1. for UTHSA Departmental Administrators Chris G. Green, CPA
Cost Sharing
for UTHSA Departmental Administrators
Chris G. Green, CPA
Director, Sponsored Programs
June 15, 2017

2. Topics What is Cost Sharing? What are the types of Cost Sharing?
Who is responsible?
Accounting for Cost Sharing
Salary Cost Sharing
F&A and Third Party Cost Sharing
Unallowable Costs and Audits

3. What is Cost Sharing?
Costs that are applicable to a specific award which are not borne (paid) by the sponsor of the award. Often referred to as in-kind or matching contributions.

4. Policies and Procedures
UTHSA Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) Policy 7.1.6:
OMB Uniform Guidance §

5. Who is responsible? Shared responsibilities Principal Investigator
Department Administrator
Department/Institute Chair or Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
If applicable, Third Party Providers (e.g. subawardees, non-profits, municipalities)
With ECRT, faculty self-certify their own effort. In addition, faculty must also certify all Support Staff that were funded from a sponsored project for which they are the principal investigator. The Certification process takes place twice each fiscal year and covers the performance periods of September-February and March-August.

6. Cost Sharing Types Committed Mandatory Voluntary Uncommitted
Voluntary (a.k.a. VUCS)
With ECRT, faculty self-certify their own effort. In addition, faculty must also certify all Support Staff that were funded from a sponsored project for which they are the principal investigator. The Certification process takes place twice each fiscal year and covers the performance periods of September-February and March-August.

7. Committed Mandatory Cost Sharing
Will be identified in the funding opportunity
Required by the sponsor before award is issued
Will be identified in the grant award documentation
Must be reported to the sponsor in the financial reports
Could be non-salary or salary related

8. Committed Voluntary Cost Sharing
Voluntary Committed Cost Sharing is not explicitly required by the sponsor, but has been offered by the PI and UTHSA in the proposal application, budget or budget justification
This commitment becomes binding once the grant has been awarded
Voluntary committed cost sharing should be minimized at all times and is discouraged
Could be non-salary or salary related

9. Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing (VUCS)
Not explicitly required on a program and over and above that which is provided in a proposal
Not reported to the sponsor
Could be non salary or salary related

10. Cost Sharing Expenditures
Must:
Be allowable per sponsor guidelines for the award
Be properly documented
Be incurred within the project period of the award
Provide a direct benefit to the award to which it applies

11. Accounting for Cost Sharing
For awards with Mandatory Cost Sharing (C/S), OSP will establish a companion non-grant project
Department will provide OSP with a non-grant project so funds can be transferred to the C/S project at the time of award
Cost Sharing project will be used exclusively for recording allowable cost sharing expenditures
On a periodic basis, OSP will transfer expenditures from the funded award project to the C/S project in order to meet the match requirements

12. Deep-Dive Salary Cost Sharing
Accounts for 95% of all cost sharing at the UTHSA
Is reported to senior leadership each fiscal year
Affects all funds across the UTHSA
Negatively impacts the UTHSA research F&A rate

13. Examples of Salary Cost Sharing
Mandatory Salary Cost Sharing - required by sponsor (e.g. DHHS, CPRIT Salary Caps)
Voluntary Committed Salary Cost Sharing (e.g. committing 20% effort but only requesting 10% salary)
Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing (VUCS) - effort expended in excess of effort commitment (effort over and above what is committed & budgeted on a sponsored agreement)
With ECRT, faculty self-certify their own effort. In addition, faculty must also certify all Support Staff that were funded from a sponsored project for which they are the principal investigator. The Certification process takes place twice each fiscal year and covers the performance periods of September-February and March-August.

14. How to identify Salary Cost Sharing
At Proposal Submission:
BUDGET JUSTIFICATION (FUNDS REQUESTED FROM NIH)
KEY PERSONNEL
John Grant, PI and Director, 2.4 calendar months effort. We request 1.2 calendar months of salary from NIH ($10,000) and the remaining 1.2 calendar months of salary will be covered in- kind by the institution.
Fosters a simplified and standardized approach to effort reporting!
Standardized: UT Arlington, El Paso, San Antonio, Dallas, Pan America, Brownsville, Tyler, Permian Basin,
Health: UT Houston, UT Tyler, UT San Antonio
Simple for an end-user to quickly and easily complete the certification task!
The web-based ECRT system serves as the system to facilitate the university's effort reporting and certification process
3. Manages institutional compliance! (
Estimated Risk Avoidance: $750k – 7.5m, in potential federal fines for non-compliance in Effort Reporting (Estimates based on min to max fines levied when federal False Claims Act has been violated. Min fine is 5K per violation and max of 10k per violation); UTHSCSA has approx. 750 grants, dollar amount calculated assuming 20% - 100% violation count)
Example of Voluntary Committed Cost Share

15. How to identify Salary Cost Sharing
Investigator had Committed Effort of 34%, was paid 34%; however, Expended Effort of 40% on the project. The 6% effort over and above the Committed Effort is Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing. Note: The second project listed is also an example of VUCS.
Example of Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Share (VUCS)

16. How to identify Salary Cost Sharing
Investigator had Committed Effort of 10% and Expended Effort of 10%; however, no salary was charged to the project. Note: Most common example of Salary Cost Sharing.
Example of Voluntary Committed Cost Share

17. Effects of Salary Cost Sharing
Salary not borne by sponsored programs are covered by institutional funds (e.g. state and designated funds)
An increase in the Salary Cost Sharing decreases the UTHSA’s Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate
A reduction of F&A cost revenue from sponsored projects reduces the amount of F&A recovery that is provided to each school and other units of the institution

18. F&A Cost Sharing Cost-Share F&A
For federal awards, sponsor approval is required for all F&A utilized as Cost Share (included in proposal budget justification)
Waived/Unrecovered F&A
Difference between F&A at the approved, federally negotiated F&A rate and the rate charged to the sponsor portion of direct costs
Contributed F&A
F&A amounts associated with the cost-shared direct costs
With ECRT, faculty self-certify their own effort. In addition, faculty must also certify all Support Staff that were funded from a sponsored project for which they are the principal investigator. The Certification process takes place twice each fiscal year and covers the performance periods of September-February and March-August.

19. Third Party Cost Sharing
Cost Sharing not under direct control of UTHSA
Subrecipients with committed cost sharing
Reported per subaward agreement terms
Other Third-Party Providers
Proposed and reported amounts based on fair market value of donated services, supplies and equipment
Documented and tracked by UTHSA per formal certifications from providers
Pilot group was involved in the testing, was also used to bounce of ideas and provided recommendations on how to improve system as well as training.
OSP – Chris Green – SME
PMO – Ulises – Project Manager
IMIS – Sherlie Schickedanz – Tech Lead
Pilot Group:
Regina Pease – Barshop Institute
Diana Hottle - Physiology
Natalina Martinez - Pharmacology
Daniel Anzak - Psychiatry
Mary Rowe - Medicine

20. Unallowable items
Cost Sharing expenses are subject to audit and must meet project allowability requirements of OMB §
Reasonable (prudent person test)
Necessary for performance of award
Allocable (Note: must be allocated)
Treated consistently across funding sources (e.g., direct vs. indirect; paid regardless of funding source)
Per award terms and conditions (within project period; prior approvals needed?)
Per institutional policies and procedures
Remember that Cost Sharing expenditures are subject to audits.
Reference for federal awards: For guidance on Selected Items of Costs, see § through § of OMB Uniform Guidance.

21. Most important to remember!
Cost Sharing should not be utilized as a “key word” in the proposal just to impress the reviewers. Cost Sharing is a real promise that has real money and reporting implications. As you have learned, it must be properly tracked and reported to the sponsor.

22. Questions about Cost Share?
Contact Chris Green in OSP at or via at

23. Thank you for coming!