Federal glossary · Metric
G&A (General and Administrative) Rate is the indirect cost pool for company-wide management expenses: executive salaries, HR, accounting, legal, corporate insurance, and business development. Applied as a percentage of total cost input (all direct costs plus overhead). Typically 10-25%. The last indirect pool applied before fee/profit.
Example: The Simplified Acquisition Threshold or a fiscal-year budget measure.
Reference record · Sources: OMB budget guidance · Verified Jul 2, 2026 · Covers definition, governing source
General and Administrative
Also known as
G&A (General and Administrative) Rate is the indirect cost pool for company-wide management expenses: executive salaries, HR, accounting, legal, corporate insurance, and business development. Applied as a percentage of total cost input (all direct costs plus overhead). Typically 10-25%. The last indirect pool applied before fee/profit.
(General and Administrative) is a metric concept federal contractors and grant writers run into across solicitations, regulations, and award filings
G&A Rate is a measurement used in federal contract evaluation, source selection, oversight, or performance management. For example: Example: The Simplified Acquisition Threshold or a fiscal-year budget measure. Understanding G&A Rate matters because evaluators use metrics like it to compare proposals quantitatively, score past performance, set award-fee outcomes, and decide who gets the next option year. Contractors who track how G&A Rate is calculated — and what target values look like in their NAICS or service area — write proposals that are concrete and defensible instead of generic and easily dismissed. G&A Rate also has implications for contract administration: getting the calculation methodology wrong post-award is a common source of disputes and contracting-officer modifications. Pair G&A Rate with the related metrics above to see how the federal government composes evaluation criteria into source-selection narratives.
Example: The Simplified Acquisition Threshold or a fiscal-year budget measure.
Meaning in practice
G&A Rate is a measure used to score, compare, or track government activity.
Where you’ll see it
You will see it in evaluation criteria, dashboards, scorecards, reports, and oversight reviews. Example: Example: The Simplified Acquisition Threshold or a fiscal-year budget measure..
Common confusion
People often confuse the metric with the threshold or decision rule attached to it.
What to do next
Check how the metric is calculated before you compare records or opportunities.
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Get notified when usage of G&A Rate changes in contracts or guidance.
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