UCSD Blink: Cost Sharing: Types

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Cost Sharing Overview
Glossary Terms
	Cost Sharing System (CSS)
	F&A cost
	Sponsored project
Departments
	Office of Post Award Financial Services

Blink Home > Finance > Cost Sharing: Types

Cost Sharing: Types

Summary: Get information about forms of cost sharing and related tracking and reporting requirements.

Cost sharing is a commitment of University resources such as staff time, materials, and equipment, used to help accomplish the goals of a sponsored project funded mostly by external resources. See additional details.

Avoid cost-sharing commitments when possible. Cost sharing:

Is costly to the University
Creates significant administrative workload
Reduces cost recovery of both direct and indirect (F&A) costs
Creates potential liability for the University

Types of cost sharing:

Formal cost sharing

Informal/ voluntary uncommitted cost sharing

Cost sharing exceptions

Type of cost sharing		What to know
	Formal cost sharing	Most discussion related to cost sharing, and all discussion in these Blink pages, refers to formal (tracked and reported) cost sharing. Formal cost sharing occurs in three ways: Formal/ Mandatory cost sharing: Required by agency policy or award terms and conditions. Formal/ Voluntary committed cost sharing: The University may voluntarily commit the use of its resources. Under certain circumstances, these commitments become a requirement of the award and must be treated the same as mandatory cost sharing that must be tracked and reported. Voluntary cost sharing becomes "formal" cost sharing only if one or more of the following criteria apply: Cost sharing is specifically identified and a monetary value or a percent of effort is established in the proposal budget Cost sharing is specifically identified in the proposal text Cost sharing is specifically identified and a monetary value or a percent of effort is established in the award document, either directly or by reference to the proposal Unless at least one of the three criteria above also applies, the following alone do not create a cost-sharing commitment: Completing UCSD internal documents such as internal budgets Completing a list of current or pending support that associates a percentage of effort with a specific project Providing voluntary cost sharing that was neither specifically identified nor assigned a monetary value in the proposal budget, proposal text, or award document Formal/ Statutory cost sharing refers to cost sharing that is required by law, stating that the grantee (University) must share in the cost of research projects. Statutory cost sharing is typically tracked by central administration. No entry is required in the Cost Sharing System (CSS), and departments do not report these costs. Example: The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires 1% cost sharing of research projects resulting from unsolicited proposals.
	Informal/ Voluntary uncommitted cost sharing This type of cost sharing is not tracked and reported.	If the criteria noted above for formal cost sharing are not met — such as when there is no monetary value or effort noted in the proposal budget, text, or award document — voluntary cost sharing remains informal and tracking or reporting is not required. An example of voluntary cost sharing would be time spent on a project by a principal investigator that is above and beyond the amount of time committed or paid by the project or required by any formal cost sharing commitment. This time can be considered project collaboration or enhancement. Project collaboration or enhancement is a voluntary commitment of University resources/ funding to supplement externally sponsored projects. Project collaboration or enhancement exists if the cost fits all of the following criteria: Is not quantified in the proposal budget Is not quantified in a narrative or transmittal letter, and support is described as resources available for the project Is not quantified and not required as a condition to the acceptance of the award
	Cost sharing exceptions	Certain activities that may otherwise be considered formal cost sharing are exempted from reporting requirements, including: Formal cost sharing commitment of an individual's effort of 5% or less Commitments that are not specifically identified as a cost element, percent of effort, or some other measure that can be reduced to a dollar value Example: University expenditures in support of research which are not separately budgeted, and which are not included or addressed in either the project proposal and/or in the award notice, are classified as departmental research.