IV.AccountingforCostShareCommitments.docVIP

Accounting for Cost Share Commitments A. Overview Cost share commitments are contributions made by RIT or a third party to support the overall costs of a sponsored project. The cost share commitments can be either mandatory or voluntary and can be in the form of cash or in-kind services for expenditures not reimbursed by the primary sponsor that directly benefit the award. Expenditures may be salaries, other direct costs, equipment or facilities and administration charges. Objectives: In this chapter you will learn about: Criteria for cost sharing Monitoring cost share commitments Cost share funding and spending rates Examples of cost share expenditures B. Cost Sharing Criteria Both cost sharing and matching achieve a similar objective: to provide funds in addition to the sponsors award toward the total cost of a project. Typically, cost sharing occurs when the University uses its own funds for this purpose, while matching takes place when the University raises funds from another source. As defined by OMB Circular A-110, cost sharing and matching contributions must meet the following standards: Necessary and reasonable to accomplish the project objectives Allowable under the grant or contract Verifiable (i.e., separately tracked in the accounting system and supported by adequate documentation when required) Not be paid by the Federal Government under another award, except where authorized by Federal statute When specifically allowed, funds from non-Federal awards may be used to fund cost share commitments. However, contributions from non-Federal sources may be counted only once as cost sharing toward Federal projects. If there is minimal PI effort on a federal award because the award cannot support the full effort being put forth and RIT did not commit the effort in some way to the sponsor, then there is no need to set up a cost share account to track the effort. C. Types of Cost Share Commitments There are three types of cost share commitments – mandato