Cost Share Business Process & Summary Job Aid (DOC)

 

 Goals

  • Review roles and responsibilities
  • Facilitate pro-active and continuous monitoring of cost share commitments
  • Review Cost Sharing Summary in PeopleSoft

 

Background

  • Cost sharing - commitment of UVM or third party resources to support part of the cost of the sponsored project
  • Types
    • Mandatory - required by sponsor
    • Voluntary - offered in the proposal but not required by the sponsor
  • Once described in the proposal, and accepted by the sponsor, cost sharing is committed and the obligation must be met.
  • Reasons cost sharing occurs
    • Sponsor has defined F&A rate below the UVM negotiated rate
    • Sponsor requires that the institution contribute to project costs
    • Individual's salary is greater than the federal agency's allowable salary cap (NIH grants)
    • Voluntarily offered by UVM as part of the proposal (strongly discouraged)
  • Cost sharing must always be documented and often reported to the sponsor

 

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Department Chair, Dean or other individual making the financial commitment
    • Approves unit commitments for cost sharing
    • Aligns grant effort with overall workload
  • Principal Investigator
    • Receives approval from individual responsible for financial commitment decisions
    • Ensures cost share requirements are met
    • Obtains documentation for third party cost share
    • Works with business unit administrator to ensure cost share expenses are properly managed
  • Business Unit Administrator
    • Confirms chartstrings for cost share commitments
    • Processed budget entries for cost share in the OPS_CH ledger
    • Makes salary distribution changes to the project
    • Monitors cost share commitments in SP_CHILD2 and OPS_CH
    • Assists Principal Investigators to ensure commitments are met
  • Office of Sponsored Projects Administrators
    • Reviews proposal cost sharing requirements and conveys to Principal Investigator
    • Indicates approvals required for cost sharing commitments on SPA Routing Form
    • Includes cost sharing commitments on Sponsored Project Budget Worksheet with appropriate approval
    • Obtains valid cost share chartstrings from Principal Investigator and business unit administrator
    • Sets up cost share chartstrings and records cost share requirements in PeopleSoft during award set up
    • Periodically audits cost share commitments and activity
    • Competes and submits reports of financial activity, including cost share, to sponsors

 

Monitoring Cost Share

  • SPA sets up cost share chartstrings in SP_CHILD2 in Commitment Control for all cost share commitments at award set up
  • Details about the cost share requirements are recorded in the Additional Information link on the Award Profile page (Grants>Award>Award Profile)
  • Award set up notifications include the cost share requirements

 

Additional Information

Third Party Cost Share

Less frequently, cost share requirements are met by a third party, such as another institution providing in-kind effort on a project by a subrecipient providing cost share as part of a subaward agreement with UVM.

In the case of in-king effort provided by another institution, the cost share is documented by a signed memorandum from the other institution to UVM indicating the names of the individuals who contributed effort, the associated salary and fringe benefit amounts, and the dates in which effort was expended.

For a subrecipient, the cost sharing will be documented on invoices provided to UVM and scrutinized by the Principal Investigator, the business unit administrator and by SPA administrator prior to processing the invoice for payment.

Example: In-kind: Subrecipient has committed $1,000 of cost share. Per invoice #123 dated 1/1/10, subrecipient has contributed $500 of cost share

 

Unrecovered F&A

Some sponsors do not pay UVM's full negotiated F&A rate. In these cases, the difference between what the sponsor will pay and UVM's actual F&A rate is considered unrecovered F&A and this unrecovered F&A quite often contributes to the overall cost share commitments.

In those cases, the unrecovered F&A is not budgeted in Commitment Control since there are no associated financial transactions in Commitment Control or in the GL. However, the commitment is still noted in the Additional Information link on the Award Profile page.

Example: Waived F&A - Cost share commitments will be met with unrecovered F&A.

 

NIH Career Development Awards (K Awards

National Institutes of Health (NIH) K awards have specific effort requirements and a cap on the amount of Principal Investigator salary that they will pay. Effort is typically 75% with a maximum salary of $75,000 per budget year. Anything over the maximum allowed amount must be cost shared. The cost share requirements will change each year, depending on the sponsor terms and conditions and the Principal Investigator's salary.

Example: There is potential for cost share in future years. Please monitor regularly to determine if needed.

 

Salary Cap

Some sponsors, most notably the National Institutes of Health (NIH), limit the amount of salary they will cover. These salary limitations are called "salary caps."

Example: if a sponsor limits salary to $190,000 and the Principal Investigator earns $200,000 per year and expends 10% effort on the award, then $19,000 may be distributed to the sponsored project chartstring and $1,000 must be cost shared.

 

Complex Cost Share Requirements

A handful of awards have cost share requirements that are too detailed and too complex to include in the "Additional Information link. In those cases, SPA will make a note to see the proposal, budget and award document for cost share requirements, or will attach an excel spreadsheet detailing cost share requirements.

 

Cost Share Summary Report

  • A cost share summary report has been developed to monitor cost share requirements and ensure that cost share commitments are met on an ongoing basis.
  • The report should be run and reviewed by unit business administrators at least quarterly to pro-actively manage costs share commitments. This report replaces the historic approach to monitoring cost share.
  • SPA will use the same report to periodically audit cost share commitments and activity.
  • Navigation: UVM Reports > Cost Share Summary
  • Can be run by Award Number, Project ID, Operating Unit, department of by Principal Investigator ID

 

Cost Share Summary Report Data Analysis

During quarterly cost sharing monitoring process, unit business administrators will review: Cost share budget, actuals, encumbrances and budget balances compared to project start and end date to ensure

  • Commitments will be met by the end of the project period
  • Potential overdrafts in cost share chartstrings will be resolved prior to end of the project period
  • Ensure Principal Investigator and Key Personnel effort is not reduced by more than 25% of the commitment made to the sponsor
  • Review budget checking errors to ensure all OPS_CH chartstrings have been appropriately set up