Documenting Cost Sharing Commitments

Cost-sharing commitments must be documented (accounted for) if they are explicitly set forth on the Proposal Approval Form (PAF) or are required as a condition of the agreement. Cost-sharing commitments should be charged either to a separate cost-sharing account related to the specified project or to the sponsored project account.

Cost-sharing commitments for faculty and staff salaries, benefits, materials and supplies, travel, printing, and other operating costs should be recorded in a cost-sharing account. The account number(s) for the cost-sharing amount will be provided on the Project Award Notice (PAN), which is issued by DRDA at the time an award is received and a sponsored project account is established. The department/unit is responsible for ensuring that the cost-sharing amounts shown on the PAN are correct and that the Turn Around Documents (TADs) are submitted on a timely basis.

If the cost-sharing commitment is to provide partial tuition support for Graduate Student Research Assistants assigned to the sponsored project, the full tuition charges should be made to the sponsored research project and the funds required to cover the cost-shared portion of these charges will be transferred into the sponsored project account. Cost-sharing commitments for equipment acquisitions should also be charged to the sponsored project account and funds transferred into this account from the appropriate cost-sharing sources.

These procedures ensure that all project costs are recorded in the sponsored project account or the associated cost-sharing account in accordance with the budget commitments approved by the sponsor and agreed to by the University at the time of the award. This consistency between budget commitment and expenditures is essential to ensure compliance with federal cost accounting standards.

See also a detailed Overview of Cost Sharing.