Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cost-Share Admin Details

I am posting a copy of the letter that Ramesh sent out to each of the project partners that describes the details of tracking each institution's cost-sharing commitments. Feel free to reference this for preparing upcoming cost-share letters. -KB


"I am writing to clarify a few administrative details you should be aware of regarding tracking and documenting the cost sharing that each of you as partners committed to during the original submission of the federally funded IMLS grant for which I serve as the Principal Investigator at UCLA. First, let me say I appreciate your work and financial cost sharing, which has contributed to a successful completion of work performed during the first year of the project. Your partnership has been critical to this!

It is important that your financial office track the dollar values for each type of cost share (people, purchases, etc.) since UCLA as a public institution of higher education is required to follow federal guidelines to substantiate cost share committed by each organization/institution. To achieve this goal, we will request at the end of each year a cost share report from each of you that accounts for how you met the total cost share commitment for your organization/institution with a brief description of how the cost related to the project. Please share this information with your respective financial offices.

Sample ($10,000 cost share)
- J. Smith (dbase manager) = $50,000 Annual Salary x 10% effort (or equivalent hours, if hourly) + $1,000 benefits = $6,000
- Software Purchase for data analysis = $2,500
- Materials and supplies for survey development/instruments = $1,500
Total = $10,000

The authorized organizational leader signs a letter containing the elements of the sample above specific to their cost share certifying that the cost share commitment was met as described in the original proposal. Detailed payroll and/or non-payroll documentation is then maintained by the partner should any additional questions arise in the future. The documentation should be maintained by the partner for a period of five (5) years after the final end date of the grant. We appreciate your diligence and cooperation to document the cost share in the most straight forward manner with minimal time investment beyond what you already do to meet your own financial standards.

Should you have any questions about the contents required for the cost share report, please contact Tracy Nguyen-Phan at (310) 825-4426.

thanks,
Ramesh Srinivasan"