Cost Sharing   Email     Print   PDF

Policy:
It is the policy of the Institution to make a cost sharing commitment only when required by the sponsor or by the competitive nature of the award. The amount of cost sharing will only be to the extent necessary to meet the specific requirements of the award.

Definition:
Cost sharing or matching is that portion of the project costs not borne by the sponsoring agency. A cost sharing commitment is any amount of cost sharing proposed in a budget, budget justification, and proposal or accompanying document signed by an authorized official.

Agency Requirements:  
Costs must be classified and accounted for as cost sharing when any of the following conditions exist:

• Cost sharing was included in a proposal as required, and made part of the award.

• To show the Institution’s commitment in support of the proposed project, cost sharing was included in the proposal and made part of the award.

• Are allowable in accordance with the principles of the OMB Circulars

• Are related to the project objectives

• Are incurred in the same time frame as the Federal Award

• Are not included as cost sharing on any other Federally funded award

• Are not paid for by the Federal Government on another award or by use of overhead money

Cost sharing for non federal sponsored projects will be as required by the Sponsor.

Institution Requirements:
Prior to an investigator submitting a proposal that commits the Institution to cost sharing, s/he must request the required cost sharing from her or his Department Chair. The Department Chair will either provide funding from the Department discretionary funds or forward the request to the Director of Research Office for approval. These requests and approvals must be made in writing (email), with a copy to the Director of Grant and Contract Services. This will avoid a delay in the proposal processing.

Accounting for Cost Sharing:
A separate project will be established within the Institution’s accounting records to collect the research costs which will be claimed by the Institution as being its contribution as cost sharing.  These records are subject to reporting and audit.

Depending upon the conditions of the Cost Share, there are two modes for use of cost sharing accounts.  In the first mode, the PI is given the cost share project number and will charge the cost sharing costs directly to that project number.  This is used most often when there are specific items to be included in the cost share, such as months of support for the PI or other staff or the purchase of a specific piece of equipment.  In the second mode, the PI makes all charges directly to his/her sponsored project and the cost share portion of those costs are transferred quarterly to the cost share project.  This mode is most often used when the cost share is a specified percent of the total or when there is unallowable overhead.