TABA, explained

Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) is the part of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) award that pays for help with the business of the project rather than the research: market research, intellectual property protection, regulatory and manufacturing planning, and similar services. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) sets the rules in section 9(b) of its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, effective May 3, 2023, under the heading Discretionary Technical and Business Assistance to SBIR/STTR Awardees. The statute is 15 U.S.C. 638(q), and Public Law 119-83, approved April 13, 2026, rewrote much of it.

The amounts are small next to the awards they ride on, $6,500 for a Phase I and $50,000 for a Phase II, but the rules for asking differ by agency, and a request that misses a required element is denied. This post sets out what the directive and the statute say, how the 2026 law changed them, and how the Department of War (DoW), the Army, the Navy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE) each implement it. For where TABA sits among the phases, see SBIR Phase I, II, and III, explained.

What the directive says in section 9(b)

The directive predates Public Law 119-83, so this section describes the rule as it stood before that law. Section 9(b)(1) lets agencies enter agreements with one or more vendors to provide technical and business assistance to awardees. The services it names are access to a network of scientists and engineers engaged in a wide range of technologies, assistance with product sales, intellectual property protections, market research, market validation, and development of regulatory plans and manufacturing plans, or access to technical and business literature through online databases. An agency may select vendors for a term of up to 5 years on competitive, merit-based criteria. Section 9(b)(1)(i) states the four purposes: making better technical decisions, solving technical problems that arise, minimizing technical risk, and commercializing the product or process, including intellectual property protections. Section 9(b)(1)(ii) bars a vendor contract priced on the total number of Phase I or Phase II awards.

Section 9(b)(2) sets the amounts. Each agency may provide up to $6,500 of SBIR/STTR funds per year for each Phase I award, "which shall be in addition to the amount of the award," and up to $50,000 per project for Phase II awards. The Phase II amount, as the head of the agency determines, may be included in the award or added to it. The paragraph ends with a limit: an agency may not use SBIR/STTR funds for the assistance unless a vendor provides the services to the awardee. The current 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(3) lets the money go to a vendor the small business selects or to staff activities instead.

Section 9(b)(3) is the awardee-choice rule. A small business may select one or more vendors itself. To do so it must request that authority from the agency and demonstrate in its application that the individual or entity it selected can provide the specific services needed. If it does, the agency shall permit the awardee to acquire the assistance itself, up to $6,500 per year for Phase I and $50,000 per award for Phase II, as an allowable cost of the award. The applicant may also seek business-related services from an organization such as a state-funded technology commercialization entity.

What the statute says in 15 U.S.C. 638(q)

The 2024 edition of the code, which predates the 2026 law, tracks the directive. Paragraph (q)(1) lists the same services and the same four purposes. Paragraph (q)(2)(A) lets an agency select vendors competitively for up to 5 years, and (q)(2)(B) says a small business may select its own. Paragraph (q)(3) sets the Phase I amount at not more than $6,500 per year and the Phase II amount at not more than $50,000 per project, with the Phase I amount in addition to the award and the Phase II amount inside or in addition to it. Paragraph (q)(3)(C), titled flexibility, requires the agency to provide the allowable amounts to a recipient who asks to use a vendor other than the agency's. Paragraph (q)(3)(D) bars using the amounts unless a vendor provides the assistance, and (q)(3)(E) directs SBA to set a limit for a firm that receives multiple Phase II awards in a fiscal year.

Paragraph (q)(4) is the reporting duty. A small business that receives assistance from a vendor during a fiscal year must submit to the agency a description of the assistance and its benefits and results, collected through a report that was already required on August 13, 2018.

What Public Law 119-83 changed

Section 7 of the law, titled Technical and Business Assistance Improvements, amends subsection (q) in five ways.

1. From may to shall. The opening words, under which an agency may enter into an agreement with one or more vendors, become a direction that the agency shall authorize award recipients to select, if desired, technical and business assistance. TABA becomes a right of the awardee rather than an agency option.
2. New services and a new purpose. The law inserts cybersecurity assistance after intellectual property protections, and adds a fifth purpose: "screening for potential foreign involvement in technology development or commercialization activities."
3. Staff as an eligible use. The heading of paragraph (2) changes from vendor selection to eligible uses of funds. The agency-selected vendor provision is struck, the small business's own selection becomes paragraph (2)(A), and a new (2)(B) lets a small business hire new staff, augment staff, or direct staff to conduct or take part in training activities consistent with the TABA goals.
4. Amounts rewritten. Paragraph (3)(A) now says an agency shall authorize a Phase I recipient to use not more than $6,500 per project, and (3)(B) says an agency shall authorize a Phase II recipient to use not more than $50,000 per project, in both cases included as part of the award or in addition to it as the agency head decides. The Phase I figure changes from per year to per project, and the Phase I amount is no longer required to be additive.
5. Review and I-Corps. A new paragraph (5) lets an agency perform targeted reviews of TABA funding, and a new subsection (bbb) requires each agency with an Innovation Corps program to offer awardees an I-Corps course and to let them pay for it with TABA funds.

The directive posted on SBIR.gov has not been revised to reflect these changes as of October 25, 2026, so agency solicitations are the place to see the law applied.

How DoD, the Army, and the Navy implement TABA

The Department of War's 2027 SBIR Commercial Solutions Opening preface for Release 1, which pre-released October 7, 2026 and opens October 28, 2026, devotes section 1.9 to TABA. It opens by stating that the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act, section 7, "mandates agencies to offer TABA." It lists the five statutory purposes including foreign involvement screening, and says a firm may request TABA through one or more providers or through funding to hire, augment, or train staff.

Under its cost requirements, a firm that supports the need sufficiently may receive up to $6,500 in contract obligations per Phase I project and up to $50,000 per Phase II project, and both amounts are in addition to the maximum award funding guideline in the topic. The cost goes in the Cost Volume (Volume 3) and a detailed rationale in Supporting Documents (Volume 5). The amount cannot include profit or fee, cannot be factored into general and administrative expense, applies to the original period of performance and not to extensions or enhancements, and does not count toward the SBIR/STTR percentage of work. A request is denied if it lacks the provider's name, a point of contact with email and phone, an explanation of why the provider is uniquely qualified, and the total cost, hours, and labor rates. Component instructions govern templates and details.

The Army TABA page offers two routes. A firm-selected vendor is proposed in the DSIP cost volume and Volume 5, for up to $6,500 per Phase I project and up to $50,000 across Phase II projects per firm, in addition to the topic's maximum. A firm that did not request TABA, or whose request was denied, may apply after selection for services from an Army-preferred vendor, paid directly by the Army SBIR|STTR Office and not included in the cost proposal. The Army lists the service categories and marks cybersecurity assistance including Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, and hiring and training staff, as "Newly approved TABA Services starting in 2026."

The Navy's fiscal year 2027 Release 1 Phase I instructions set tighter limits. Proposed TABA must not exceed $6,500 for Phase I, in addition to the Phase I award, and for Phase II a total of $25,000 per award, not to exceed $50,000 per Phase II project, included in the Phase II award amount. The Navy requires the TABA value in Volume 3 and a detailed request in Volume 5 identified as TABA under Additional Cost Information, says the Department of the Navy SBIR/STTR Program Management Office reviews requests, and requires a TABA report on results and benefits with the final report. The same instructions set the Phase I base at not more than $200,000 and the option at not more than $115,000, for a maximum of $315,000 "less TABA."

How NIH, NSF, NASA, and DOE implement TABA

NIH allows up to $6,500 in additional funding across all years of a Phase I project, up to $50,000 for Phase II, and up to $50,000 again for a Phase IIB Strategic Breakthrough award, with both phases of a Fast-Track eligible. TABA cannot be requested for the Commercialization Readiness Pilot. Allowable uses include staff, vendors, consultants, or subawards for product sales help, intellectual property protection, cybersecurity, market research, regulatory and manufacturing planning, and NIH I-Corps training. Unallowable uses include SBIR/STTR fee contributions, audit services, bookkeeping including payroll, and patent costs beyond the NIH-funded program. To request it, an applicant marks the B.440 SBIR/STTR Information form, labels the costs "Technical Assistance" on one of the other direct cost lines 8 through 17, and justifies the assistance, the vendor if any, and the expected benefits. Existing recipients may request TABA through an administrative supplement under PA-26-001.

NSF, in solicitation NSF 26-511 posted May 22, 2026, treats TABA as part of the ceiling. The Phase I maximum of $305,000 is inclusive of all direct and indirect costs, the small business fee, and TABA funding, and the $1,250,000 Phase II maximum is likewise inclusive of optional TABA.

NASA allows up to $6,500 for Phase I and up to $50,000 for Phase II and says "Funding for TABA now will be included in your total award amount." The request is part of the Phase I or Phase II proposal under the solicitation section titled Request for Use of Technical and Business Assistance Funds; a request after submission is not considered. Each request needs a vendor quote with contact information, expertise, itemized services and costs, and deliverables. NASA has no federally approved vendor list, and the vendor cannot be the firm, an employee, or an affiliate or investor. TABA is not offered for Post Phase II opportunities.

DOE's Office of Science lets applicants include up to $6,500 in the Phase I budget and up to $50,000 in the Phase II budget for TABA services, says the awardee selects the vendors, lists cybersecurity assistance and hiring or training staff among the uses, and limits reimbursement to services that comply with 15 U.S.C. 638(q) and are performed during the period of performance.

The agencies side by side

What to check

• Does the solicitation state the TABA ceiling and whether it sits inside or in addition to the award, and does that match the component instructions, which the Navy says take precedence over the DoW preface?
• Does the request name the provider, a point of contact, the provider's unique qualifications, and the cost, hours, and rates, as the DoW preface requires before it will consider the request?
• Is any cost excluded by the agency, such as fee, G&A, audit, bookkeeping, in-house work, or foreign patent fees?
• If the plan is to hire or train staff rather than pay a vendor, does the agency's current instruction allow it, as the Army and DoW do for 2026 and 2027?
• Is the TABA report on results and benefits scheduled, since 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(4) and the Navy's instructions require one?
• Does the agency's TABA amount apply only to the original period of performance, so that an option, extension, or enhancement carries none?

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Questions people ask

What is TABA in SBIR?

TABA is Technical and Business Assistance, the SBIR and STTR funds an awardee may spend on help that is not research. Section 9(b) of the SBA Policy Directive lists the services: access to a network of scientists and engineers, assistance with product sales, intellectual property protections, market research, market validation, and development of regulatory and manufacturing plans. The statute, 15 U.S.C. 638(q), calls it discretionary technical and business assistance, and Public Law 119-83 added cybersecurity assistance and screening for foreign involvement.

How much TABA funding can I get?

Up to $6,500 per project for a Phase I award and up to $50,000 per project for a Phase II award. Section 7 of Public Law 119-83 rewrote 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(3) so that both amounts may be included in the award or added to it, as the agency head decides. Before that law, section 9(b)(2) of the SBA Policy Directive set the Phase I amount at $6,500 per year, in addition to the award. Agencies may offer less; the Navy's fiscal year 2027 instructions cap Phase II TABA at $25,000 per award.

Is TABA in addition to the SBIR award amount?

It depends on the agency. 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(3), as rewritten by Public Law 119-83, lets the agency head include either amount in the award or add it; the 2023 directive, written before that law, made the Phase I amount additional. The Department of War's 2027 Commercial Solutions Opening says both amounts are in addition to the topic's maximum award guideline. NASA says TABA funding is included in the total award amount. NSF's solicitation NSF 26-511 says its $305,000 Phase I and $1,250,000 Phase II ceilings are inclusive of TABA.

Can I choose my own TABA vendor?

Yes. Section 7 of Public Law 119-83 amended 15 U.S.C. 638(q) so that each agency shall authorize award recipients to select, if desired, technical and business assistance, struck the agency-selected vendor provision from paragraph (q)(2), and made the small business's own selection the first eligible use of funds. Before that law, section 9(b)(3) of the SBA Policy Directive let a small business select its own vendor only after requesting that authority and showing in its application that the vendor could provide the services needed.

How do I request TABA in an SBIR proposal?

In the proposal itself, in the form the agency specifies. The Department of War's 2027 preface requires the TABA cost in the Cost Volume, Volume 3, and a detailed rationale in Supporting Documents, Volume 5, naming the provider, a point of contact, why the provider is uniquely qualified, and the cost, hours, and labor rates. NIH says to indicate the request on the B.440 SBIR/STTR Information form and label the costs Technical Assistance on an other direct cost line. NASA requires a vendor quote.

What can TABA funds not be used for?

Each agency lists exclusions. NASA says TABA cannot pay for activities the company can perform internally, general maintenance of or investment in the business, contributions to the SBIR/STTR fee, audit or bookkeeping services, contingency costs, research and development costs of the award, or foreign patent fees. NIH lists fee contributions, audit services, bookkeeping including payroll, and patent costs beyond the NIH-funded program as unallowable. The Department of War says TABA cannot include profit or fee or be factored into general and administrative expense.

Which agencies offer TABA?

The agencies with pages or solicitations fetched for this post all do: the Department of War in its 2027 Commercial Solutions Opening, the Army and Navy in their component instructions, NIH through its SEED office, NSF in solicitation NSF 26-511, NASA on its TABA page, and the Department of Energy Office of Science. Section 7 of Public Law 119-83 changes 15 U.S.C. 638(q) so that each agency shall authorize TABA, which makes it a requirement rather than an option.

Can TABA pay for staff instead of a vendor?

Under Public Law 119-83, yes. Section 7 adds a new paragraph to 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(2) that lets a small business use the funds to hire new staff, augment staff, or direct staff to conduct or participate in training activities consistent with the TABA goals. The Army TABA page lists hiring, augmenting, and training staff as newly approved services starting in 2026, and the Department of War's 2027 preface repeats the option. Before the law, the directive allowed funds only when a vendor provided the services.

Does TABA count toward the SBIR work percentage?

No, at the Department of War. Section 1.9 of the 2027 SBIR Commercial Solutions Opening says proposed TABA services do not count toward the SBIR/STTR percentage of work guidelines required by the SBA Policy Directive, which otherwise require the awardee to perform at least two-thirds of a Phase I and one-half of a Phase II. The preface also says the TABA amount applies to the original contract period and not to extensions or enhancements.

Do I have to report what TABA paid for?

Yes. 15 U.S.C. 638(q)(4) requires a small business that receives assistance from a vendor during a fiscal year to submit to the agency a description of the assistance and its benefits and results, collected through an existing report. The Navy's fiscal year 2027 Release 1 instructions say an awardee receiving TABA must submit a report detailing the results and benefits of the service, due with the final report. The Department of War preface says a request missing the required provider details will be denied.

Sources

1. 1Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Policy Directive, effective May 3, 2023 · U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR.gov
2. 2United States Code, 2024 Edition, Title 15, Section 638 - Research and development · U.S. Government Publishing Office
3. 3Public Law 119-83: Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act · U.S. Government Publishing Office
4. 4Department of War SBIR Program, 2027 SBIR Commercial Solutions Opening, Release 1 preface · Department of War SBIR/STTR Program, DSIP
5. 5Department of the Navy SBIR, DoW 2027 SBIR CSO Release 1, Phase I Open Topics Proposal Submission Instructions · Department of the Navy SBIR/STTR Programs, via DSIP
6. 6Army SBIR TABA Program · U.S. Army SBIR|STTR Program
7. 7Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) Program · National Institutes of Health, Seed
8. 8NSF 26-511: Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-Track program solicitation · National Science Foundation
9. 9Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
10. 10Technical and Business Assistance · U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science

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