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Cost share is additional dollars above the sponsor’s dollars which are needed to complete the SOW (scope of work).

No. Uniform Guidance says that cost share beyond the mandatory cost share will not be considered during the review of the proposal.

Cost share obligates university resources so they cannot be used on other projects. Furthermore, cost share dollars are included in the equation/calculation of the university’s federal F&A rate application. The higher amount of cost share dollars, the lower the F&A rate.

Committed cost share is pledged in the proposal budget, budget justification, or proposal narrative whenever a specific dollar amount is stated or can be calculated from information provided in the proposal. Committed cost share can be mandatory (required as a condition of the award), or voluntary (offered by the recipient when not specifically required by the award). Uncommitted voluntary cost share is incidental support that is over and above what was proposed and agreed upon for the project. Uncommitted voluntary cost share is not included or quantified in the proposal budget or the narrative, and generally is not auditable or reported to the sponsor.

Other types of cost share include:

• Cash cost share can come from within SM������, or from an outside entity.
• In-kind cost share is provided by a 3rd party entity.
• Forfeited F&A is the difference between the approved federal F&A rate and the negotiated sponsor approved rate.

The CCO cost share accountant (CSA) sets up the cost share SpeedTypes for internal cost share. 3rd party cash cost share is tracked through a separate sponsored award, so CCO project set up sets up these SpeedTypes.

Cost share SpeedTypes are processed after the Project SpeedType has been set up.

• CSA receives notice an award with cost share through the inter-routing process
• CSA gathers all the information and reviews the commitments
• CSA decides the best way to track the cost share
• If one or more SpeedType(s) are required, the CSA will request the set-up (2-5 working days)
• The CSA will notify the department and PI with the SpeedType details
• In-kind cost share: the CSA will include with the SpeedType notification any details about what is required for certification when the in-kind commitment has been completed

Cost share can be funded from several different sources. The SpeedTypes are set up to match the funding source:

For a SM������ internal funding source:

• Fund 10= cost share fund 12
• Fund 2x= cost share fund 22
• Fund 34= cost share fund 32
• Fund 72= cost share fund 70

For a 3rd party cash cost share (outside dollars) funding source, the resulting cost share SpeedType will be either:

• Fund 30= sponsored cost share
• Fund 31= state-sponsored cost share

SM������-funded cost share SpeedTypes are funded through a cash transfer.

The PI is responsible for obtaining the signed In-Kind Certification form when the 3rd party entity has completed the work. This is based on the concept that the PI is aware that the work has been completed and can therefore verify what the 3rd party entity has certified.

As part of the agreement with 3rd party entities, they are subject to audit and may be asked to produce all supporting documentation for the dollar amount which they certify.

Mandatory cost share is cost share required by the sponsor as part of the award. Voluntary cost share is cost share not required by the sponsor but is needed to complete the scope of work (SOW). Both are a commitment that is a liability to the university and must be fulfilled whether the sponsoring agency requires reporting of the cost share or not.

Uncommitted voluntary cost share is incidental support that is over and above what was proposed and agreed upon for the project; it is not included or quantified in the proposal budget or the narrative. Generally, uncommitted cost sharing is not auditable or reported to the sponsor. This does and can occur, but should be kept to a minimum, as it is not in the best interest of the university.

Not meeting the cost share commitment puts the university at risk because it is a binding commitment. If we do not fulfill our obligation, a sponsor may refuse to pay all or part of what is owed to the university. This is why monitoring your cost share is very important. If you estimate that you will not be able to meet your cost share commitment, discuss with the PI and cost share accountant immediately. It is possible OCG and the sponsor will need to be contacted with justification on why the cost share commitment cannot be met. The explanation needs to include the extent to which you are able to complete the SOW without the cost share dollars.

Yes. Sub-contract cost share is required to be reported in a clearly stated manner on any invoices they present to the university. On rare occasions, this cost share may be documented by a signed In-Kind Certification form. The university is responsible for and therefore liable for the sub-contractor’s cost share.

In general, employees of SM������ can not do volunteer/In-Kind contributions to the project. The reasoning is that if you have a full-time position, you do not have additional time to volunteer (can’t be over 100%).

Cost share dollars are spent within the financial parameters that are specified on the awarded budget. Always refer to the award document for variances within categories. The cost share accountant can advise on what is allowable and if OCG and the sponsor need to be contacted to ask for an exception.

The cost share accountant is responsible for monitoring and closing the financial cost share file. The cost share accountant works closely with the department. The cost share should be closed before the project can be closed. It is the department’s responsibility to make sure the balance of all cost share SpeedTypes is zero after meeting the commitment. The cost share accountant is the final approval for SpeedType in-activation.

It is SM������’s policy that you return the money proportionately to the units who contributed funding.

Transfers processed between 30 and 90 days after the end of the month in which the transaction appeared on the reporting system statement must include written justification and all relevant back-up documentation. Cost transfers completed more than 90 days beyond the end of the month in which the transaction appeared are considered exceptions and require substantial and reasonable justification.

Header descriptions should provide a clear, complete explanation concerning the transfer and must include:

• The cause of the error (why the receiving FOPPS was not charged originally).
• Justification that the charge is allowable, allocable and provides direct benefit to the project receiving the charge.
• Cost transfers after 90 days require not only an adequate explanation of charge but also an explanation of the delay in processing the correction. Late transfers may need additional review by the project’s financial analysts before the JE can be approved.
• Abbreviations, incomplete sentences and other word reduction techniques are expected in the journal header due to the 254 character limit.
• Please note that according to federal guidelines, “...an explanation which merely states that the transfer was made ‘to correct error’ or ‘to transfer to correct project’ is not sufficient.”

There is a fundamental difference between sponsored projects and non-fund 30/31 programs in the way fiscal roles are treated.

Sponsored projects must abide by the conditions set forth by the sponsor as well as those applicable at the federal, state and university levels. Whereas program fiscal role assignments are generally an internal university (department) decision, the sponsored project principal investigator (PI) is designated as the project fiscal principal in the Finance System and cannot be changed without sponsor approval. CCO enters the PI information into the Finance System when the project is set up. The term “key contact” used to be a valid field in the Finance System but that field and position was eliminated. However, key contact continues its status with CCO and serves as a way for us to disseminate project-related information to departments. There is only one key contact per department (except for a few large orgs with many projects).  

You can add employees to the fiscal staff role by completing the Fiscal Staff Request Form, and sending it to ccoawardsmgmt@colorado.edu. For all other fiscal role questions or concerns, contact your area accountant.

The Sponsored Project Invoices query allows users to view a list of invoices based on various attributes of an award and related billing, and to allow a drill down to view the actual PDF invoice and supplemental backup data when applicable. The query, found by navigating through either query manager or query viewer, is named “GM_BI_INVOICES”.

The reference guide gives an overview of the functionality and navigation of this highly useful query.