Budget justification template
A budget justification, also called a budget narrative, explains every line of a grant budget in words. For each cost it says what it is, how the figure was calculated and why the project needs it. Use the wording below for each category and keep every number identical to your budget table.
Federal announcements almost always ask for a budget justification as a separate document alongside the standard budget forms. Foundations more often fold it into the proposal itself as a short section that walks through the largest costs in plain language.
Free to copy and adapt. Square brackets mark what you replace. Nothing here is tied to a particular funder. Read each funder's guidelines for required headings, page limits and attachments before you paste a finished draft into their application form.
The template
Personnel
Name the role. Then give the salary, the share of time and a sentence on what that person actually does on this project so the percentage makes sense to someone outside your organization.
[Name or To be hired], [title], will [project duties]. Annual salary of $[amount] at [percent]% effort for [months] months comes to $[amount].
Fringe benefits
State the rate. Say what it covers and where it comes from, whether that is a negotiated rate agreement or your own payroll figures from the last full year.
Fringe benefits are calculated at [rate]% of salaries and cover [payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement]. The rate comes from [negotiated agreement or the basis for the estimate]. Total: $[amount].
Travel
One line per trip. Give the purpose of each trip along with the number of travelers, the destination and the per-trip assumptions behind the total.
[Number] staff will travel to [destination] for [purpose]. Costs include airfare at $[amount], lodging at $[rate] per night for [nights] nights and per diem at $[rate] per day. Total: $[amount].
Equipment
Explain the need. Reviewers want to know why the project cannot go ahead without each item and why nothing your organization already owns could do the same job.
The project requires [item] at $[unit cost] to [what it makes possible]. No existing equipment can serve this purpose because [reason]. Total: $[amount].
Supplies
Group the small items. A single line that shows the cost per participant is usually clearer to a reviewer than a long list of individual purchases.
Supplies of $[amount] cover [items] for [number] participants at about $[cost] each.
Contractual
Say who and why. Reviewers want to see the contractor's rate and scope side by side along with how you chose them.
[Contractor] will [scope of work] at $[rate] per [hour or deliverable] for [quantity]. They were selected through [competitive process or sole-source reason]. Total: $[amount].
Indirect costs
Name the rate. Then give the base it applies to and the agreement or funder policy that allows it, with the date of the agreement if you have one.
Indirect costs are charged at [rate]% of [base], per [negotiated rate agreement dated (date) or the funder's allowed rate]. Total: $[amount].
Skip the blank page
Quillify drafts the budget justification from the budgets and documents you select. Ask for a more specific budget narrative and it revises that section and leaves the rest alone.
Questions people ask
Is a budget justification the same as a budget narrative?
Yes. Funders use both names for the written explanation that sits beside the budget table.
How detailed should a budget justification be?
Detailed enough that a reviewer who knows nothing about your organization can recalculate every figure. Show unit costs, quantities and percentages of time.
What is the most common budget justification mistake?
Numbers that don't match the budget table. Reviewers compare the two line by line and a mismatch suggests the budget wasn't planned carefully.
Related guides: How to write a budget narrative. The mistakes that repeat in grant proposals. Why proposals get rejected, and what to do next. All free templates.
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