Whenever cost sharing is proposed as part of a sponsored project, the source of funds must be identified and approval obtained from the person with authority to commit those funds. If the source is identified as “To Be Determined”, the funds from the unit originating the proposal are obligated until an actual source is committed prior to the time of award. Funds to be provided by entities outside of Georgia Tech, typically referred to as “third-party” cost sharing, must be supported at the proposal stage by written documentation from the outside entity indicating their commitment to provide cost sharing. Cost sharing funds are actually made available to the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) when/if the proposal results in a sponsored award. Cost sharing approvals are obtained by way of the Proposal Routing Form and a Cost Sharing Approval Form. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) furnishes a management report of all outstanding cost sharing commitments associated with pending sponsored proposals to the Office of the President on a monthly basis.
Upon receipt of a sponsored award, OSP obtains a project account number and a cost sharing account number from either Grants & Contracts Accounting or GTRI Accounting, as appropriate. This process opens chargeable accounts for the PD/PI and the responsible unit to use during the course of the project. The project and cost sharing account budgets, provided by OSP to the appropriate accounting office, will be valued at the funded amount of the sponsored award and at the associated amount of committed cost sharing respectively. It is the responsibility of the PD/PI or the unit business officer to work with appropriate personnel in the Dean’s Office or President’s Office to make available committed cost sharing funds from that authority’s sources. In the case of a President’s Office obligation, the PD/PI must submit a written request for the necessary cost sharing funds which are generally provided by way of GTRC Matching Grants.
It is important that the PD/PI and his/her unit business officer identify appropriate charges to be applied against cost sharing accounts throughout the life of a sponsored project but certainly before the end of the project period. All required cost sharing obligations must be met and properly documented in the Institute accounting system before the project accounts can be financially closed out.