Cost Share

KCTCS Cost Share Procedures on Sponsored Project/Grants

Some sponsored projects require KCTCS to participate to some extent in the total cost of the project.  Cost sharing or matching represents the use of institutional funds to supplement project costs not borne by the sponsoring agency.  The cost share commitment must be included on the Internal Approval Form (GC2) and approved by the KCTCS Chancellor’s Office and College President.  

The practice of KCTCS is to make a cost sharing commitment only when required by the sponsor or when a competitive nature of an award exists.

Criteria for Documenting Cost Share

Accurate records must be maintained by the College to verify that committed funds have been provided through the use of other resources.  These records must be auditable as they may be reviewed by internal and external auditors and sponsor representatives. Cost sharing expenditures are identified in one of two ways:

• Establishment of a specific cost-sharing account string to document the cost sharing for a particular project/grant (recommended method). The College posts all applicable cost sharing expenses (salary, current expense, travel, and etc.) to this separate account.  Unrelated project/grant cost sharing expenses would not be charged to this account string. The account string should be given to Sponsored Projects Accounting at the beginning of the project.
• Multi-purpose College account string.  Colleges may have an account string that is used for multiple purposes, one of which can be used to charge cost sharing expenses.  In these cases, the College will need to track the applicable matching expenditures with a PeopleSoft report showing all the journal line information (i.e., voucher, journal ID, date, and etc). 

Cost Share Expenditures and Documentation Methods

• Salary and benefits (KCTCS employees) : The salary expenses should be documented through the Time & Effort Certification Reports, but if this is not possible the Project Manager/PI must report the salary cost sharing on a Cost Sharing Certification Report (GC4) form.  The benefit expenses are documented through the federally approved Fringe Benefit Rate Agreement.
• Non-salary items (supplies, travel, equipment, and etc) : These costs are identified with either a separate account string or a multi-purpose account string and are certified by the Project Manager/PI’s completion of a Cost Sharing Certification Report (form GC4) form.
• Unfunded or waived Indirect/Facility & Administrative Cost (F &A) : Waived F&A costs are the indirect costs that are otherwise available to be reimbursed by the sponsor.  However, in some cases KCTCS agrees to accept less than the full federal approved rate.  The difference between the F&A costs accepted and the amount calculated at the full rate may be used as cost sharing if approved by the sponsor.  This will be calculated by Sponsored Projects Accounting.
• Third-Party Contributions : The outside organization must document the time commitments through its own financial system and this documentation must be retained by that organization for audit purposes. When the cost sharing must be reported to the Sponsor, the third party provider of the cost share must send a letter or report to the KCTCS Project Manager/PI that identifies the time and the value of that time. This letter must be written after the individual has contributed the effort. Estimates cannot be accepted. The KCTCS Project Manager/PI must then forward the letter to Sponsored Projects Accounting for reporting to the Sponsor, if required.

Important tips related for Cost Sharing

Normally cost share or matching expenses are provided through College or Systems Office funds (fund 01), but sometimes the cost share commitment may come from a gift (fund 11) account. 

In rare circumstances, the cost sharing is provided through another project/grant account.  This is only allowable if approved by both sponsors.  Note that federal funds may not be used as cost sharing on other federal funds.