Guide

The SBIR Phase I Cost Volume Checklist

Most Phase I proposals do not lose on the science. They lose on the cost volume, because the technical team writes it last, at midnight, the day it is due. The cost volume is where a reviewer decides whether you understand the work well enough to price it. Here is how to build one that holds up.

Before you touch a number

Read the solicitation twice. The controlling document is the BAA or component instructions, not the topic. It sets your ceiling, your period of performance, and what the cost volume must contain. DoD Phase I awards are usually feasibility studies of roughly six months, and the dollar ceiling is set per component and per topic. Do not assume last year's number.

Confirm three things and write them down:

The exact award ceiling and period of performance for this topic.
Whether Phase I includes an optional period, and whether you price it now.
The submission system. DoD SBIR and STTR run through DSIP at dodsbirsttr.mil, and the cost volume is a structured form, not a free PDF.

The line items reviewers actually check

Direct labor. Name the labor categories, the hours, and the rate for each. Hours have to match the tasks in your technical volume. If the technical volume promises a prototype and the cost volume funds 80 hours, you have a problem a reviewer will see in ten seconds.
Fringe, overhead, and G&A. If you have DCAA-approved rates, use them and say so. If you do not, use a reasonable, defensible rate and be ready to justify it. New companies get funded with modest, honest indirect rates all the time. They do not get funded with rates they cannot explain.
Materials and equipment. Itemize. "Materials, $12,000" is a red flag. Under SBIR rules, equipment you buy usually belongs to the project, so check the terms before you plan to keep it.
Travel. Tie every trip to a purpose. A kickoff and a close-out trip to the sponsoring lab are normal. A conference in Hawaii is not.
Subcontracts and consultants. Phase I limits how much work can go outside your company. STTR has a hard split with the research institution. Know your percentages before you build the team, not after.
Fee or profit. SBIR allows a reasonable fee. Ask for it. Leaving it at zero does not make you look generous, it makes you look like you do not know the rules.

The three tie-outs that catch errors

Every labor hour maps to a task in the technical volume.
Every task in the technical volume has funded hours.
The total equals the ceiling or comes in under it, never a dollar over.

The mistakes that get you rejected without a read

A total that exceeds the ceiling. Automatic.
A cost volume that does not match the statement of work.
Blank or hand-waved indirect rates with no basis.
Missing the DSIP deadline by a minute. The portal closes when it closes.

Bottom line