This document is intended for all users to define and understand the utilization of the Cost Share Fund in the UChicago Chart of Accounts.

Any costs (personnel, operating, equipment purchases, etc.) incurred and funded by the University, that can be considered support to an existing sponsored project should be treated as cost-sharing on that project. University contributions toward cost-sharing or matching are considered directly attributable if they meet all the following criteria:

1. Are verifiable from the University's records.
2. Are not included as contributions for any other federally assisted project or program.
3. Are necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of project or program objectives.
4. Are allowable under the applicable cost principles.
5. Are not paid by the Federal Government under another award, except where authorized by Federal statute to be used for cost-sharing or matching.
6. Are provided for in the approved budget when required by the Federal awarding agency.

Recording of Cost Share Expenditures

The University of Chicago uses Project Portfolio Management (PPM) to manage sponsored projects, such as Federal and Non-Federal contracts and grants, as well as other projects like internally competitive faculty awards, discretionary funds, and capital projects.

 

The identification of cost-sharing in PPM is handled by establishing a separate "Internal" funding source on the Award in PPM for University-funded support of a sponsored project. Project expenditures funded by the University are charged directly to the "Internal" Funding Source on the sponsored project. When expending cost-share funds in PPM, a user should select the "Internal" Funding Source value when inputting POETAF values, e.g., labor distributions.

 

Cost-share expenditures are then posted at a summary level from PPM to the GL and recorded against the Cost Share Fund value (272000) to the Entity and Organization that owns the project, along with any Purpose, Program, Activity or Site value associated with the project and award. Moreover, cost-share expenditures will be recorded to the GL at the natural classification level, such as salary expenses.

 

Units are expected to budget for expenses at the source where these will be recorded. In the case of cost share expenditures, that entails budgeting at Fund 272000-Cost Share.

 

The funding of cost share expenditures, however, can originate from multiple funding sources, such as tuition or educational program revenue, operating budget, endowment payout, expendable gifts, or other source revenues. As such, units should also plan for a funds transfer between the source fund and the cost share fund. For example, between General Operating and Cost Share. When planning for fund transfers for the purpose to cover cost share expenditures, unit must adhere to fund restrictions, if applicable. 

 

After the unit's budget is approved, a journal entry is required to process the funds transfer from the source to the cost share fund. This entry can occur at the beginning of the fiscal year, monthly, quarterly or as expenses are incurred.

 

The following table outlines possible scenarios for cost share and the expected journal entry and account to use. Note that this type of entry should be recorded on the Journal Category of "Transfer – Other".

 

Scenario	Expected Journal Entry	Account to Use
Cost Share expenditures are budgeted directly to fund 272000 by unit incurring expense, as well as a funds transfer between the source and the cost share fund.	Funds transfer between the source and the cost share fund e.g., General Operating (100000) and Cost Share (272000).   This journal is needed due to all approved budget resulting in revenue allocations to the General Operating fund.	95008: Transfer-Cost Share
Cost Share expenditures are budgeted to a different fund (not 272000), as well as a funds transfer between the source and the cost share fund.	Funds transfer between the source and the cost share fund e.g., General Operating (100000) and Cost Share (272000).	95008: Transfer-Cost Share
Cost Share expenditures were not previously budgeted for.	Funds transfer between the source and the cost share fund e.g., General Operating (100000) and Cost Share (272000).     Note: even though Cost Share is not budget controlled, a funds transfer should be processed to ensure the cost share expenditures are paid for.	95008: Transfer-Cost Share
Cost Share expenditures are supported by another Organization within the same Entity.	Funds transfer between the source Organization and source fund and the unit incurring the cost share expenditures. The credit should be posted to fund 272000.	95008: Transfer-Cost Share
Cost Share expenditures are supported by another Organization in a different Entity.	Funds transfer between the source Organization and source fund and the unit incurring the cost share expenditures. The credit should be posted to fund 272000.	95008: Transfer-Cost Share

 

The following is an example of PSD Chemistry processing a fund transfer journal from General Operating to the Cost Share fund. It assumes this transfer was previously planned for and budgeted on the General Operating fund by PSD Chemistry. Note that in this example, the user has elected to enter the Project number in the Reconciliation Reference column and in the journal line description, for tracking purposes. The journal category selected (not depicted) is "Transfer - Other".

 

 

Debit COA	Credit COA

Consider the following when managing the cost share fund 272000:

• In the GL, cost share expenditures are identifiable and summarized by Fund 272000, as well as the Entity, Organization, Purpose, Program, Activity and Site assigned to the PPM Project and Award.
  • To review the project level details of the cost sharing expenses, units need to use the PPM dashboard or reports, specifically focusing on expenditures posted to the Internal funding source.
• This fund will receive both mandatory and voluntary committed cost share expenditures from PPM.
  • However, in the GL, these different types of costs are not identifiable. There is not a COA value or other transaction level differentiator that will identify if the cost share is mandatory or voluntary.
• This fund should net out to zero at fiscal year-end after processing all income fund transfers (credits) from the source fund(s).
  • Units should monitor their balances on fund 272000 by Entity and Organization throughout the fiscal year and ensure that the fund has a zero-ending balance.

 

Salary Over the Cap

Salary over the cap refers to a limitation imposed on the maximum salary rate that can be charged to a grant, such as NIH grants. At UChicago, if an individual's pay is more than the salary cap as setup in Workday, the excess must be distributed to a COA string.

 

Use the following guidelines to determine the COA string to use when splitting labor distribution for salary over the cap:

• Entity: User selected. Should be the Unit responsible for covering the individual's excess salary.
• Organization: User selected. Should be the department responsible for covering the individual's excess salary.
• Account: Workday assigned based on the type of earnings e.g., Salary
• Fund: User selected. Should be a fund that has been budgeted for the individual's excess salary. For example, general operating, expendable gifts, endowment payout…etc.
• Purpose: User selected. Should represent the high-level reason for the individual's excess salary e.g., Research, Instruction, Academic Activities…etc.
• Program: User selected. Should relate to the individual's effort on a specific formal activity tracked by the unit e.g., Global Health Initiative
• Activity: Use value 18507 - Over the Cap.
• Site: User selected. Should relate to the individual's effort assigned to a specific operating location e.g., Anatomy Building   
• Affiliate: Unspecified
• Future: Unspecified .

 

Below is an example COA string: