Cost Sharing Policy

Our cost sharing policy is intended to document expenses that are in support of a sponsored program (grant/contract) but not paid by the sponsor and are mandatory to meet the conditions of the award, in compliance with Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance.

  • Definitions

    Cost Sharing: The portion of the project or program costs that are not borne by the sponsor

    Mandatory Cost Sharing: Costs that have been committed by the University towards the support of a program or project. This may be a requirement of the sponsor to be eligible for the award, or it may be voluntarily proposed by the PI/University and accepted by the sponsor as a condition of the award.

    Office of Management and Budget: The federal office that assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the federal budget and supervise its administration in Executive Branch agencies by promulgating rules and regulations through the issuance of circulars.

    OMB Uniform Guidance: The regulations that set forth uniform administrative requirements for grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals and other non-profit organizations.

    Principal Investigator: The DU employee (usually a faculty member) who is responsible for the proper conduct of research or other activity described in a proposal for an award. Used interchangeably with Program Director.

    Sponsored Programs: Programs or projects that are funded by an external entity through an award (grant, contract, etc.) to the University. Sponsored programs include research, instruction, and other sponsored activities.

    Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing (VUCS): Costs that have not been promised and/or quantified to the sponsor, and therefore, not a condition of the award.

  • Policy

    Mandatory cost shared expenses shall be documented within DU’s financial system (Banner) by indicating the appropriate activity code for each expense transaction that is in support of a sponsored program. Cost sharing on a federal award may not be paid by any other federal award (either direct or flow-through).

    The full policy can be found here.

  • Procedures
    1. When a proposal is prepared, the PI shall work with ORSP to identify cost shared expenses.
    2. When an award is received that includes mandatory cost sharing, ORSP shall set up an Activity Code in Banner and shall mark the Grant with a cost-sharing requirement in the Banner system.
    3. When a cost-shared expense is entered into Banner, the Activity Code shall be included in the entry along with the fund, org, account, and program.
    4. The Office of Sponsored Programs shall notify PIs on a regular basis of active grants/contracts that require cost sharing.
  • Roles & Responsibilities
    • Principal Investigators are responsible for assuring that all cost shared expenses are identified and coded with the proper Activity Code.
    • Deans/Department Chairs shall assure that departmental staff who are responsible for entering data into Banner are knowledgeable about the requirements for coding cost shared expenses.
    • Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) shall code awards with the proper cost sharing requirements, create Activity Codes and distribute reports for notification of cost sharing requirements.
  • OMB Uniform Guidance

    OMB Uniform Guidance