Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is the portion of sponsored project costs not borne by the sponsor, i.e. costs paid for by the institution. Occasionally a sponsor requires cost sharing as a condition of the award. Cost sharing also occurs when the institution commits funds beyond those awarded by a sponsor to support a particular grant or contract.

Every dollar of cost sharing results in the institution forfeiting the recovery of the direct costs and associated F&A costs that support LLU research in general. Therefore, cost sharing or matching/in-kind contributions (terms may be used interchangeably) should be considered only when required by the sponsor.

Cost sharing expenses must conform to institutional and federal policies regarding allowability, allocability, reasonableness, and consistency. Cost sharing commitments must be included in the proposed budget and justification. Cost sharing will be subject to the same policies as other costs under the approved budget unless specifically authorized by the sponsor.

Cost sharing contributions are subject to audit. The PI and/or department administrator are responsible for tracking cost sharing contributions and may be asked to provide auditors with documents demonstrating that the cost sharing contributions have been made as represented to the sponsor. Effort contributed by project personnel should be recorded and certified on a Personnel Activity Report (PAR). See LLU's Primer on Effort Reporting for more information.

Spend Funds

The institution is subject to certain administrative and documentation standards for sponsored projects. All faculty and staff initiating, preparing, completing, or approving sponsored financial transactions must comply with these standards. Justification and documentation for financial transactions must answer the following questions:

  1. WHY is the transaction being completed and HOW does it relate to the project affected or charged (if the relationship is unclear)?
  2. WHAT is the transaction for?
  3. WHO initiated the transaction? And WHO are the affected individuals or units?
  4. WHERE and WHEN did (or will) the activity take place?

The justification should NOT repeat information provided by the account string or re-state the account code in the description. It should provide additional information. The transaction justification and any other required documentation (receipts, invoices, confirmations of payment, etc.) should be sufficient to clearly explain to someone inquiring about it at a later date, such as an auditor.

Account Codes

Account codes, sometimes called object codes, are the six-digit codes used in Banner to classify costs. To ensure proper financial and management reporting, departments should utilize account codes in a consistent manner and exercise care that expenses are recorded to the code which most accurately describes the charge.

Account codes should be referenced on purchase orders, journal vouchers, rate slips, internal requisitions, travel applications, etc. 

Create Online Requisitions / Purchase Orders

The first step to initiate a purchase order is to make sure access to Banner Self Service has been set up for the sponsored project account. A Request for Sponsored Project Access form is sent to the PI when the account is first opened. However, the form is available at any time. 

Get Reimbursed / Create Expense Reports w/Concur

For an employee to get reimbursed for out-of-pocket or operating expenses you will need to create an expense report through Concur. Once the expense report is approved, you will be reimbursed via AHC or by check, depending on your preferences in Concur.

Concur can be accessed using the link https://www.concursolutions.com/nui/signin;

Complete Rate Slips for Labor

LLU Rate Slips must be completed by the PI to add personnel expenses to the project. LLU rate slips must also be completed when a project is ending and personnel information changes such as percent of effort, status, pay grades, etc. In addition, rate slips must be processed through Research Affairs - Post Award as soon as there is a change in personnel paid on sponsored project accounts.

Rate slips can be downloaded from the Human Resource Management page on One Portal.

Research Affairs - Post Award Approves/Disapproves Above Expenditure Requests

Before approving expenditures on sponsored projects, Post Award reviews the request for the following:

  • Allowable expense on award, in accordance with institutional, sponsor, and other applicable policy and regulations;
  • Project funds are available

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