Manage Effort Reporting

Salaries and wages charged to federal awards must reasonably reflect the work performed and be reported and certified by PIs. At UW, effort reporting and certification occurs in the Employee Compensation Compliance (ECC) system.

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Compliance Essentials

Effort certification reports are heavily audited by Washington state and federal sponsors. Uncertified salary is disallowed.


Review Cadence

Effort reporting follows a specific schedule, but generally:

  • Effort certifications: due every 6 months in ECC
  • Project statements: due quarterly (every 3 months) in ECC

Standard Process (five steps) 

Award setup: Ensure details in Workday are correct

Goal: set up Workday so ECC reports route correctly

Check:

  • PI status in Workday → determines which PI receives the ECC effort statement to certify.
  • PI cost center → determines who receives ECC project statements to certify.

Commitments: Set up Workday costing allocations

Goal: accurate salary charges hitting correct worktags

Do:

  • Enter individual costing allocations for each person based on proposal commitments, and/or the Notice of Award
    • Different units have different processes for entering costing allocations, check with your unit administrator
    • If appropriate, review information about Costing Allocations Coordinator Role

 If cost share applies:

  • Ensure a cost share award line (worktag) is set up. This must be done by GCA.
  • Include the cost share grant worktag in payroll allocation so salary charges post to the cost share award line.
  • Review Faculty Cost Share for further guidance.

If Salary Over the Cap (SoC) applies:

If PI salary increased since proposal, choose one:

  • Allocate less FTE to the award and plan for a “shift” in ECC, or
  • Rebudget (move funds into salary), following sponsor rules.

If the award spans multiple units: coordinate with all involved grant managers so salary charges are compliant and effort reports are completed.

Ongoing: Track salary charges, manage changes

Goal: keep charges accurate throughout the project.

Do:

  • Refer to Monitor Salary Charges Process Guide for actions and best practices
  • Conduct Payroll Accounting Adjustments (PAAs) to correct incorrect salary charges.
    • Refer to the PAA process guide (under development)
  • Update payroll costing allocations to manage distribution changes.
    • Refer to the About the Costing Allocations Coordinator Role
  • Ensure PI reviews/approves salary charges as part of regular budget review.

When effort changes:

  • If the PI wants to reduce committed effort, sponsor approval may be required –depends on reduction % and award type. Follow UW reduction-in-effort guidance.
  • If PI wishes to maintain level of effort but charge salary to a different worktag, use the Shift function in ECC during pre-review.
  • Document PI departure/end of project in Workday so ECC routes correctly.

Pre-review: Reconcile ECC before PI certifies

Goal: reconcile ECC statements with Workday data.

Do:

  • Familiarize yourself with ECC.
  • Run R1269.1 for Workday data. This report includes PAAs and will soon include retropay.
  • Verify Salary over the Cap shown for each grant is at a compliant level.
  • Troubleshoot and correct any incorrect charges in Workday (ECC is downstream).

Common problems:

  • PAAs charged to incorrect worktags
  • Retropay posted to incorrect pay periods with incorrect costing allocations
  • Correct all incorrect charges with Payroll Accounting Adjustments (PAAs)

Minimize recertification:

Certification: Remind PIs to certify

Goal: PI certifies all project statements and faculty certify all effort statements by the due date.

Do:

  • Remind PI to certify
  • Point PI to job aids on how to certify effort and project statement
    • Effort Statement certification job aid
    • Project Statement certification job aid

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • PAAs charged to the wrong worktag → reconcile and review worktags on a regular basis; use R1269.1 or other Workday reports to identify errors.
  • SoC charged to the wrong worktag → confirm SoC setup early; validate funding sources.
  • Retropay can cause errors in pay periods and costing allocations, and also result in apparent discrepancies between ECC and Workday → run Workday reports such as R0100.2 and R1269.1 to identify retropayments. Correct pay periods and costing allocations as needed with a PAA.
  • Costing allocations not managed proactively → review monthly; update promptly when staffing/effort changes.
  • PIs don’t certify → follow escalation timelines; delays can lead to funding impacts.