Post Award - Research Office

Cost Transfers occur when expenditures are moved from one index to another.  The administration of cost transfers is very important whenever sponsored program funding is involved because expenses may only be charged to a particular grant or contract if they can be specifically identified with the funded activity they benefit.

All cost transfers must be documented, explained, and approved.  The Assistant Director of Sponsored Programs is available to assist with any cost transfer forms.

• Non-payroll Cost Transfer Form
• Payroll Cost Transfer Form

Cost share (matching funds) is the portion of the project costs not paid by the sponsor. (CFR Title 2 part 200.30) The resources being cost shared must be quantifiable, trackable, and reported to the sponsor.

Montana Tech only allows reports cost share when it is required by the sponsor. (Mandatory cost share)

Mandatory vs. Voluntary Cost Share

• Voluntary Cost Share: Quantified resources offered in the proposal, not required by the sponsor. Federal sponsors cannot “encourage” cost share as part of review requirements.
• Mandatory Cost Share: Quantified resources required by the sponsor in order to receive consideration for the proposal. Mandatory cost share must be tracked by Montana Tech as a part of the award and be reported to the sponsor. This requirement will be described in the application guidelines. If Montana Tech fails to provide the committed cost share, the sponsor can reduce its funding or require some reimbursement.

Common items used for cost share include:

• Faculty time/effort;
• Unrecovered F&A;
• Contributed F&A;
• In-Kind Contributions;
• Graduate Tuition Waivers; and
• Project-Related Travel.

Third Party Cost Share

Third Party Cost Share is the value of any services or resources provided by a “third party” (not Montana Tech and not the sponsor) in support of the project. Montana Tech requires a letter of collaboration from the third party stating the exact items being cost shared and the exact value of cost share. The letter must be signed by an authorized authority at the third party. Keep in mind, Montana Tech is still the responsible party for all cost share being provided in a proposal. If third party cost share does not come to fruition, Montana Tech is still responsible for providing that cost share amount.

Unrecovered F&A

Unrecovered F&A is the difference between the sponsor-allowed F&A rate and the Montana Tech F&A rate. If the sponsor has a lower rate, then this difference can be used as cost share.

Contributed F&A

Contributed F&A is the calculated F&A associated with any cash contributions by Montana Tech to the project. Cash contributions include faculty time/effort on the project or contributing funds (non-federal) being used to pay any cost shared items by Montana Tech.

Implied cost share and quantifying resources is not allowed by Montana Tech. This situation occurs when in the scope of work (or any proposal section other than budget/budget narrative) specifically states university support that can be quantified.

Example: Professor X will spend 10% of time on this project overseeing students. This is quantifiable due to being able to put a dollar amount on Professor X’s time. An acceptable statement would be: Professor X will direct all research activities associated with this project.

Example: Montana Tech will provide two work stations and computers in support of this project. A better way to state this is: Montana Tech will provide the computer resources and technical support for successful completion of this project.

Time and effort
Time and Effort reporting is governed by Uniform Guidance 2 CFR Part 220.

The effort of everyone paid to or committed to work on the federally funded Project MUST be tracked and documented, in the context of all the other actives each person does as part of his/her job duties.

• The guidelines recognize that at university, actives are often blurred, therefore good-faith estimates are allowed.
• Time and Effort MUST be document ‘after-the-fact” every term

OSP helps with this and keeps the documentation on file, but the PI is responsible for and must verify the effort by each person paid by the project (or whose effort is part of committee cost share).