|
General information
Accessing ECERT
Reviewing effort reports
ECERT and PETs
Handling special situations
Certifying effort reports
Support
Q: What is effort reporting and why do we do it?
A: Effort reporting is the method of certifying to granting agencies that the required effort has actually been completed. Learn more about Effort Reporting.
Back to top
Q: Who receives an effort report?
A: You are subject to effort reporting if you are an:
- Employee who works on federally sponsored projects (the sponsor reimburses the university)
- Employee who works on sponsored projects (funded by the university)
Back to top
Q: What are "other sponsored activities" and "non-sponsored activities"?
A: Other sponsored activities are projects funded by non-federal sponsors, such as state agencies and private organizations. Employee pay on these projects does not require effort certifications.
Non-sponsored activities are funded by the university and include university-funded research, instruction, departmental research, and administration.
Back to top
Q: Why can anyone with ECERT access view payroll details?
A: Anyone designated certifier or preparer has access to the "View Payroll Detail" screens in ECERT. It's essential that those supervising effort certification can see all pay detail, whether or not the effort calculations include it because researchers may work on a grant or contract outside their home department. If pay information has been miscoded, the payroll details provide the evidence to make a correction.
All manner of compensation paid by the university is public record. However, due to the sensitive nature of this information, financial managers must use discretion when assigning employees access to ECERT.
Back to top
Q: How do I get access to ECERT?
A: See How to Use the ECERT System. Departmental Security Administrators (DSA) assign access to the department business manager and anyone whom the business manager designates as preparer, (the person[s] who reviews reports before certifying them). Certifiers automatically have access. Also see instructions for DSAs (PDF).
Back to top
Q: I'm having problems logging in. What should I do?
A: If you already have a Single Sign-On (SSO) account, contact the ACT Help Desk, (858) 534-1853. If you need a SSO account, contact your DSA or self-register.
Back to top
Q: What should I do if I'm having problems viewing My Effort reports?
A: Determine which situation is applicable to you:
- If you already have a Single Sign-On (SSO) account, contact the ACT Help Desk, (858) 534-1853.
- If you need a SSO account, contact your DSA or self-register.
- If you are already in the Effort Reporting System, contact your department's effort coordinator or fund manager for assistance.
Back to top
Q:Who should I contact for requesting roles?
A: Contact your department DSA for:
- ECERT coordinator role
- Compliance report generator role
- Report generator role
For User Administrator Role, contact the ACT Help Desk.
Back to top
Q: When do effort reports become available?
A: ECERT generates reports every quarter. For more information, see the effort reports schedule.
Back to top
Q: Can I share a saved ECERT search with another user?
A: Yes. See How to View and Manage Saved Searches to share a search with another user. If you create a search, you are the owner of that search. If you make changes to the search, others granted access to the search will automatically see these changes. If you decide to make changes to a search shared with you, you will generate a private copy and will no longer be associated with the original shared search. Likewise, if you delete a search shared with you, other copies of the search will not be modified or deleted.
Back to top
Q: When do reports require a comment?
A: Reports require a comment for all changes. For more specific information, see How to Edit an Effort Report, step 6.
Back to top
Q: What does the "Certified/ Adjustment Required" status mean?
A: The Certified/ Adjustment Required designation indicates that a modification has been made to the Adjusted Payroll % column and the effort report has been certified. The effort report will have a status of Certified/ Adjustment Required which means a PET must match the Original Payroll distribution to the Adjusted Payroll %.
If the data matches the certification after it's processed, the PET status automatically changes to Certified, and no further action is necessary. If the data DOES NOT match the certification, the status changes to Open/ Reissued and notifies the PI to re-certify.
Back to top
Q: Why do I get an error message when I subscribe to a PI?
A: This occurs if the PI is new to the university, is adjunct faculty, or has been away on sabbatical. In order for you to subscribe to their “MyProjects” list, they need to log in once to the ECERT system with their Single Sign-On ID. (It may ask them to register with the last 5 digits of the SSN, employee ID number, and birth date.) Once they have done this, ECERT will be able identify them.
Back to top
Q: Is there a documented "reasonableness" standard?
A: UC-wide policy allows for a +/-5% tolerance threshold of reasonability for certification to be valid and authentic.
Back to top
Q: Why is my PI seeing fewer reports than I do? Why does the status report show more Open reports than I can see?
A: If what you see on your screen differs from someone else's screen, it's likely that your searches do not filter the same way. Verify that your search filters on the correct status and that you have selected the relevant reporting period(s).
Back to top
Q: How can my department stay in compliance?
A: Read recommendations for implementation, review, and compliance with effort reporting on the ECERT Best Practices page.
Back to top
Q: Is it be necessary for departments to retain printed copies of effort reports for faculty?
A: Because ECERT tracks all certifications electronically and PIs can access the information any time, there is no need to print the reports. ECERT serves as the official database of record. You can, however, print reports by clicking the Print Report button.
Back to top
Q: If I have to process a Payroll Expense Transfer (PET), should I use ECERT or can I print a PAR?
A: To process a PET for the period of time before your department started using ECERT, we ask that you process it by printing a PAR and submitting it with the PET. If the PET applies to a month after your department’s adoption of ECERT it is not necessary to print or submit a copy of the effort report since the report is available electronically.
Back to top
Q: When will I see my PETs, Late Pay and Chart of Accounts Overrides reflected in ECERT?
A: This is a manual process that's completed by UCOP on a monthly basis upon confirmation from the ECERT coordinator in OPAFS.
Back to top
Q: What will happen if a PET is processed after the report has been certified?
A: Once the PET is processed and the PPS data is uploaded into the ECERT system, it automatically changes the Original Payroll percents. If the report has already been certified for a different amount, it re-opens and the status becomes Open/ Reissued. This means it requires recertification and the previously certified amounts in the Adjusted % column need to be manually adjusted to reflect confirmation of the change.
If a PET is in process, but not yet reflected in ECERT, you can adjust the effort in the Adjusted % column in anticipation of the PET. After certification these reports, the status becomes Certified/ Adjustment Required until ECERT receives and matches PPS data. Once this occurs, the status changes to Certified and no further action is needed.
Back to top
Q: How does ECERT handle K Awards?
A: K Awards require 75% effort. The recommended way to handle certification when K Award funds a portion of the employee’s salary is to:
- Modify the adjusted Pay % column to reflect the actual effort performed.
- Allow the status to remain "Certified/ Adjustment Required" when the report is certified in this case.
- Enter a comment. Ensure it contains the following:
- “Please note that actual effort performed on the K award was ___%. The differential between the paid percent and effort percent is considered voluntary, uncommitted cost sharing and therefore no payroll adjustment is necessary.”
If the 75% of the employee’s salary exceeds what the K award supports, set up their payroll to pay the non-K Award professional salary at the true rate and the K award salary at an adjusted (lower) rate to utilize the K Award. You then set up a By Agreement for the difference, since By Agreement pay doesn't impact effort percentages. This is similar to the way UCSD pays employees with an NIH salary cap.
Back to top
Q: When do I add an additional sponsored project to an effort report?
A: Occasionally, an employee has no salary charged to a project but needs to report cost sharing because he/ she has expended effort on that project. In this case, you need to process retroactive payroll charges.
Back to top
Q: How can an effort report total 100% when the employee doesn't have a full-time appointment with the university?
A: Effort is not based on a 40-hour work week. Instead, it's based on the total time spent on university activities, no matter how many hours are worked.
Back to top
Q: Who certifies efforts? What if an employee gets paid on grants outside of my organization?
A: Certifiers must have first-hand knowledge of the effort expended. Normally, an employee or a supervisor can certify his/ her own effort. The PI ultimately takes responsibility for all effort certification. Non-academics can't certify for academics.
Occasionally, multiple certifications are required if the employee works on multiple projects, has multiple supervisors, and doesn't know which projects their effort benefits. ECERT supports multiple certifications with a check box at the bottom of the effort report. When you activate this function, individual line certification becomes available.
Back to top
Q: What happens if I don't certify my effort report?
A: If you do not certify your effort report, you will not be in compliance with OMB Circular A-21. The university is then at risk of losing existing and future funding from sponsoring agencies.
Effort reports that remain uncertified past the deadline will be escalated for review and appropriate consequences will be rendered. The university requires all effort to be certified within 120 days after the end of the reporting period (e.g., for the Jan-Mar quarter, reports will be due 120 days after March 31).
Back to top
Q: What happens when effort changes during the project period?
A: If significant effort changes occur, department administrators should update the payroll distributions in a timely manner to reflect the actual effort expended in support of the sponsored project.
Back to top
Q: What are the hours of availability for ECERT?
A: ECERT is generally available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Back to top
Q: What training will be available for my department?
A: Customized hands-on training, Web-based training, and Staff Ed courses will be provided. See the ECERT Overview page to learn about these training options.
Back to top
Q: Who do I contact with ECERT questions and issues?
A: You can contact your department's effort coordinator or fund manager for general ECERT questions.
Back to top
Q: Which departments participated in the pilots?
A: See ECERT Pilot Departments (PDF).
Back to top
| 
At Your Service Online
