Cost Sharing & Matching Funds

Overview: Cost sharing (also known as matching funds) is set up in the Proposal Development Module in Kuali. In some cases, the University requires additional approvals for cost sharing. All cost‐sharing must adhere to University policies and procedures.

Additional approvals are required for cost sharing that exceeds what the sponsor requires in their guidelines (voluntary cost‐sharing), for third party cost sharing (cost share or match provided by another institution), or to change the amount of F&A (indirect cost) charged to the sponsor. Please see our Cost Sharing Requirements and Procedures for more information.

STEP 1 – Create a detailed budget version in Kuali.

STEP 2 – Select personnel or non‐personnel costs for cost sharing. We recommend the following cost sharing sources and types in the following order of priority:

1. Tuition Credits
2. Academic Year Salary
3. Unrecovered F&A
4. Graduate student and other non‐faculty salary
5. Other cost share
6. Equipment
7. Third Party Cost Share
8. F&A waiver or reduction

Be aware that cost share funding sources are limited to non‐federal accounts. See list of allowable companion funds for cost share. 

STEP 3 – To cost share personnel costs, select Assign Personnel to Periods. Then click Details.

Change the amount of effort being charged to the sponsor.

STEP 4 – To cost share other kinds of costs, select Assign Non‐Personnel to add a new cost, or select an existing cost line by clicking Details.

Enter the Total Base Cost on the details tab. This is the amount that will be charged to the sponsor. Note: Make sure that Submit cost sharing is checked for all mandatory cost sharing. Uncheck if you don’t want to show the cost share in the budget that goes to the sponsor.

Next, click on the Cost Sharing tab and enter the desired dollar value in the Cost Sharing box and then click Save Changes. This is the amount that will be cost‐shared. The Total Base Cost plus the Cost Sharing are added together for the total project cost.

STEP 5 – Print Cost Share summary version of budget. Do this by clicking Budget Versions at the top of the screen, then Print on the Actions drop down button for the budget version you want.

Select Budget Cost Share Summary Report and click Print. A pdf will download.

STEP 6 – Update Institutional Commitments. While in the Budget section of Proposal Development, navigate to the Institutional Commitments tab and click Cost Sharing. The Cost Sharing screen provides a Distribution List section used to allocate any cost sharing committed in the prime or subaward budget to the appropriate source (such as UMass speedtype account).

Cost share needs to be allocated both by project period and by the funding source account (speedtype).

• First, delete the rows that Kuali automatically populates here. Then starting with Period 1, add a new row for each funding source. For example, we are cost sharing PI academic salary and fringe, along with the associated indirect costs to meet the sponsor’s 20% cost share requirement. In this case, cost share is mandatory, because the sponsor is requiring it.
• We need to add two rows per project period to account for these two Cost Share Types.
• Because Kuali automatically aggregates the Cost Share totals by project period, you will need to break out different funding sources for each project period.
• For example, Academic Year salary and fringe may be allocated to one account such as the department’s STATE account, while summer salary and fringe may be allocated to the PI’s RTF account.
• Indirect Costs should be allocated as Associated Indirect Costs or Waived F&A if the sponsor does not allow full indirect costs to be charged.

Continue the process until all cost share has been allocated. Note: Kuali will generate an error if the Total Unallocated amount is not zero.

Use the Cost Share Comment Box to add approver names and other important information about the cost sharing source. Click Save.

If the F&A rate (Indirect Cost Rate), has been reduced from the standard amount, you will need to follow the same procedure to allocate the unrecovered F&A as well. Click Unrecovered F&A to distribute unallocated expenses as needed.