Annual Payroll Certifications
July 27, 2011
What are Payroll Certifications?
• Federal Demonstration Partnership project
• UCR and UCI submitted proposal to
participate and DHSS approved
• A new way to confirm salaries charged to
federally funded sponsored projects represent
an equitable distribution based on an
employee’s work activities.
• Shift focus from “effort” concept to
reasonableness of salaries based on work
performed
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Why do Payroll Certifications?
• Provide greater accountability,
accuracy, efficiency, and
transparency
• Better alignment with award’s
budget years
• Paper based process is inefficient
• The concept of “effort” is confusing
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Comparison of processes
Description
Effort Reporting System
Payroll Certification System
System Focus
Individuals
Fund (Grant or Contract)
Certification Frequency
Quarterly
Annually (Based on project’s budget year)
Time frame for distributing the form
February, May, August,
and November
After the end of the project’s
budget year
Time frame to sign certification
30 days after distribution (Process to be
completed within 90 days after the end of the
quarter, which is 45 days after receiving the form)
30 days after distribution (Process to be
completed within 60 days of the end of the
budget year)
Signers
Individual employee, PI , or
person with first-hand knowledge
Required: Lead Principal Investigator
System Rationale (Theoretical
foundation)
For Certifying Salaries and Wages
Salary Distribution percentages are reasonable
based on percentage of work effort
Salary amounts are reasonable based on work
performed
Committed Salary Cost Sharing
Cost Shared salaries should be included in
percentage of effort
Cost Shared salary amounts are reasonable based
on work performed
NIH Salary Cap
Shows total effort expended on the project, but
amount
reflects cap limitations
The acceptable amount is net of the cap
disallowance.
Special Costing Requirements: Clerical
and Administrative, NSF salary limit, No
proposal preparation charged to
project, NIH cap
Not addressed
Part of the certification
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What is the department’s role?
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Assist PI with the new process
Review for data integrity
Enter cost shared salaries
Enter pending cost transfers (hopefully
minimal)
• Review Cost Notes and add comments
• Ensure certifications are performed
• Your participation is critical for the success of
the demonstration project
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Other Complementing Processes
• Review of PIWRS Monthly Reports
oProvides monthly expenditure and
payroll detail
oAssist with timely identification and
correction of errors
oElectronically marking as reviewed is a
best practice
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Other Complementing Processes
• Assist PI with accessing the Payroll Detail
Reports within PIWRS
o Assist with timely identification and
correction of payroll related errors
o Directly linked to the Annual Payroll
Certification data to facilitate timely
certification
o Covered in PIWRS Tutorials
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PIWRS Coordinator Role
In addition to updating projections and
other information on the monthly PIWRS
report, this role can access the following
payroll certification related items:
• Listing of Funds Requiring Payroll Certification:
http://piwrs.ucr.edu/piwrs/view_annual_certs?p_period=4&p_fiscal_year=2011&p_refresh=Refresh
• View Payroll Certification reports under their
Accountability Structure(s) via PIWRS Menu
• Add/Edit Cost Sharing Salary Data (until certified)
• Add/Edit Salary Adjustments (until certified)
• Add Comments (until certified)
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Direct Project Salary Adjustments
• Annual Certifications include salary data only (no benefits) for
related budget year. This data is based on posted date not
Pay Period End Date.
• Payroll adjustments (i.e. cost transfers) should be identified
and corrected on a monthly basis
• In order to facilitate the timely certification of the Annual
Payroll Certification report, the department should indicate
pending payroll corrections affecting the reporting period
• Direct Project Salary Adjustments should be infrequent
• These adjustments will automatically show as a reversal in the
next annual certification cycle
• A comment explaining why the adjustment is necessary
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Cost Shared Salaries
• Cost Shared salaries associated with the award’s
budget year being certified should be entered.
• The FAU associated with the cost shared salaries
is required and must be from a non-federal
source.
• In the short term, the paper based cost sharing
form will also be required on an annual basis.
The long term goal is to feed cost sharing
information directly into the Annual Payroll
Certification Report from an electronic cost
sharing report.
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Cost Notes
Potential audit concerns are identified via the Cost
Note field on the report. These items should be
reviewed to ensure adherence to agency terms and
conditions. Add comments as necessary.
• Cost Note 1: NSF Sr. Project Personnel-2 month
salary restriction
• Cost Note 2: 90%+ salaries to sponsored projects
• Cost Note 3: Clerical & Admin staff exception
• Cost Note 4: NIH Salary Cap
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Other Considerations
• Identify the staff member(s) that will be performing
the departmental role
– may be different than the person who coordinated PAR(s)
– SAA needs to ensure role is assigned
• The PI has ability to add/edit cost sharing data and
adjustments. Once certified, no other edits are
allowed. When assisting your PI with payroll
certifications, communicate expectations regarding
these fields.
• No re-certifications
• Budget years ending mid month; salaries only
posted at end of month
• Ensure e-mails from “@ucr.edu” are not directed to
junk mail.
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PI Responsibilities
• Fiduciary responsibilities include review of costs
charged to sponsor projects on a monthly basis to
ensure the appropriateness of expenses
• Prompt identification of errors so adjustments can
be performed timely
• Reviewing monthly, PI should have confidence in
the salary charges appearing on the annual report
• PIs certify that payroll expenditures are reasonable
in relationship to the work performed, salary costs
directly benefit the project and conform to the
agency’s term and conditions.
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Timeline: Catch Up Period
In order to transition to the Annual Payroll Certification process
and avoid preparing effort reports for Spring 2011, the following
timeline will be used for April, May, June and July payroll
certifications.
• April 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the
coordinators on 7/29/11 and to PIs on 8/8/11 with a due date
of 8/29/11
• May 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators
on approximately 8/8/11 and to PIs on 8/15/11 with a due
date of 9/5/11
• June 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the
coordinators on approximately 8/15/11 and to PIs on 8/22/11
with a due date of 9/12/11
• July 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators
on approximately 8/22/11 and to PIs on 8/29/11 with a due
date of 9/19/11
• August 2011 Certifications will follow the normal distribution
cycle as outlined on the following slides.
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Payroll Certification
Email Notifications
• Several notifications will be system generated
on the certification timeline
• E-mails to the PIWRS Coordinator will be in
digest mode when possible
• A summarization of the recipients and content
appear on the following slides
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 1st day following the budget
year’s end date
Example: For a budget year ending on 04-15-12,
a notice will be generated on 04-16-12
Recipient: PIWRS Coordinator(s) – digest format
Message: These funds will require Payroll
Certification. Please begin reviewing
PR expenditures and gathering
applicable cost sharing data.
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 8th day of the month following
the project’s budget year end date.
Example: For a budget year ending between
04-01-12 – 04-30-12, a notice will be
generated on 05-08-12
Recipient: PIWRS Coordinator(s) – digest format
Message: Annual Payroll Certification is now
available for review prior to distribution
to the PI on the 15th of the month.
Review reports and enter adjustments
& comments as necessary.
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 15th day of the month following
the project’s budget year end date.
Example:
For a budget year ending between
04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be
generated on 05-15-12
Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator
cc – PIWRS Coordinator
Message: Explains Payroll Certification must be
completed within the next 21 days.
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 30th day of the month following
the project’s budget year end date.
Example:
For a budget year ending between
04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be
generated on 05-30-12
Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator
cc – PIWRS Coordinator
Message:
As applicable, reminder that Payroll
Certifications are due within the next 7
days. Uncertified payrolls may be
subject to transfer to an unrestricted
funding source within your department
and/or organization.
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 37th day of the month following
the project’s budget year end date.
Example:
For a budget year ending between
04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be
generated on 06-06-12
Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator
cc – Department Chair and PIWRS Coordinator
Message: As applicable, Payroll Certifications are
due today. Uncertified reports will be escalated to
your Organizational Unit. Uncertified payrolls may be
subject to transfer to an unrestricted funding source
within your department and/or organization.
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Notice No.
Notification Date: 45th day of the month following
the project’s budget year end date.
Example:
For a budget year ending between
04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be
generated on 06-13-12
Recipients: Prime – Organizational CFAO
cc – Department Chair, PI, PIWRS
Coordinator, Accounting Office
Message: As applicable, the Payroll Certification is
past due for PI. Uncertified salary expenditures are
considered unallowable charges to award. An
unrestricted departmental/organizational FAU must
be provided to within 7 days for transfer of
uncertified salaries.
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Policy
• New Campus Policy on Payroll Certifications is
available on the UCR Policy & Procedure
website (200-40)
• Policy was shared with the Ethics and
Compliance Risk Committee & Audit and
Controls Committee in May 2011
• Payroll Certifications were discussed at the
Council of Deans in July 2011
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PIWRS Tutorials
• The following informational materials are
available in the UC Learning Center (search for
PIWRS). Reviewing these courses is
recommended for both Principal Investigators
and PIWRS Coordinators.
• PIWRS: Overview
• PIWRS: Monthly Expenditure and Payroll
Review Tutorial
• PIWRS: Annual Payroll Certification System
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Contacts
• PIs will be referred to their department’s
Financial Manager and/or Contract and Grant
Analyst with questions regarding the Annual
Payroll Certification System.
• Contact the Computer Support Group (CSG) Help
Desk (x-23555) for assistance with popup
blockers or connecting to the PI Web Reporting
System from off campus using VPN.
• Please send questions, comments or feedback to
piwrsfeedback@ucr.edu.
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Conclusion
• Participation in this Federal Demonstration
Partnership project is an opportunity for UCR
to demonstrate there is a more effective
process than effort reporting
• You play an important role in the success of
this demonstration that will impact
University’s across the United States
• Thank You!
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Annual Payroll Certification
System Demonstration
Thank you for attending today’s presentation.
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