General & Administrative (G&A)
EVM Terms
Reviewed by forProject Technology - updated Sep 2026
Quick definition: General & Administrative (G&A) is an indirect cost category that allocates a company's corporate home office and administrative expenses across all of its contracts.
G&A covers costs that support the business as a whole rather than any single contract — things like executive salaries, corporate accounting, and general administration. Because these costs benefit every contract, they're allocated across all of them, typically as a rate applied to a defined cost base.
Why it matters
G&A rates directly affect the total price of a contract, since they're layered on top of direct costs and other indirect costs like overhead. Understanding and correctly applying the G&A rate matters for both accurate proposal pricing and for tracking true project cost performance.
Also known as
G&A
Used in
Indirect cost allocation across all contracts, typically as a rate applied to a defined cost base
FAQ
Is G&A the same as Overhead?
No — Overhead typically supports a specific business segment or contract group, while G&A covers company-wide, corporate-level administrative costs; both are indirect cost categories but at different levels.
Does every contract pay the same G&A rate?
Typically yes, within a given company and accounting period — G&A is usually applied as a consistent rate across all contracts, though the rate itself can change year to year.
Definition maintained by forProject Technology.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
