Departments are responsible for working with OSR to create a cost sharing PTA to account for a cost sharing commitment. A unique Cost Sharing PTA must be associated with each sponsored award. The task service type on the Cost Sharing PTA must be the same as that of the sponsored award. In addition, the Award Type on the Cost Sharing PTA must be coded SPO_University_Funded_Award and the Award Purpose is INR_Cost_Share award range W.

Cost sharing expenditures are recorded in a cost sharing project, task and award independent of the funding source.

Cost sharing tasks are given the designation of the 700 task series with budget and expense tied to the sponsored project period and carried over the fiscal year end (corresponding to the primary sponsored agreement).

All cost sharing expenses must be fully funded by the fiscal year end. It is preferable to fund the cost sharing account when it is established.

Within a cost sharing PTA, multiple tasks can be set up when the funding source is coming from different schools/departments or if there are multiple salaries that need to be closely monitored.

How to determine if there is cost sharing on the award

At the time of proposal submission, the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) or the Research Management Group (RMG) is notified of the cost sharing commitment through the Proposal Development and Routing Form (PDRF). When OSR/RMG receives the award from the sponsor, the notice of award will indicate if the project involves cost sharing. In addition, the existence of cost-sharing is noted in SeRA and Oracle.

What OSR needs in order to set up the Cost Sharing PTA

OSR requires a completed and signed Cost Sharing PTA Attribute Setup Request [ downloadable file ] before either the sponsored project or the cost sharing PTA can be opened. The OSR representative has the authority to open the cost sharing PTA.

The department indicates if planned funding is coming from a/an:

gift fund
endowment income fund
designated/special fund
operating budget (not allowed in SoM).

Final determination of funding to support cost sharing is at the discretion of the department chair (or his or her designee) and is based upon individual PI circumstances and available funds.

Notification of PTA Set-Up

Oracle Workflow notification informs the department of the new grant/contract PTA(s) and corresponding cost sharing PTA(s). When the cost sharing PTA is established, OSR enters the committed cost sharing amount as the budget.

Funding of Cost Sharing PTAs

The Cost Sharing PTA Attribute Setup Request [ downloadable file ] requires identification of the source(s) of cost sharing funds. The form allows the originator to designate whether the cost sharing PTA is to be funded at inception or guaranteed by the fund(s) identified. Cost sharing PTA(s) are budgeted so that the committed cost sharing appears in the Expense Control column of the Monthly Expenditure Statement.

In ALL cases, the cost sharing PTA(s) MAY NOT be in overdraft at the end of the University's fiscal year. The cost sharing PTA(s) must be funded at the end of each fiscal year and at the end of each award period. If a guarantee fund was indicated on the Cost Sharing Authorization Form, OSR will contact the department to determine whether to use that fund or another fund.

Monitoring of Cost Sharing PTAs

Cost sharing PTAs are managed in the same manner as the sponsored project PTAs, as defined in Research Policy Handbook 3.1, Fiscal Responsibilities of Principal Investigators. Principal Investigators and their departmental or research administrators are responsible for monitoring the activity in their cost sharing PTAs. This monitoring includes ensuring the charges are allowable, allocable and reasonable.

Review and certification requirements applicable to sponsored project PTAs apply also to cost sharing PTAs. In addition, the Principal Investigators and their departmental or research administrators must monitor the fulfillment of the cost sharing commitment. If the programmatic needs change, possibly reducing the total costs of the project, the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) or the Research Management Group (RMG) should be contacted to determine how to handle the change and whether to contact the sponsor to determine the affect of the change on the cost sharing commitment.

When preparing interim or final financial reports or closing out the related sponsored project, OSR will review the cost sharing PTA to ensure the commitment was met.

Cost Sharing PTAs for use in clearing overdrafts

At the end of a sponsored award, if an overdraft has occurred, it must be treated in the same manner as cost sharing. This is accomplished by sending an electronic-mail message to your OSR representative, requesting the cost-sharing PTA be opened. When the cost sharing PTA is opened, the department creates journals to transfer the necessary costs from the sponsored account to eliminate the overdraft. When a small overdraft (less than $500 total costs) has occurred, a simplified process involving the transfer of the overdraft using Expenditure Type 56135 (SPONSORED PROJ OVERDRAFT UNAL) can be used. If the overdraft is greater than $500 a cost sharing PTA will be created by OSR with the award purpose INR_Overdrafts. For more information go to the "Questions and Answers" section of these Guidelines.

RPH Chapters:

Research Policy Handbook

COST SHARING Accounting Procedures

Cost Sharing PTA Mechanism