The federal definition is “cost sharing or matching means the portion of project costs not paid by Federal funds,” according to 2 CFR 200.29.
The K-State definition of cost share is the matching portion of an award that is made up of salaries and benefits paid by K-State (not paid from a grant). Non-salary match is referred to as “hard dollar match.”
What is the distinction between a mandatory commitment and voluntary commitment?
Mandatory: required by sponsor or is a documented review/evaluation criteria in the funding guidelines or written communication from sponsor; must be described in the proposal/award documentation.
Voluntary: is not required by the sponsor but is committed and quantified in the budget.
What are the primary types of internal cost share and an example of each?
Cost share: allocable faculty or staff time (salary and benefits) to the project.
Hard dollar match: university contributions for other expenses, non-salary, associated with the project, such as travel, equipment, supplies, etc.
Unrecovered F&A: the difference between the federally negotiated F&A rate applicable to the award and the actual F&A rate approved by the sponsor and used in assessing indirect costs.
What are the primary types of external cost share and an example of each?
Other grants: cash contributions provided by a third party; K-State’s process would be to execute this in a unique record, in both Cayuse and Oracle.
3rd party in-kind contributions: non-cash contributions, this is the computed value of any services and/or resources provided by a third party in support of a sponsored project. Examples include real property, equipment, supplies, or other goods and services.
What is the difference between a “soft match” and a “hard match?”
Hard match: cash spent on project-related costs.
Soft match: the monetary value of non-cash contributions that support project work, typically in the form of goods, services, indirect costs, etc.
Are there any stipulations on when the match commitment is met versus the award project period?
The dates do not have to align identically, although the matching contribution must be obligated within the award project period.
Are there any stipulations on what types of expenditures can be used for a match commitment?
Only expenditures allowable on the grant can qualify as cost share.
What if the sponsor defines the match commitment differently than K-State?
Standard practice would be to ensure that although each entity categorizes them differently, you’ve confirmed it’s a 1:1 relationship. Internally, the grant specialist should label the type of commitment according to the Cayuse IPF definitions. Externally, it is appropriate to label it as required by the sponsor guidelines.
Whose salary can be used for cost sharing?
Both faculty and staff effort can be considered for cost share depending upon the sponsor guidelines and any potential limitations.
Other non-faculty or staff employees may be considered for cost share if they are a current employee of the university being paid salary; this category is primarily limited by sponsor guidelines.
It could be included as hard dollar match in some scenarios such as tuition paid in lieu of salary.
For clarity, both the salary and applicable fringe benefits are eligible to meet a cost share commitment.
Can a faculty member use summary salary for cost sharing if it is funded by a non-grant account, such as a start-up package?
The expenditures must be allowable and allocable to the sponsored project.
Can a faculty member use another federal grant to meet a cost share commitment on a new award?
Traditionally, you cannot use another federal grant as cost share unless authorized by statute.
Would K-State calculate and report indirect cost on a third-party cost share commitment?
It is assumed that the third-party entity is reporting the indirect cost on their in-kind contribution.
What documentation does K-State require at the time of a match commitment?
Typically, the sponsor required backup documentation is sufficient. If a sponsor does not require a letter of commitment, or other type of backup documentation, then the Grant Specialist will need to require a LOC for the commitment.