Funding Shares, Matching, and Cost Share Tracking for Grants

Funding shares show how each grant-related dollar should be treated for reporting: grant-funded, cash match, in-kind match, unrecovered indirect, program income, other local/non-federal share, excluded, or needing review.

GrantLink uses "funding share" as the product term because it covers more than traditional match. A funding share can be grant-funded spending, cash match, in-kind match, unrecovered indirect costs, program income, other local/non-federal share, or an amount that should be excluded from the grant report.

Funders and accountants may still use terms like match, cost share, local share, recipient share, or non-federal share. In GrantLink, those are all handled as funding shares so the reporting workflow is consistent across awards.

What GrantLink tracks

QuickBooks Online remains the accounting source of truth. In GrantLink, add each grant manually or upload its documents, then use that grant's Expenses and Money received links for relevant QuickBooks Online activity. These per-grant links replace any organization-wide grant-tracking mapping. Settings > QuickBooks Mapping is only for restriction-release account mappings, not broad grant matching.

Why funding shares matter

Funding shares matter because many grants do not pay for the whole project. A funder may say:

• We will pay 80%, but you must pay 20%.
• We will reimburse eligible grant costs, but you must document a local match.
• We will count approved volunteer time or donated goods as in-kind share.
• We will allow unrecovered indirect costs as match only if approved.

For federal awards, 2 CFR 200.306 requires counted cost sharing to be verifiable in the recipient's records, not counted for another federal award, necessary and reasonable, allowable, not paid by another federal award unless specifically authorized, provided for in the approved budget when required, and compliant with the award rules. Unrecovered indirect costs may be counted only with prior approval of the federal agency or pass-through entity. Program income counts as cost sharing only when the award specifies that method or the federal agency or pass-through entity gives the required prior approval; otherwise the default treatment in 2 CFR 200.307 applies.

For federal research grants, voluntary committed cost sharing is not expected and may not be used as a merit-review factor unless authorized by federal statute or agency regulation and specified in the notice of funding opportunity. Agencies are discouraged—but not categorically prohibited—from using it in merit review for other federal assistance; if used, the NOFO must explain how it will be considered. Once voluntarily pledged in the proposal budget and incorporated into the award, it is binding. The rule's treatment of voluntary uncommitted cost sharing in the organized research base applies specifically to institutions of higher education. Award-specific statutes and terms control.

Common funding share types

Funding share type	What it means	Common evidence
Grant funded	The funder is paying this cost	QuickBooks Online transaction, invoice, receipt, payroll support
Cash match	Your organization or a partner paid an eligible project cost with non-grant cash	QuickBooks Online transaction, bank record, invoice, payroll register
In-kind match	Someone donated goods, space, equipment, or services that count toward the project	Donor letter, volunteer log, valuation support
Unrecovered indirect match	Approved indirect costs that could have been charged but were not	Approved indirect rate, calculation, funder approval
Program income	Income earned by the grant-funded program	Deposit record, invoice, award terms showing treatment
Other local share	A local or non-federal contribution that does not fit the other buckets	Source record, funder approval, allocation notes
Excluded	A cost or contribution that should not count in the funding share calculation	Reviewer note explaining exclusion
Needs review	GrantLink found a signal but cannot safely classify it yet	Accountant review

Match vs cost share vs funding share

People use these words loosely, but the accounting idea is the same: some part of the project is not paid by the main grant.

• Match usually means the required contribution is expressed as a ratio. A 1:1 match means the recipient brings one dollar for every funder dollar.
• Cost share usually means the required contribution is expressed as a percentage of total project cost. A 20% cost share on a $100,000 project means the recipient share is $20,000.
• Funding share is GrantLink's broader label for every dollar's funding source, including grant-funded dollars, match dollars, program income, excluded dollars, and items needing review.

Example: If the total project is $100,000 and the funder pays $80,000, the remaining $20,000 is the recipient's funding share. Depending on the award, that $20,000 might be called match, cost share, local share, recipient share, or non-federal share.

How QuickBooks usually fits

QuickBooks is still the accounting source of truth. GrantLink does not need users to rebuild their chart of accounts just to track funding shares.

Most nonprofits already track grant context in QuickBooks with one or more of these fields:

• Classes, which QuickBooks describes as a way to categorize transactions by meaningful business segment, such as department, product line, or location.
• Customers or projects, where QuickBooks projects group transactions and expenses for a specific customer/job-style activity.
• Custom fields, which QuickBooks supports for tracking extra transaction data on sales and expense forms.
• Accounts, when an organization already has dedicated revenue or expense accounts for match, local share, or program income.

These QuickBooks Online dimensions can remain useful accounting evidence, but GrantLink does not require or provide an organization-wide field mapping for grant matching. Do not change the chart of accounts or QuickBooks Online dimensions solely on this article's advice; follow the accountant's design and the per-grant link workflow.

How a user works with funding shares in GrantLink

1. Choose how funding shares are classified

Open Settings > Funding shares and choose the organization's tracking mode: manual classification in GrantLink, a QuickBooks signal, or a hybrid review workflow. When using a QuickBooks Online signal, choose the supported source already used by the organization, such as a Class, Customer, Project, custom field, or Account. This classifies the funding share of an allocated amount; it does not decide which grant the transaction belongs to and does not write the classification back to QuickBooks Online.

2. Add the grant and link its QuickBooks Online activity

Add the grant manually or upload its documents. On that grant, link Expenses and Money received to relevant QuickBooks Online activity. Expense links backfill and auto-allocate eligible linked activity. Use Ledger, Todos, or manual allocation to resolve exceptions rather than relying on a broad organization-wide matching rule.

3. Review linked activity

Review the linked source activity and classify supported amounts for reporting. Depending on the award, useful review categories may include:

• Grant funded
• Cash match
• In-kind match
• Unrecovered indirect
• Program income
• Other local share
• Excluded
• Needs review

GrantLink allocations do not inherently rewrite QuickBooks Online. Any QuickBooks Online write requires explicit permission and its applicable workflow.

4. Add the grant's funding share requirement

On the grant, the user records the funder's requirement. Examples:

• 20% total non-federal share
• $25,000 cash match
• $10,000 in-kind match
• Approved unrecovered indirect costs

GrantLink stores the requirement separately from the grant budget because a grant can have a budget and also have a separate match or cost-share rule.

5. Classify QuickBooks Online allocations

When a QuickBooks transaction is allocated to a grant, GrantLink stores a funding share classification on the allocation.

A QuickBooks Online label or GrantLink allocation is not, by itself, proof that a cost satisfies federal cost-sharing rules. Confirm allowability, funding source, valuation, award period, and required approval before counting it.

6. Review eligibility

A reviewer decides whether each share can count toward the requirement.

Common statuses:

• Unreviewed: not approved yet
• Eligible: can count toward the requirement
• Ineligible: reviewed and cannot count
• Submitted: included in a funder report
• Accepted: accepted by the funder
• Rejected: rejected by the funder

This matters because an amount can be tagged as cash match but still not count until it has support and reviewer approval.

6. Attach or record evidence

For cash match, evidence is usually normal accounting support: invoice, receipt, payroll report, bank record, or QuickBooks Online transaction.

For in-kind match, evidence usually includes the donor, date, description, value, valuation method, and a signature or acknowledgement when appropriate.

For volunteer services, the rate should be supportable. Federal rules say third-party volunteer service rates should be consistent with similar work, and donated property should generally be documented at fair market value.

7. Add standalone contributions when needed

Not every funding share appears as a QuickBooks Online expense line. A user may add a standalone funding share contribution for:

• Volunteer services
• Donated goods
• Donated space
• Partner cash contribution
• Third-party professional services

This keeps the grant's funding share report complete without forcing fake transactions into QuickBooks.

8. Monitor the grant summary

GrantLink summarizes:

• Required funding share total
• Eligible share total
• Submitted and accepted totals
• Unreviewed, ineligible, and rejected totals
• Remaining amount needed
• Cash, in-kind, unrecovered indirect, program income, and other local totals

The goal is to identify shortfalls and unsupported amounts before the final report or audit. Treat any summary as a reconciliation aid, not as the funder's acceptance.

9. Report and audit

When reporting, the user can separate:

• Grant-funded expenses
• Recipient share / match / cost share
• Program income
• Excluded items
• Items still needing review

Start a report in Chats > New Chat; completed report output then appears in the grant Reports tab. Reconcile it to the underlying QuickBooks Online transaction or contribution support and the award terms.

Practical example

A grant funds an after-school program.

The award says the total project budget is $100,000:

• $80,000 federal grant
• $20,000 non-federal cost share

In GrantLink, the user creates a $20,000 funding share requirement. Then the user tracks:

• $12,000 of staff time paid by unrestricted funds as cash match
• $5,000 of donated professional services as in-kind match
• $3,000 of approved unrecovered indirect costs

Once reviewed and documented, GrantLink shows $20,000 satisfied and $0 remaining.

What not to do

Avoid these common mistakes:

• Counting the same dollar toward two different grant requirements
• Using federal funds as match for another federal award unless the program specifically allows it
• Counting in-kind contributions without valuation support
• Waiting until the final report to discover a match shortfall
• Treating a QuickBooks label as enough evidence by itself
• Mixing grant assignment and funding share into one field when the organization needs both

Sources and terminology

This article uses GrantLink's product term "funding share" and maps it to common funder/accounting terms such as match, cost share, local share, recipient share, and non-federal share.

Reference sources:

• 2 CFR 200.306, Cost sharing: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.306
• QuickBooks Classes: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/class-list/create-manage-classes-quickbooks-online/L1QzEOUxM_US_en_US
• QuickBooks Projects: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/manage-projects/set-create-projects-quickbooks-online/L9GAdLMyT_US_en_US

Grant terms vary by award. Always follow the award agreement, funder guidance, and your accountant's documented policy.

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GrantLink tracks funding shares alongside grant allocations so nonprofit finance teams can monitor match, cost share, and non-federal share without rebuilding QuickBooks or maintaining a separate spreadsheet.