OFFICIAL
Policy and Procedure Statement 5.08 Effort Reporting on
Revised 03/08 Sponsored Programs
Review Cycle: March 1(E4Y) (11 paragraphs)
Review Date: 03/2012
Reviewer: Director, Sponsored Programs
PURPOSE
1. To provide an acceptable method to document the distribution of charges for personal services on sponsored research projects in compliance with OMB Circular A-21 and other regulations. Certification of effort is one of the financial management responsibilities that a Project Director accepts when he or she accepts a sponsored research project. By certifying effort, the project director or a designated knowledgeable individual verifies that the amount of compensation received by those working on the project is reasonable in relation to the effort expended on behalf of the project.
DEFINITIONS
2. Effort is represented by time worked on a project.
3. Effort is represented by funds paid for service.
4. Reasonable shall mean within plus or minus 5% of actual effort.
POLICY
5. Certification of effort on federally-sponsored awards is required under the terms of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21, section J.10, by State of Texas Uniform Grant Management Standards and by other sponsors.
6. Certification of effort on state-sponsored awards is required under the terms of Uniform Grant Management Standards and by other sponsors.
7. The University's paper-based system of certifying employee effort needs to provide an accurate and complete record of employee effort on sponsored projects.
8. Failure to return effort reports in a timely manner jeopardizes external funding. OSP shall send to the PI copies of effort reports which have not been certified for three months. If, after those 3 attempts, the PI fails to ensure that effort reports are returned, the Office of Sponsored Programs shall have the authority to block all expenditure postings on all grants under the PI’s direction, process PCRs to transfer any existing employees to departmental cost centers and bar the submission of any additional proposals until such time as effort reports are certified and returned to OSP.
PROCEDURE
9. The Office of Sponsored Programs shall prepare an effort report for each employee who has received compensation for services on a sponsored project. The effort report will be prepared on a monthly basis for most employees. The effort report shall contain the following:
1) Sponsored Program account number
2) Name of employee
3) Period of effort
4) Percent of effort
5) Certification: "I certify that the above percentages constitute a reasonable estimate of the effort expended during the period covered by the report."
6) Signature space and date
Sponsored Programs personnel shall send effort reports to the employee or project director each semester. Upon receipt of the effort report from Sponsored Programs, the employee, project director or a designated knowledgeable individual verifies that the amount of effort by those working on the project is reasonable. This certification should be completed in a reasonable time and returned to Sponsored Programs (JCK 420).
10. If effort varies by an unreasonable amount (>5%), the project director or a designated knowledgeable individual shall effect the necessary adjustments via PCR for salary and fringe benefit costs that have been charged or not charged to sponsored programs when those costs are less than/greater than the allowed reasonable variation.
11. Standardized directions for completing the effort report:
a. Please verify the effort by Sponsored Program as noted in the Cost Distribution column of the report for the month as indicated by the cost distribution period. NOTE: All effort reported should add to 100%
b. Sign and date the signature line and return the completed form back to Sponsored Programs.
If the report indicates that you are being paid from a sponsored agreement and your effort is LESS than what you are being paid; a payroll adjustment via PCR must be made.
If the report indicates that you are being paid from a sponsored agreement and your effort is GREATER than what you are being paid and if the effort is from a departmental account, no payroll adjustment will need to be made. If the effort is from a non-departmental account; a payroll adjustment via PCR must be made.
The preprinted percentages on the Effort Report form represent the percentages of the individual's salary (PCR) that have been charged to those activities during the report period. This information is loaded from the payroll system for the certification period .In some cases; these charges may not reflect the individual's actual effort. The charges are based on before-the-fact projections of the level of effort the individual was expected to expend on each project. If these preprinted percentages differ by more than 5% of the actual effort, a payroll allocation adjustment may need to be made that correctly reflects effort by funds source. The federal regulations on effort reporting recognize that in an academic setting, teaching, research, service, and administration are often inextricably intermingled. Use reasonable estimates and allocations of effort among closely related activities.
COST-SHARING - If a staff or faculty member expends effort on a sponsored research project but does not charge the project for all (or any) of his or her salary for that effort, the effort expended on the project must still be allocated to the project. The unfunded effort is generally considered cost sharing and must be recorded in the Sponsored Research Column of the Effort Report form.
PLEASE NOTE: You must write in the internal order and fund of the grant on which you are reporting cost sharing in addition to the cost center and fund of the cost sharing account.
To prepare for the time when you may not be available to make your effort certification in the appropriate time frame, you should designate a delegate for signing. This delegate should be someone who, according to Federal guidelines, "has suitable means of verification" of the effort on the program. Typically that person would be your direct supervisor such as your department chair. It should not be your subordinate. Typically that person would be your direct supervisor such as your department chair. It should not be your subordinate.
Thank you for your attention to this very important compliance matter. We can be reached at 245-2102 or grants@txstate.edu for assistance.
CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This PPS has been approved by the reviewer listed below and represents Texas State's Division of Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Review Cycle: ______________________ Review Date: ____________
Reviewer: __________________________Date: __________________
Approved: _________________________ Date: __________________
Gene Bourgeois
Provost and Vice President
for Academic Affairs
Texas State University-San Marcos
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Last Updated: March18, 2008
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