Effort Reporting

April 2015

Effort Reporting What is it & why do we have to do

it? Report content Verifying reports Correcting reports Salary transfers & cost share

corrections Certifying reports

Effort Reporting Federal regulations require that

Educational Institutions prepare and maintain documentation to verify the faculty and staff time devoted to a sponsored project whenever the payment for such time is directly charged to a sponsored project or claimed as cost sharing for a sponsored project.

Effort Reporting Time directly charged to a sponsored

project is the amount of an employee’s time spent working on a sponsored project where payment for that time is from that project’s funds.

Time claimed for cost sharing is time spent working on a sponsored project during the project or program period, but where the payment for that effort is from KSU funds (non-project, non-federal funds).

Effort Reporting 2 CFR 200.430 Compensation -

Personal Services Recognizes that functions are

“inextricably intermingled” and that precise measurement is not always feasible.

Effort Reporting Federal auditors will use Effort

Reports and statistics prepared from them to approve or disapprove federal payments to KSU for direct costs and acceptance of cost shared salaries.

Accuracy and timeliness are extremely important.

Generating Effort Reports Created at the end of each semester

for all employees with time directly charged to sponsored projects and/or cost shared time.

Created after cost share for that semester has been reported.

Generating Effort Reports Reports will be sent to the

employee’s position-owning department.

Reports will be sent in a .pdf file. The department will need to print

out a paper copy of each report.

Report Content Each report contains two sections:

Non-Sponsored Activities Sponsored Activities

Percentages calculated for the report are a summation of the reporting period; individual pay periods are not itemized.

Benefits are not included on Effort Reports.

Report Content How are the percentages derived?

Amount paid on a project divided by Total Amount Salary Paid

Amount cost shared on a project divided by Total Amount of Salary Paid

Verifying Reports Review:

% Salary Effort % Cost Shared Effort Totals

Totals column should represent a reasonable estimate of the work performed during the reporting period.

Verifying Reports A variation in pay versus effort of up

to 5% is acceptable A report indicates an employee worked

75% on instructional activities and 25% on a grant. The actual time the employee worked on instructional activities was 70% and 30% was spent on the grant. The difference is 5% so an adjustment is not needed.

Verifying Reports Variations greater than 5% need

adjusted on the effort report A report indicates an employee worked

75% on instructional activities and 25% on a grant. The actual time the employee worked on instructional activities was 50% and 50% on a grant. An effort adjustment is needed and related payroll or cost share corrections must be initiated.

Verifying Reports An employee’s total effort percent

can never be greater than 100% or less than 100%, regardless of the number of hours or FTE’s worked during a semester. 70 hours a week = 100% 35 hours a week = 100%

Verifying Reports Do NOT include any Voluntary

Uncommitted cost share Voluntary Uncommitted cost share is

faculty-donated time above that agreed to as part of an award.

Voluntary Uncommitted Example #1 Summer NSF Project

100% Instruction during academic term (pd by KSU) 100% Research during summer term (pd by sponsor) 10 hours per week of research during academic term –

Time over and above the full-time instruction, without additional pay. Assume a 40 hour work week for instruction, now have 50 hours total. Normally 40/50 or 80% instruction and 10/50 or 20% research.

No academic term budget or promise for cost share on the NSF Project.

Report as 100% instruction because extra 10 hours is voluntary uncommitted effort.

Voluntary Uncommitted Example #2 Extra Effort Example

50% Research 50% Instruction Half teaching load – 24 hours (pd by KSU) Half research load – 24 hours (pd by KSU

and/or sponsors) Extra research – 24 hours Actual time is 48/72 or 67% research and

24/72 or 33% instruction. Report as 50%/50% because extra research is

voluntary uncommitted.

Effort Adjustments When the percentages on the effort

report do not provide a reasonable estimate of the actual work performed by the employee, the effort percentages need adjusted.

Effort Adjustments Write in the Effort Adjustment

column the appropriate adjustment needed for the affected projects or activities and correct the total percentage(s) as appropriate

Initiate the appropriate payroll transfer or cost share reporting adjustment.

Effort Adjustments After the salary and/or cost share

adjustments have been made, a revised effort report will be initiated and sent to the department for certification.

Salary Transfers and Cost Share Corrections When salary transfers and/or cost

share corrections affect a previously certified effort report, a revised effort report will be generated and sent to the department for re-certification.

Certifying ReportsEffort Reports need to be signed by the individual the report

covers**.

Exceptions include: 1) Supervisors may sign for graduate & undergraduate students. 2) Supervisors may sign for research assistants. 3) Supervisors may sign for an employee when they are unavailable for signature, such as on sabbatical, when they are no longer employed by the university or other prolonged absence.

In all cases, the individual signing the report must be directly aware of and have first-hand knowledge of all effort being reported for an employee.

Certifying Reports Personnel Specialists, Accountants

and other Administrative Officers are not considered responsible for employee’s time and therefore, their signatures are not acceptable.

Federal auditors have also indicated that stamped or initialed signatures are not acceptable.

Submitting Reports Effort reports should be returned to

SPA The due date is printed at the

bottom of each report.

Effort Reporting Any questions? Contact Laura Hohenbary

laura8@ksu.edu or 2-6207