As a recipient of federal funding, UAF is required to comply with the OMB Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (“Uniform Guidance”), as well as other applicable federal requirements governing the documentation of personnel expenses charged to sponsored awards.. UAF requires all individuals who receive federal sponsored funding to comply with University policies and sponsoring agency regulations regarding the proposing, charging, and reporting of effort on those awards.

UAF receives significant funding for sponsored projects from federal and state governments, private foundations, organizations, and industry. There must be accurate effort planning and confirmation when these funds are expended for salaries and wages.

Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200.430 - Compensation - personnel services) outlines the requirements for non-Federal entities to track and report payroll-related costs on Federal awards, usually referred to as “effort reporting” or “effort certification”. The primary requirement is that strong internal controls must exist for the reporting of salaries and wages to ensure that the charges “are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated” to the correct award. The reported effort must also be “be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity,” which UAF handles via OnBase.

UAF faculty and staff are expected to charge their time to sponsored awards commensurate with the committed effort expended on all activities they perform. Payroll charges to sponsored awards and cost sharing recorded for faculty and staff serve as the initial data points for the University’s effort reporting system.

UAF utilizes an after-the-fact effort reporting system to confirm that salaries charged or cost shared to sponsored awards are reasonable and consistent with the work performed. An individual’s effort is initially assigned to specific activities in the payroll system based on anticipated work. At the end of each specified reporting period, employees review and certify that the effort recorded for sponsored awards and other compensated activities reasonably reflects the work they performed during that period. Effort certification is based on a reasonable estimate of how the employee’s compensated activity was distributed; a precise accounting of time is not required. Uniform Guidance Section 200.430(g)(1)(ix) states:

“It is recognized that teaching, research, service, and administration are often inextricably intermingled in an academic setting. Therefore, a precise assessment of factors contributing to costs is not required when IHEs record salaries and wages charged to Federal awards.”

Additional background information is available in the UA System Office Accounting and Administrative Manual, Section D-04.

 

All individuals involved in the administration or conduct of federally sponsored award activities, including employees whose salaries or cost-shared effort are recorded on sponsored awards, principal investigators, and central and departmental sponsored-project administrators, must comply with these standards. Adherence to this policy is required for all effort related to federally-sponsored awards as well as any non-federal awards where the non-federal sponsor requires effort reporting.

Employees/Certifiers

Employees who receive an Effort Certification are responsible for:

• Reviewing the certification to determine whether the reported effort reasonably reflects the work performed during the certification period.
• Requesting corrections when the reported allocation does not reasonably reflect the work performed.
• Providing sufficient information to support requested corrections.
• Electronically certifying their Effort Certification by the established deadline.
• Reviewing and recertifying a refreshed Effort Certification when a labor redistribution changes previously reported effort.

The employee is the primary certifier of their effort. If the employee does not complete the certification, an authorized alternate certifier identified through the system-generated routing queue may certify on the employee’s behalf only when the alternate has direct knowledge of the work performed.

Principal Investigators

Principal investigators are responsible for:

• Understanding the effort commitments, salary charges, and cost sharing associated with their sponsored awards.
• Monitoring the effort and salary charges of personnel working on their sponsored awards.
• Reviewing salary charges with the department or unit business office and promptly identifying needed corrections.
• Communicating significant changes in committed effort to the department or unit business office so sponsor notification or prior approval may be obtained when required.
• Monitoring completion of Effort Certifications associated with their sponsored awards.

A principal investigator may also serve as an alternate certifier when included in the system-generated routing queue and when the PI has direct knowledge of the employee’s work. When acting in that capacity, the PI assumes the responsibilities described under “Alternate Certifiers.”

 

Department/Unit Business Offices

Department and unit business offices are responsible for:

• Monitoring effort commitments, salary charges, and cost sharing associated with sponsored awards.
• Reviewing salary charges with principal investigators and promptly processing necessary salary distribution changes or labor redistributions.
• Monitoring Effort Certifications for accuracy and timely completion.
• Reviewing allocation changes entered through the Effort Certification process.
• Processing required labor redistributions and notifying certifiers when refreshed certifications are available for recertification.
• Documenting allocation differences that do not require a labor redistribution in accordance with established correction procedures.
• Communicating changes to OGCA when sponsor notification or prior approval may be required.
• Assisting employees, principal investigators, and alternate certifiers with the certification and correction process.

Office of Grants and Contracts Administration

OGCA is responsible for:

• Providing guidance on effort certification, corrections, recertification, and applicable sponsor requirements.
• Monitoring the status and completion of Effort Certifications involving sponsored awards and escalating incomplete certifications as appropriate.
• Exercising authorized superuser functions as necessary to facilitate corrections and recertification.
• Coordinating with department and unit business offices when effort changes may require sponsor notification or prior approval.
• Reviewing prior-fiscal-year corrections made by journal voucher to determine whether a new or revised Effort Certification is required.
• Responding to audit requests related to effort certification and personnel expenses.

 

UAF has three Effort Certification periods each fiscal year:

• Fall: Pay periods R18 through R01
• Spring: Pay periods R02 through R10   
• Summer: Pay periods R11 through R17

Following the end of each certification period, Effort Certifications are automatically generated and distributed through the University’s financial system. Employees have two weeks to review and certify their effort.

If an employee does not complete the certification by the deadline, the certification is routed to an authorized alternate certifier. The alternate certifier has one additional week to review and certify the outstanding record and must have direct knowledge of the work performed.

Once an employee or authorized alternate certifier completes the certification, the record is locked. A locked certification may be reopened by OGCA when a justified correction or recertification is required.

Effort reported for each certification period must reasonably reflect the employee’s total compensated activity and equal 100 percent. Reported effort cannot exceed 100 percent.

Detailed instructions for accessing, reviewing, correcting, and certifying Effort Certifications are available in the HR Knowledge Base.

 

Summer 2026 (R11-R17)

• Certification Period: May 3, 2026 - August 8, 2026
• Distribution Date: August 31, 2026
• Employee Certification Deadline: September 14, 2026

Fall 2026 (R18-R1)

• Certification Period: August 9, 2026 - December 26, 2026
• Distribution Date: January 18, 2027
• Employee Certification Deadline: February 1, 2027

Spring 2027 (R2-R10)

• Certification Period: December 27, 2026 - May 1, 2027
• Distribution Date: May 24, 2027
• Employee Certification Deadline: June 7, 2027

Summer 2027 (R11-R17)

• Certification Period: May 2, 2027 - August 8, 2027
• Distribution Date: August 30, 2027
• Employee Certification Deadline: September 13, 2027

If an employee does not complete an Effort Certification by the employee deadline, the certification will route to an authorized alternate certifier. Certifications that remain incomplete after the alternate-certification deadline will be escalated, as appropriate, to the unit fiscal officer, dean or director, and Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services.