Policies & Procedures

About Research Administration at GSU

Policies and Procedures for Research and Sponsored Programs

Policies and Procedures for Research and Sponsored Programs

Time and Effort Certification Reports

Background

The federal government, through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21, Section J.10, requires effort certification on federally-sponsored activities.  In order to receive and maintain eligibility for funding, sponsoring agencies require accurate and reasonable documentation to support labor costs charged to sponsored programs, and to ensure that these costs are consistent with the effort expended.  This certification is reviewed for two purposes:

1. Verify that the percentage of effort placed on a federal award is not less than the percentage of salary charged, and


2. Capture any required cost sharing, as required by some award documents.

Georgia Southern uses an “After-the-Fact” certification system to comply with federal effort certification requirements. Under an after-the-fact system, distribution of salaries and wages for employees working on externally-funded projects will be supported by Effort Certification Reports. Charges are made initially on the basis of estimates made before the services are performed. Effort Certification Reports will reflect an after-the-fact reporting of the actual percent effort and distribution of the employees' salary toward these efforts. If significant differences (+/-5%) are identified for any reporting period (or the cumulative performance of the sponsored activity) between the charges and actual distribution of effort, the charges will be promptly adjusted to reflect actual activity.

Process

Effort Certification Reports will reasonably reflect the percent distribution of efforts expended by Georgia Southern faculty and exempt professional staff involved in federally funded grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The report will account for 100% of an employee’s actual effort for the given time period.

100% effort is defined as the effort expended to accomplish the full set of activities encompassed by one’s academic and administrative appointments, regardless of the actual number of hours expended on those activities. Total (100%) effort is not defined as a single, standard number of hours or days per week, as hours will vary for each faculty/staff member, as well as the semester in which these activities are performed.

The number of hours implicit in an individual faculty member's total effort must be reasonable and supportable to college, department, and external reviewers. The employee should indicate the percent effort (e.g. number of hours worked on an individual activity divided by the total number of hours worked for Georgia Southern) for all federally sponsored research and curricular activities (i.e., research, instruction, administration, public service).

Instructions

All Effort Certification Reports will be submitted by semester as described below.

• Sponsored Activities: Direct Charged Effort and Cost Share Effort
  

The percentage provided on each page is based on direct charged effort and/or cost shared effort for both Sponsored Activities. 

• Curricular and all other Institutional Activities

In the space provided in the table, please provide the percentage of effort toward Curricular and all Other Institutional Activities: Instruction (i.e., teaching and teaching-related activities), administrative activities (e.g., department chair, faculty committee member), and other activities (e.g., public service).

• Each Effort Certification Report must sum to 100%. 

If the effort percentage displayed on an Effort Certification Report for any one sponsored activity should be modified by an average of more than +/-5%, please contact the Department of Research Accounting to make the appropriate adjustments and a new Report will be provided to you.

• Certify the Effort Certification Report(s)

Where feasible, it is preferred that employees certify their own Effort Certification Report.  An individual having direct knowledge of the employee’s total effort worked for the period can certify the Report. This person can be the principal investigator or the employee’s supervisor.

Effort Certification Reports do not need to be completed by clerical staff of students that fill out a weekly time sheet.

Reporting Periods

Employee Effort Certification Reports are required for three reporting periods annually. Effort certification report requests will be distributed to all applicable employees approximately 15 days from the close of a reporting period. Completed reports must be submitted to the ORSSP no later than 30 days after receipt of the effort certification report request.

Reporting periods are provided as follows:

1. Summer (June 1–July 31)
   
2. Fall (August 1 – December 31)
   
3. Spring (January 1 – May 31)
4. Other reporting periods as needed

Completed Effort Certification Reports will be kept on file in the Office of Research Accounting.

Other Items of Note

1. When Principal Investigator is absent in excess of 90 days from his/her project, approval must be obtained from the sponsoring agency.


2. Changes in effort require approval from the ORSSP and the Sponsoring Agency, as appropriate.


3. Time spent in the preparation of proposals cannot be charged to a sponsored accounting unit.  Therefore, it is inappropriate for an employee to be paid from sponsored activities toward the preparation and submission of proposals.

For further information, contact the Office of Research Accounting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  Who can sign the Time and Effort Certification Reports?

A1:  PI’s should sign their own report along with a confirming signature.

A2:  Non-PI’s: should also sign their own report (especially if they are working on multiple projects with different PI’s), however it is acceptable to have the PI or Co-PI sign for them if they are familiar with all of their restricted projects – provided the individual concurs with the effort distribution.

A3:  Graduate Students:  should also sign their own report; however it is acceptable to have the PI or Co-PI sign for the person.  It is understood that the PI may have to assist the student to understand the distinction between projects and duties that they have been hired to perform.

A4:  In those rare circumstances when the above guidelines cannot be met, a unit administrator may sign the report if they have suitable means of verification that the work was performed as indicated by the percentages listed on the report.

Q:  When I sign the Time and Effort Certification Report, what am I agreeing to?

A:  You are certifying that you spent at least as much effort as reported on the project for the report period.  Auditors sampling the accuracy of the report will begin their review with the person that signed the report.

Q:  Can I use a rubber stamp signature on the Time and Effort Certification Report?

A:  No, Federal auditors will not accept reports with a rubber stamped signature.  Also, the report should be completed in ink.

Q:  Can I use whiteout to change the numbers reported?

A:  No, please contact the Office of Research Accounting at (912) 478-1699 to correct and resubmit the report with the corrected numbers.

Q:  What is cost sharing or match?

A:  Cost sharing, sometimes referred to as match, is a commitment made by an employee to put forth effort on a project, but not to charge the project a like amount of salary.  Cost sharing that is required by the funding agency is listed on the time and effort report.

Q:  What should I do if I believe my Time and Effort Certification Report is in error?

A:  If your effort for the semester does not generally match the salary as allocated in the report (plus or minus 5%) you MUST NOT CERTIFY.  Contact the Department of Research Accounting to make changes.  The Office of Research Accounting will make any necessary changes, including any salary cost transfers between accounts, and send you a new updated Time and Effort Certification Report.

Q:  Is the Time & Effort Report based on a 40 hour workweek?
 
A:  No, it includes all the time you spend on activities, whether it be 40 or 80 hours per week.  As salaried employees, key personnel are generally compensated not for a standard workweek, but for duties they are expected to perform under the terms of their employment.  Therefore, the federal sponsors are paying for a percentage of the investigator’s total work effort, whatever that may be.

 
Q:  Who Can Help Me With My Questions?
 
A:  Contact the Department of Research Accounting at (912) 478-1699.