Types of cost sharing

Mandatory committed cost sharing

Resources committed to and budgeted for by NAU in Sponsored project proposals as required by the terms of the sponsor and project. Resources must be clearly included and itemized in the budget and subsequently tracked and documented for reporting to the sponsor.

Voluntary committed cost sharing

Resources committed to and budgeted for by NAU in sponsored project proposals without a specific sponsor or project requirement. Resources must be clearly included and itemized in the budget and subsequently tracked and documented for reporting to the sponsor.

Voluntary uncommitted cost sharing

Resources offered by NAU in sponsored project proposals without a specific sponsor requirement. Resources are not budgeted for (nor therefore tracked or documented) but may be referenced in the proposal.

	Mandatory and voluntary committed cost sharing			Uncommitted cost sharing
	NAU cost sharing		Non-NAU cost sharing (quantified)	Non-NAU cost sharing (not quantified)	NAU other commitments	Internal NAU agreements
Required by sponsor	Yes (mandatory cost sharing)	No (voluntary committed cost sharing)	Yes	No	No	No
Qualitatively described in proposal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Quantitative in proposal	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Tracked in People Soft	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Included in financial report to sponsor	Yes	Yes - check details with OSP	Yes - check details with OSP	No	No	No
Subject to audit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No

Quantified cost sharing

Cost sharing that is quantified, regardless of whether it is being provided as NAU cost sharing or non-NAU cost sharing, is a condition of the award when included in a proposal or an award budget and therefore subject to audit. It is important, therefore, that any cost sharing commitments are reflected in the project accounts once an award is received. Failure to properly record cost sharing may result in audit findings and disallowances of costs that must be refunded to the appropriate sponsor and/or reduce NAU’s indirect cost rate during future negotiations.