$156,609	$471,422

Notice that Year 3 fringe is $25,462: 30% of $84,872 is $25,461.60, and ROUND brings it to whole dollars. Rounding each line as you calculate it keeps the displayed numbers and the stored numbers identical, which prevents totals that are off by a dollar.

Step 4: Check That the Totals Match

Before you copy a single number into an application, add checks:

Cross-foot check: the sum of the three year totals must equal the grand total. =SUM(B17:D17)=E17 should return TRUE.
Request check: =IF(E17=$B$5,"Matches request","Check totals") compares the budget to the amount on your cover form.
Ceiling check: if the funder caps each year, compare each year's total to the cap, for example =IF(B17<=175000,"OK","Over cap").

Also confirm that the year totals match any budget form the funder requires, such as a federal budget information form, and that your narrative uses the same numbers.

Step 5: Protect Your Formulas

Once the formulas are right, lock them so a collaborator does not overwrite one with a typed number.

Google Sheets: go to Data > Protect sheets and ranges, choose Add a sheet or range, select the formula range (or the whole sheet with Except certain cells for input cells), then Set permissions. See Google's help page on protecting sheets and ranges.
Microsoft Excel: unlock the input cells first (Format Cells > Protection, clear Locked), leave formula cells locked, then choose Review > Protect Sheet. Microsoft explains this in lock or unlock specific areas of a protected worksheet.

Step 6: Save Version Snapshots

Budgets change during review. Save a snapshot at each milestone: first draft, after program staff review, after finance review, and final submitted version. In Google Sheets you can name a version from version history. In Excel, save a dated copy (for example, Budget_v3_2026-10-15.xlsx). If a funder later asks why a number changed, you can show exactly when and why.

Step 7: Write the Budget Justification

The spreadsheet shows the math. The justification explains it. For each category, state what the cost is, how you calculated it, and why it is necessary for the project. For example:

Personnel: "Program Coordinator, 1.0 FTE at $80,000 in Year 1, increasing 3% annually per organizational policy."
Fringe: "Calculated at 30% of salaries, covering health insurance, retirement, and payroll taxes."
Indirect: "15% de minimis rate applied to MTDC of $386,454; equipment and participant support costs are excluded."

For more on planning across years, see multi-year grants and long-term funding strategy.

Step 8: Summarize It in the Proposal Builder

The GrantCraft Proposal Builder walks you through 8 guided steps. Its Budget Overview step has four plain text fields: Personnel Costs, Operating / Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, and Total Budget Summary. The builder does not calculate anything, has no multi-year grid, and does not import spreadsheets. That is why the math lives in Sheets or Excel.

Copy your summarized totals and short explanations into each field. Using the example above:

Personnel Costs: "Program Coordinator, 1.0 FTE, $247,272 over 3 years with 3% annual escalation; fringe at 30%, $74,182."
Operating / Direct Costs: "Travel $12,000; equipment $12,000 (Year 1); supplies $8,000; evaluator contract $45,000; participant stipends $15,000."
Indirect Costs: "$57,968, 15% de minimis rate on MTDC of $386,454."
Total Budget Summary: "Total: $471,422 (Direct: $413,454 + Indirect: $57,968)."

Your entries autosave in your own browser, and you can export a PDF at the Review & Export step. For tips on writing these fields well, read how to create a strong budget in the GrantCraft Proposal Builder.

Learn more about grant writing strategies at Subthesis.

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