Effort Reporting Policy
Connecting the Effort Reporting Certification Dots (process map) (PDF)
Effort reporting is a process mandated by the federal government to verify that direct labor charges to, or cost-shared on, sponsored projects are accurate, timely and reflect the actual level of work performed. Effort is the portion of time spent on a particular activity, expressed as a percentage of the individual’s total activity for the University. Effort reporting typically occurs in April and October.
Government sponsors expect to pay only for those portions of employee effort that are actually devoted to their projects. Periodically, government and internal auditors review our payroll charges to enforce this expectation. In conducting these audits, they are assessing whether the salary charged to awards is for effort that appropriately benefited those projects over the reporting period. The campus Effort Reporting System (ERS) provides this verification to audits.
Contacted your designated financial administrator at Law if you have questions about effort report certification.