Procedure Library

Request Approval for Cost Share

Purpose

Comply with federal and university requirements for approval of cost sharing.

Applicability

Principal Investigators (PIs) and administrators developing a sponsored project budget or managing award funds.

If the proposal budget includes a cost sharing commitment, i.e., expenditure of funds (or commitment of other resources to a project) that will not be reimbursed from the award, University policy requires approval of the proposed cost share.

For more information, see the Research Handbook 6.5 Cost Sharing and Approval Requirements.

Instructions

1. Review sponsor instructions to determine if commitment of cost sharing is mandatory and if so, at what level.
   1. Include cost sharing or matching in a proposal only when it is a requirement of the funding opportunity.
      1. Over-salary-cap amounts are not considered as cost sharing.
   2. For federal proposals, unrecovered indirect costs may be included as part of cost sharing or matching only with prior approval of the federal awarding agency. For proposals to other sponsors, review sponsor instructions for limitations.
2. Budget and proposal:
   
   1. Enter mandatory cost sharing amounts in the eProposal budget
   2. Do not exceed the amount of cost share required by the sponsor
   3. Propose only cost share expenses that are allowable costs (based on sponsor policy or regulation) and will be verifiable from University records in the event of an audit.
   4. Cost-sharing is approved as part of the proposal approval process in eProposal. Attach the RFP in eProposal so that OSP can verify the cost share requirement.
3. If cost-sharing is required by the sponsor the Cost Share Approval Form is required to be attached in eProposal but does not require VPR approval. If cost-sharing (or any portion of the proposed cost-share) is *voluntary* the Cost Share Approval Form is required and requires approvals by the VPR. Upon completing the form and obtaining signature of the PI, Chair and Dean, attach the form in eProposal and complete the Document Summary Sheet (DSS).
4. During award set-up, ensure that a companion project is set up to track mandatory cost sharing. OSP will provide Grants & Contracts Accounting (GCA) with the Vice President for Research (VPR's) chartfield specifically for this purpose.
5. Work with GCA to report cost share expenditures to the sponsor.

Related Policies and Procedures

• Research Handbook > Budget Development > Cost Sharing and Approval Requirements
• Research Handbook > Budget Development > Cost Share Management
• Resources > Cost Sharing
• Forms > Cost Share Approval Form