Information on this page relates to documenting cost share prior to Workday Go Live. While many of the concepts and terminology discussed below remain the same, the cost share systems will move from eFECS to Workday. 

 

This page will be updated with additional guidance, resources, and information as we move into the Workday environment.

 

Definition

Define Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Define Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Cost Share occurs when a quantified portion of the costs of an Award are not paid by the sponsor, but paid instead using resources within a department, school/college, or other party outside of the UW. Cost Share is a commitment, either required by the Sponsor or proposed (volunteered) by the PI, to use resources other than the Award itself for completion of the Award objectives.

Cost Share is Mandatory when required by the sponsor, or Voluntary when the PI voluntarily commits to providing quantified resources to complete the Award objectives.

Some sponsors specifically prohibit Cost Share and many explicitly state that Cost Share does not enhance the competitiveness of a sponsored research proposal. In these instances, Cost Share should not be included in the proposal.

UW’s policies on Cost Share can be found in GIM 21.

Training

The Cooperative for Research Education Offers two online classes on Cost Share. Click on the links below for more information and course registration:

Cost Share Components

The UW discourages Cost Share Commitments when not required by the sponsor due to 1) the high administrative burden of meeting Cost Share requirements and 2) the negative impact of Cost Share on the UW’s Facilities & Administration (F&A) Rate.  For more information, see Cost Share’s Impact on the UW’s F&A Rate below.

Cost Share Commitments must be met by Contributions, using allowable sources (budgets) and expenses. When an expense is identified as a Cost Share Contribution, it is often referred to as being “Tagged.” See “Cost Share Contribution Sources” below for more information on Cost Share Contributions.

An Award with a Cost Share Commitment is often referred to as the “Benefiting” Award; the funding source where the expense is posted that has the Cost Share Contribution  is often referred to as the “Contributing” budget.

The Cost Share Addendum is used by departments to identify the individual Cost Share Commitments and calculate the value and/or percentage of effort.

Unit of Measure

Cost Share Unit of Measure videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Unit of Measure. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

The Cost Share Commitment is calculated by one of the following Units of Measure:

  • a fixed dollar amount (e.g., $20,000);
  • a match where the amount of funds provided by the sponsor will be matched by the amount of funds provided by the department (e.g., a 1:1 match would be where the department matches the sponsor in equal amounts);
  • a percentage of the amount provided by the sponsor (e.g., the department will Cost Share 20% of the funds provided by the sponsor); or
  • a commitment of the faculty’s effort (e.g., the faculty will commit to Cost Share 20% of her effort).

If faculty effort is included in the Cost Share Contribution, it will be calculated in one of four ways:

  1. Dollar-based Academic: where the value of Faculty Effort Contribution is calculated as a dollar amount and the FECs are generated on the Academic cycle;
  2. Dollar-based Calendar: same as the Dollar-based Academic except the FECs are generated on the Calendar cycle.
  3. Percent-based Academic: where the value of the Faculty Effort Contribution is calculated on the PI’s percentage of effort and the FECs are generated on the Academic cycle;
  4. Percent-based Calendar: Same as Percent-based Academic except the FECs are generated on the Calendar cycle.

For more information on FEC cycles, please see MAA’s website.

 

UW Cost Share Systems

Cost Share Systems & Reports videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Systems & Reports. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Both the Cost Share Commitment and Contributions must be recorded in the appropriate UW systems. There are three systems used for Cost Share:

  1. The Cost Share Summary system is the official record of the detailed Cost Share Commitment and Contributions. Commitments and Contributions can only be entered into this system by GCA; department users have inquiry access to view data. The document How to Read the Cost Share Summary Reports explains how information is displayed in the System.

     

  2. The Non-FEC Cost Share Tagging application is used by departments to identify Cost Share Contribution transactions. Departments can only tag expenses on budgets for which they have been granted permission in MyFD. Access can be provided either by individual budget or by Org Code. See Tagging Non-FEC Cost Share Contributions for more information.

The Faculty Effort Certification (FEC) process manages Cost Share Commitments and Contributions for faculty effort. This system is managed by MAA.

Types of Cost Share

Mandatory Cost Share videoMandatory (system code = M): Cost Share required by the sponsor as a condition of the Award. Watch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Mandatory Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Voluntary Cost Share videoVoluntary (system code = R): Cost Share the department voluntarily commits to in the Award proposal. Such Commitments are required to be met, as it is a condition of the Award. Watch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Voluntary Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Note:  The Cost Share Summary System records when there has been a Shift (system code = S) in Funding Sources.  This is when faculty shift their committed effort paid by the Award to a source of funding other than the Award. The amount of the faculty’s committed effort to the Award remains unchanged; only the funding source changes.  This is NOT considered to be Cost Share and is not reported to the Sponsor as Cost Share.  

For more information on Shifts in Funding Sources can be found on the MAA website.

Other Types of Cost Share

There are other situations (namely Salary Cap and K Awards) where faculty effort-related costs are incurred on an Award but cannot be charged in full to the Award. The unallowable amount must be covered by department resources other than the Award.  These amounts are also sometimes referred to as “cost share” (as the cost must be shared by the department) but they are not treated as Cost Share as described in this section, and a Cost Share Addendum or tracking in the Cost Share Summary is NOT required. For more information on these types of cost share, see MAA.

Cost Share Components

The following components can be used for Cost Share. Each item below includes a description and information on Commitment and Contribution requirements.

Faculty Effort Cost Share 

Faculty Effort Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Faculty Effort Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Faculty effort is expended on but not charged as a cost to an Award. Faculty effort can by committed in two ways:

  • dollar-based, where the commitment is made for specific amount of salary; or
  • percentage-based, where the commitment is made for a specific percentage of effort.

See the MAA webpage on Faculty Effort Cost Share for more information.

All other Cost Share Components are collectively referred to as “Non-Faculty Effort (Non-FEC) Cost Share.”

Direct Expenses Cost Share

Direct Expenses Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Direct Expenses Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Direct expenses cost share includes non-faculty effort and non-salary expenses. Non-faculty staff expend effort on an Award, but do not charge the cost of that effort to the Award. These cost share commitments are always dollar-based, rather than a percentage of effort.

Non-salary expenses are incurred within the UW on non-Award funding sources. There are limitations on the funding sources and the types of expenses. See Cost Share Contributions below for more information. For tagging information and processing, see Tagging Non-FEC Cost Share Contributions.

Third Party Cost Share

3rd Party Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on 3rd Party Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Third (3rd) Party Cost Share is provided by an individual or organization other than either UW or the Award Sponsor. The provision of Cost Share is not tied to any formal agreement or financial instrument (such as a subaward or purchase order). Provision of Cost Share is voluntary and is not subject to or made as a requirement of any other agreement with the UW.

3rd Party Commitments are typically in the form of donated effort, resources (equipment or materials), or in-kind (volunteer effort). 

The Cost Share Contributions are external to the UW; they are not recorded in the UW financial system and do not incur any F&A. Because this is not a UW resource, 3rd Party Cost Share is not included in the UW's F&A Rate calculation.  

If the 3rd Party Cost Share involves the contribution of an individual’s effort (either percentage- or dollar-based), the Commitment and Contribution letters can come from that individual even if the individual is within an organization. For example, some organizations do not have an effort tracking system or will not disclose compensation information. In that case, the 3rd Party can be the individual providing the effort within the organization.

3rd Party Cost Share where the Contribution is an individual’s effort can be either percentage of effort or dollar-based. Since the Cost Share Summary (CSS) system only allows for 3rd Party Cost Share to be recorded as a dollar amount, an estimated dollar amount should be calculated for any percentage of effort-based 3rd Party Cost Share Commitments and Contributions. These estimated amounts should be entered into the CSS.  The “Notes” field in the CSS should be used to document that the Cost Share is based on a percentage of effort and can be used to record those effort contributions.

If a 3rd-party Contribution is in the form of cash (which is rare), the cash should be deposited into a Gift or other discretionary budget and then expended on the item to be used as Cost Share. 

Commitment Requirements

At the time of proposal, the department must obtain a written commitment from the 3rd-party contributor (individual or organization).  A list of requirements for the written commitment follows, and a Commitment letter template is also available.

  • the identity of the benefiting Award and, ideally, the PI
  • the date range in which the contributions will be made the (must be within the start and end dates of the benefiting Award)
  • a description of the items or services being contributed
  • a statement indicating how the contribution will benefit the Award,
  • confirmation that the resources being used for Cost Share are not from a federally sponsored resource and will not be used to meet any other Cost Share commitment
  • the dollar value of the contribution, including, if applicable, any allowable indirect costs (e.g., fringe, F&A).  If the contribution is effort-based then include the amount of effort. 
  • signature of the individual or organization's authorized official

3rd-party Cost Share Commitments are entered into the Cost Share Summary system by GCA. Departments should submit the letters to GCA via Grant Tracker.

Contribution Requirements

When the third party has completed their Cost Share Contribution, they must provide written confirmation of the Contribution.  A list of requirements for the written confirmation follows, and a Contribution letter template is also available.

  • the identity of the benefiting award
  • the date range in which the contributions have been made
  • a description of the items or services provided
  • confirmation that the contributions are not from a federally sponsored resource and have not been used to meet any other Cost Share commitment
  • the dollar value, including, if applicable, any indirect costs or, if the contribution is effort, the amount of effort provided
  • signature of the individual or organization's authorized official

3rd-party Cost Share Contribution letters should be submitted to GCA by sending the letter and a completed Non-FEC Cost Share Reporting Report via Grant Tracker. GCA will then enter the Commitment information into the Cost Share Summary system.

Per GIM 21, the PI is responsible for fulfilling the total cost share commitments. If a 3rd party does not provide the amount of Cost Share entered into the Cost Share Module as a Commitment (which may, as above, be an estimate), the PI must either find an acceptable alternative 3rd party contribution or request that the sponsor modify the Award to reduce the Cost Share Commitment.

Outgoing Subaward Cost Share

Subaward Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Subaward Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Subaward Cost Share is a Cost Share Commitment made by a Subaward Recipient. Subaward Cost Share is discouraged due to the administrative burden of tracking the Cost Share, both on the part of UW and the Subaward Recipient. Typically, Cost Share should only be included on a Subaward agreement when the Sponsor has a Mandatory Cost Share Commitment and:

  • The amount of Cost Share is significant (e.g., a 1:1 match where for every dollar the Sponsor provides on the Award, the UW must provide one dollar of Cost Share); and/or
  • The Subaward Recipient will be performing a significant portion of the Award.

Subaward Cost Share should be clearly specified in the Subaward agreement.  Subaward Recipients should include their Cost Share Contributions as part of their routine invoicing. Cost Share should not be reported on separately.

Not all Subaward Cost Share needs to be reported to GCA and entered into the UW’s Cost Share Systems. That determination is made on the following basis:

Subaward Cost Share Reported to GCA

If the Subaward portion of the Cost Share is reported to the Sponsor, then that Subaward Cost Share must be reported to GCA. This typically happens under the following circumstances:

  • Mandatory Cost Share where the Sponsor’s Cost Share Commitment has been passed down (all or in part) to the Subaward Recipient.
  • Voluntary Cost Share where the UW proposal states that a Subaward Recipient will be providing a portion of the Voluntary Cost Share.

In either case, because the Subaward Cost Share is part of the Award agreement with the Sponsor, the Subaward Cost Share Commitment and Contributions should be reported to GCA so that it can be entered into the Cost Share Summary system.

The Subaward’s Cost Share Commitment should be entered onto the Cost Share Addendum (under the 3rd Party/Subaward Cost Share section).  The Subaward Recipient’s Cost Share Contributions, as reported on their invoice, should be recorded by the department on a Non-FEC Cost Share Report. The department submits the completed form, along with a copy of the invoice with the reported Cost Share Contribution, to GCA via Grant Tracker. Upon receipt, GCA will enter the amount of the Contribution in the Cost Share Summary system.

Subaward Cost Share Not Reported to GCA

If there is an agreement between the UW and Subaward Recipient for the Subaward Recipient to provide Cost Share but that Cost Share is not part of the Award agreement between the UW and the Sponsor, then that Cost Share does not need to be reported to GCA. This is because the UW Cost Share systems are only to record Cost Share that is between the UW and the Sponsor. In this case, the agreement is between the UW and the Subaward Recipient and the tracking and reporting is the responsibility of the department. 

Unrecovered Indirect Costs (UIDC) Cost Share

UIDC Cost Share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on UIDC Cost Share. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

If the Actual F&A Rate on an Award is less than the Standard F&A Rate (see below) then the UW is not recovering the full F&A amount on this Award. The amount of F&A that is the difference between the Actual and Standard rate is referred to as Unrecovered Indirect Costs (UIDC). This amount can be used as Cost Share only if the sponsor provides written authorization to allow for UIDC as a Cost Share contribution. GCA calculates and enters the UIDC into the Cost Share Summary on a periodic basis.

What is Not Cost Share

There are a few items which have the characteristics of  - or just look like - Cost Share but they are not considered to be Cost Share at the UW:

Department Internal Tracking

On occasion, a department will have an agreement with a UW employee in a different department for the provision of effort on an Award. If that agreement is not formalized as a Cost Share Commitment with the Award Sponsor, the department does not need to record it in the Cost Share Summary system. However if the department wants to track that effort, they may use the “Shift in Funding Source” functionality (available on the MAA webpage) to record that effort on the faculty’s FEC but not report it as Cost Share to the Award Sponsor.

NIH Training Grants

For NIH Training Grants, funds are limited and are to cover the costs of supporting the Trainee. The salary of the PI is an allowable cost on a T32 Training Grant but, typically, there are insufficient funds to cover PI or other staff effort on the Award. The PI may choose to have their effort paid from non-sponsored funds. While PI and other staff will expend effort on the Award, and that effort paid from non-sponsored funds, that effort does not need to be recorded as a Cost Share commitment unless the Program Announcement specifically states that Cost Share will be a factor in Award selection. To the best of GCA’s knowledge, no NIH Training Grant Program Announcement has included Cost Share as a factor.  

Intramural (Sponsor-Provided) Cost Share

Intramural Cost Share is when a Federal Sponsor commits to providing non-funding resources on an Award. For example, a Federal Sponsor may commit to allowing the Awardee to utilize federal resources, or commit to an employee providing a specified level of effort on an Award. This is NOT considered to be Cost Share as these are resources provided by the Sponsoring agency rather than by the UW.

Cost Share Contributions

Cost Share Contributions videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Contributions. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

The Cost Share Commitment cannot be ignored or removed due to any limitations from the Contributing budget or resource. The requirement to meet a Cost Share Commitment is based on the Benefiting award; therefore the Commitment cannot be eliminated due to limitations of the Contributing resource.  Example: a 3rd party states that it cannot provide any supporting documentation on the value of a Cost Share Contribution. This does not mean that the Cost Share Commitment can be removed. Instead, either the 3rd Party must provide the documentation or another resource must be identified to meet the Cost Share Commitment.

There are limitations on the types of funding sources (budgets) and the individual expenses that can be used as Cost Share Contributions.

Cost Share Contribution Budgets

Cost Share contributions are typically made with unrestricted (department or gift) budgets.

Sponsored Award funds may not be used for Cost Share contributions without the prior written approval from both the benefiting and contributing Award Sponsors.

Any federal flow through Awards used for Cost Share must have prior written approval from both the federal sponsor and the flow through sponsor.

The following budget types are typically not allowed to be used for Cost Share contributions:

  • Recharge center operating budgets (Budget Type 11; Program Type 20)
  • Cost center operating budgets (Budget Type 11; Program Type 22)
  • Recharge center reserve budgets (Budget Type 11; Program Type 21)
  • Cost center reserve budgets (Budget Type 11; Program Type 23)
  • Staff assignments (Budget Type 05; Budget Class 45)
  • Royalty Research Fund (Budget Type 05; Budget class 57)
  • Washington Technology Center (WTC) (Budget Type 53; Program type 44)

Cost Share Contribution Allowable Expenditures

Expenditures used for Cost Share contributions must meet the four cost principles of Allowable, Allocable, Reasonable and Consistently Treated.  

This means:

  • Cost Share Contributions must be incurred within the benefiting budget period; and
  • All contributions must be verifiable from the UW’s financial systems or, in the case of third party, from the department’s records.

For information on Faculty Effort expenditures, see MAA.

Cost Share Contribution Limitations

An individual expense cannot be counted as a Cost Share Contribution on more than one Award. See Tagging Non-FEC Cost Share Contributions for more information on how the Non-FEC Cost Share Tagging Application ensures that expenses are not used for more than one Contribution.

Expenses that use the following Object Codes are typically not allowed to be used as Cost Share:

  • 01-50   Postdoctoral Research Trainee Salaries
  • 01-90   Graduate Stipends
  • 02-31   Marketing Services
  • 08-01   Scholarships
  • 08-02   Stipends
  • 08-03   Prizes and Awards
  • 08-04   Loans (Student)
  • 08-09   Loan Cancellations
  • 09-xx   Debt Service (all sub object codes)
  • 21-xx   Cost Transfers (all sub object codes) (should reflect Transaction Code 60)
  • 22-99   Cost Share
  • 27-xx   Grant and Contract Expenditure Summary (all sub object codes)

More detail on allowable and unallowable sources of non-FEC cost share.

Use of Tuition Waivers for Cost Share Contributions

Tuition payments can be used to meet Cost Share Commitments. However, how the Tuition Commitment is recorded in the Cost Share Summary systems depends on the type of Tuition. There are two types of Tuition:

  1. Tuition Payment: when the cost of the tuition is charged to a UW Budget.
  2. Waived Tuition: when the UW waives, or does not charge, the tuition. UW is absorbing the cost of tuition, and no Budget is being charged for the cost of the tuition. Thus, the UW is the provider of the Cost Share Contribution.

A Tuition Payment is charged to a Budget, so it is “tagged” just as any other non-FEC expense is tagged. Tuition payments are not handled any differently than any other non-FEC expense.

Waived Tuition is not charged to a Budget, so it cannot be “tagged." The following process is followed instead:

  • Department personnel obtain a copy of the student’s quarterly Payment & Charge Detail from the Student Database (SDB). Instructions for accessing and navigating the SDB may be found by contacting Student Fiscal Services (SFS).
  • Identify the tuition waived, which can be found in the “Description” column with the following codes:
    • 031010
    • 031011

The amounts in the “Credit” column are the amount of the waived tuition. In the example below, the amounts of $4,081 and $5,080 are waived tuition:

 

  • Enter the amount of the tuition waiver to be claimed as a Cost Share Commitment on the NFCS Reporting Template in the “Tuition Waiver” line. Note that the amount of Waived Tuition to be used as Cost Share must be equal to or less than the amount of tuition shown in the student’s quarterly Payment & Charge Detail.
  • If applicable, you can include the additional waived fees associated with the tuition waiver. For a list of applicable fees, please refer to the Graduate Appointment Waivers webpage for more details.
  • Submit the Payment & Charge Detail and completed NFCS Reporting Template to GCA via a Grant Tracker. GCA will enter the Tuition amount (and other tagged expenses included in the report) into the Cost Share Summary system.

Tuition that is charged to a sponsored award is charged to Object Code 08-05. Waived Tuition is recorded in the UW financial systems under Object Code 08-06. However, for purposes of reporting Cost Share Commitments, waived Tuition is entered into the Cost Share Summary systems under Object Code 08-05. The reason for this is that for the purposes of Cost Share, we only need to report the type of commitment (in this case Tuition), so the Object Codes in the Cost Share Commitment only serve the purpose of typifying the Cost Share Commitment/Contribution. Thus, department users do not need to worry about the Object Code for Waived Tuition when they are completing their NFCS Report.

Cost Share F&A Rate

Cost Share F&A videoThe Cost Share F&A Rate is the F&A rate applied to the Cost Share Contribution expenses. Watch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share F&A. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

In order to determine the correct Cost Share F&A Rate, users need to understand the three different F&A rates that apply to an Award:

Standard F&A Rate: The negotiated percentage rate of recovery for calculating indirect costs at the time the Award is issued. This is the rate negotiated between the UW and the federal government for actual cost recovery on a sponsored Award. Information on the Standard Rate can be found at MAA.

Actual F&A Rate:  The actual percentage rate of recovery applied by the sponsor on the Award. This rate can be the same or different from the Standard Rate. 

For example, if the Sponsor accepts the Standard Rate then both the Standard and Actual rates would both be 55.5%.  If the Standard Rate is 55.5% but the Sponsor limits F&A to 25%, then the Actual Rate is 25%. 

Cost Share F&A Rate (also referred to as “Cost Share I/C Rate”):  This is the F&A rate applied to the applicable Cost Share expenses. 

If the Sponsor:

  • is silent on the applicable F&A Rate for Cost Share expenses, then F&A Rate is the Standard F&A Rate (most common);
  • explicitly disallows F&A to be incurred on Cost Share expenses, then the F&A Rate is 0% (rare); or 
  • specifies the F&A Rate to be on Cost Share expenses, then that is the F&A Rate (rare).  

The F&A Base is Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC). See GIM 13 for more information on MTDC.

Cost Share F&A Rate on Awards with More than One F&A Rate

If an Award has more than one Standard F&A Rate (see GIM 13 for more information) then the Cost Share F&A Rate is the Standard F&A Rate on the Award’s Parent Budget.

The only exception would be if there is a Faculty Effort (FE) Cost Share Commitment on a sub budget with a different F&A Rate. In that case the Cost Share F&A Rate for that portion of the Cost Share would be the Standard F&A Rate on the sub budget and not the parent budget. In this case, there would be two Cost Share F&A Rates on a single Award. Other exceptions may apply: contact gcahelp@uw.edu if you have any questions.  

F&A applied to Cost Share contributing expenditures does not represent any additional financial burden to the department. Cost Share F&A is not represented as an increase in expenditure on either the Benefiting or Contributing Budget.  It is simply a representation of recovery of institutional costs incurred to support the research enterprise.

Cost Share's Impact on the UW's F&A Rate

Cost Share Contributions (not including 3rd Party Cost Share) are factored into the UW’s Standard F&A Rate negotiations. The Standard F&A rate is calculated by taking the total direct costs from a selected period of time and dividing it by the total indirect costs for the same period. The ratio is the basis for the Standard F&A Rate. The Cost Share Commitments for that same period are added to the total direct costs, which decreases the Standard F&A Rate.  3rd Party Cost Share is not included as part of this F&A Rate calculation as the 3rd Party Contributions are from external, and not UW, resources.

For example:

  • F&A Costs/Direct Costs = $50,000/$100,000 = an F&A Rate of 50%
  • Factor in Cost Share Commitments of $20,000:
  • F&A Costs/(Direct Costs + Cost Share Commitments) =  $50,000/($100,000 + $20,000) = an F&A Rate of 42%

Factoring in Cost Share Contributions reduces the UW’s F&A rate, which means fewer resources for the UW.

Setting up Cost Share

Cost Share Setup videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Setup. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

The Cost Share Addendum (CSA) is used by departments to identify the individual Cost Share Commitments and calculate the value and/or percentage of effort. 

Upon Award signature, OSP forwards the completed CSA to GCA who enters the Cost Share information into the Cost Share Summary. The Cost Share Summary is the official record of the Cost Share Commitment.

There may be discrepancies between the CSA (created manually in Excel) and Cost Share Summary (pulls data from the UW financial systems). In such cases, GCA will notify the department via Grant Tracker.

Cost Share on Multi-Year Awards

A separate Cost Share Commitment should be created for each individual Budget Number. 

  • If there are multiple Budget Numbers assigned within a multi-year award, then a separate Cost Share Commitment should be established for each Budget Number; and 
  • If there is one Budget Number for the entire multi-year Award, then a single Cost Share Commitment should be created.

See the GCA webpage for more information on Budget Numbers for multi-year awards. 

Multiple Budget Numbers 

A separate Cost Share Commitment is created for each Budget Number within the total Award period. This allows current Cost Share Commitment information to be entered for each Budget Number period. 

GCA can report Cost Share on either an individual Budget Number or the entire Award (by adding the Cost Share Commitment and Contribution amounts for the different Budget Numbers) as required by the Sponsor.

The only exception to this would be if the Cost Share Commitment for the entire Award period is met within one Budget Number period. For example, the Cost Share Commitment might be met by the purchase of a single piece of equipment. In this case, only one Cost Share Commitment would be created for the entire Award. Such exceptions should be discussed with GCA at the time of budget setup.

One Budget Number

A single Cost Share Commitment is established for the entire Award. There are a few items to consider based on the type of the Cost Share Commitment:

  • If the Award has an effort-based faculty commitment (a percentage of time) then the faculty effort can be entered as a single entry, as the faculty’s IBS rate is not a factor in calculating  the Cost Share Commitment.
  • If the Award is incrementally funded, and the Cost Share Commitment is tied to the incremental funding, the Cost Share Commitment should be adjusted (by completion of a revised or supplemental Cost Share Addendum) with each funding increment.
  • If there is a dollar-based faculty commitment, the faculty’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS) and associated Fringe Rates will likely change over the duration of the Award, but the actual IBS and Fringe Rate(s) will not be known at the start of the Award. There are two options, with the Pro and Con of each option:
    • Set up the Cost Share Commitment at the start of the Award using estimated IBS and Fringe rates for each year. Use a separate Faculty Effort tab on the Cost Share Addendum for each separate year of the Award. The Cost Share Commitment can be amended (by submitting a revised Cost Share Addendum) when the actual IBS and Fringe Rates are known at the start of each year. 
      • Pro: The entire Cost Share Commitment is entered into the Cost Share Summary system so the full amount of the Cost Share is known throughout the Award.
      • Con: Estimating and revising Cost Share Commitment amounts is time consuming.
    • Set up the Cost Share Commitment in one year increments, one year at a time, when the IBS and Fringe Rates are known for the year.
      • Pro: Cost Share Commitments are correctly calculated when the actual IBS and Fringe Rates are established.
      • Con: the Cost Share Summary does not show the full amount of the Cost Share Commitment.Departments have to remember to update the Commitment each year.
  • If the Award receives supplemental funding (e.g., the sponsor increases the overall total amount of the Award) and increases the Cost Share Commitment, then a revised Cost Share Addendum should be completed and submitted to GCA to add the additional Cost Share Commitment to the Cost Share Summary system.

Managing Cost Share

Identifying Contributions

Once the Cost Share Commitment has been set up in the Cost Share Summary, it is the department's responsibility to ensure that Cost Share Contributions are identified and the supporting information is submitted to MAA or GCA (as appropriate). 

Faculty Effort Cost Share Contributions are identified via the Faculty Effort Certification process. See MAA for more information.

All other Cost Share Contributions are identified by campus and submitted to GCA for processing. See Tagging Non-FEC Cost Share Contributions for more information.

Monitoring Balances

Cost Share Monitoring videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Monitoring. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Cost Share Commitments, both Mandatory and Voluntary, are part of the Award agreement. This means that Commitments must be met and documented by the end of the Award.  

Awards with Cost Share Commitments cannot be closed out with the Sponsor, or in the UW systems, until all Cost Share Contributions are documented in the UW systems and the Contributions match the Commitment.

Use the Cost Share Commitments and Contributions Report for complete information on the Cost Share Commitments and their Contribution balances.

Best Practices

Monitor the Cost Share Contributions in the Cost Share Summary system. This system is the official record of all Cost Share Contributions.

If the Cost Share Commitment includes non-Faculty Effort Commitments, those expenses should be tagged on at least a quarterly basis. See Tagging Non-FEC Cost Share Contributions for more information.

Use the Cost Share Commitments and Contributions report to monitor the Cost Share balance.

Monitor the Cost Share Contributions to determine if the Cost Share Commitment will be met. If it is anticipated that the Cost Share Commitment will not be able to be met, then the Sponsor may need to be contacted.

Post Award Changes in Commitments

Changing Commitments cost share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Changing Commitments. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Changes to Cost Share Commitments in the Cost Share Summary system can either be made by GCA or may require sponsor approval.

Changes Made by GCA

  • When a Cost Share Commitment must be moved to a continuation budget;
  • When a faculty member wants to contribute effort in a different FEC reporting cycle within the Award period than identified in the Cost Share Summary;
  • When there is a data entry error in the Cost Share Summary system; and/or
  • Cost Share Commitment types need to be rebudgeted, as long as there is not a change in the scope of the Award.

Changes That Require Sponsor Approval

Written sponsor approval is required to increase or decrease the total amount of the Cost Share Commitment. This is the case for both Mandatory and Voluntary Cost Share.

There is some confusion about why a change in Voluntary Cost Share requires sponsor approval, since the PI volunteered to provide the Cost Share. The reason is that the proposal, including the Voluntary Cost Share, is a binding commitment made by the UW and is part of the award agreement. If we included Cost Share in our proposal, then the Sponsor accepted that proposal with that commitment. The UW is thus committed to providing that Voluntary Cost Share. If we want to change that commitment, we need to obtain the sponsor’s written approval.  

Departments should work with OSP to obtain sponsor approval. Once documented sponsor approval has been obtained, OSP will issue a Post Award Change (PAC) and send it to GCA for entry into the Cost Share Summary system. In some cases, a revised Cost Share Addendum (CSA) must also be completed and submitted to GCA so that they can update the Cost Share Summary system. 

Removing Erroneous Commitments

GCA may remove a Cost Share Commitment from the UW systems if Cost Share has been erroneously identified in an Award. GCA will edit the Funding Action to remove the commitment and, if necessary, remove the Commitment from the Cost Share Summary System. GCA will add a note to the Award's file to record the reason for the removal and who authorized it and will notify the department via Grant Tracker of the removal.

Sponsor Reporting cost share videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Sponsor Reporting. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Cost Share is reported to the sponsor using either the sponsor’s requirements or UW’s standard reporting template.   

The only time Cost Share is not reported to the Sponsor is if:

  • A non-federal sponsor does not require reporting of Cost Share on the Sponsor’s template; or
  • A federal sponsor specifically directs the UW not to report Cost Share (rare).

GCA only reports Cost Share Contributions up to the Cost Share Commitment amount.  Any Contributions that exceed the Commitment amount will not be reported to the Sponsor by GCA. 

Close Out

Cost Share Closeout videoWatch the Video! Click on the video for a brief presentation on Cost Share Closeout. Keep in mind that this same video will be used as part of the requirements to complete CORE’s Certificate in Research Administration. You may be required to watch the video again in order to obtain the necessary CORE credit.

Requirements

Per GIM 21 Cost Share is a binding requirement of an Award. Any unmet Cost Share at the end of the Award period may lead to a reduction in the total awarded amount made by the sponsor, or may result in the PI providing the Commitment from other sources (even if unmet third-party Cost Share). The Cost Share Commitment must be met in order to close out the sponsored Award.

Interim Cost Share Reports (Faculty Effort only)

Interim Cost Share reports are completed when there is a gap between when the FEC reports are released to faculty for certification and when actual FEC Cost Share contributions need to be reported to the sponsor on an invoice or financial report. 

Since FECs are only generated a few times a year, the FEC cycle often does not match up with sponsor deadlines for financial reports and invoices (FECs are updated on a fixed schedule twice a year). It is usually necessary to obtain an Interim Cost Share report providing certified documentation the Faculty Effort Cost Share. GCA will use these Interim reports when submitting invoices and financial reports to sponsors prior to when an FEC is certified. Interim Cost Share Reports must be submitted to MAA for calculation and validation. MAA will then forward the Interim Report to GCA for use in the report. For more information on this topic, see the Job Aid from MAA on Interim Cost Share Reports.