Effort Certification in the Kuali
Financial System
Office of Research Administration
Indiana University
509 E. 3rd Street
Bloomington, IN 47401-3654
January 2014
Effort Certification in KFS
The Highlights:
 Why and How of Effort Certification
 Effort Management and Certification
 KFS Highlights
o Project Director and Fiscal Officer Routing
o Federal Effort Reports
o Why and How of Effort Certification
 Cost Share Subaccounts
 NIH Salary Cap
 Frequently Asked Questions
Why we Certify Effort
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Circular A-21 (Section J.10)
Cost principles for educational institutions
Verification that the salaries charged are consistent with
effort expended
OMB Circular A-21 has been codified into the Code of
Federal Regulations - 2 CFR Part 220
IU Policy – Effort Certification Documents
Employees with regular pay
Effort certification documents are issued to certify effort
How do we certify effort?
“After the Fact” effort certification
Payroll data is gathered from the Kuali Financial System
(KFS) labor ledger on a periodic basis to determine
100% of each employee’s regular compensation, (i.e.
Institutional Base Salary)
The A21 Labor Ledger reflects the specific buckets to
which labor was allocated. These entries will not reflect
the General Ledger entries if salary has been
reallocated.
The Labor Ledger Effort View
The Labor Ledger General Ledger View
Sometimes the GL and A21 Labor Ledger Match…
A21 Labor Ledger
General Ledger
Sometimes they don’t…
A21 Labor Ledger
General Ledger
Effort Report Generation
Labor Ledger data is complied and distributed through
the Effort Certification Documents in the KFS

Effort reports are generated for only employees with effort on
federal or federal pass through accounts

100% of Institutional Base Salary is reported

Salary transfer generation is stopped and all enroute salary
transfers are auto-disapproved prior to effort report distribution

Upon final approval, an auto-generated salary transfer is
completed.
The Effort Periods
FALL Periods
Report
Monthly 12-Pay (M01 – 7/1 to 12/31)
Academic 10-Pay (A01 – 8/1 to 12/31)
Biweekly (B01– 7/1 to 12/31)
SPRING Periods
Report
Monthly 12-Pay (M02 – 1/1 to 6/30)
Academic 10-Pay (A02 – 1/1 to 5/31)
Biweekly (B02 – 1/1 to 6/30)
SUMMER Period
Report
Academic Summer (A03 – 5/1 to 8/31)
Issue Date
February 17th
February 17th
February 17th
Approval Deadline
April 18th
April 18th
April 18th
Issue Date
August 15th
August 15th
August 15th
Approval Deadline
October 14th
October 14th
October 14th
Issue Date
October 15th
Approval Deadline
December 14th
Effort Management vs. Effort Certification
Effort Management should be conducted throughout
the effort period

o
Monthly Account Reconciliation
IU Policy - FIN-ACC-I-1 - Role of Fiscal Officer, Account
Manager and Account Supervisor
o
Communication
Effort Certification Documents are intended to certify
payroll on all Federal and Fed Pass-Through
sponsored projects

o
Document changes made when errors
in effort allocations are discovered
Importance of Ongoing Effort Management
Financial Reports



All costs must be booked to accounts before final report is sent
Final Financial Reports will be sent even if effort reports are not
approved
Account Close


Effort should not be reallocated after
account expiration
Justifying Changes on Effort Certification
Documents
What should your justifications include?
 What do you know now that you didn’t know when the original
effort was applied?
 How was the incorrect effort distribution determined?
 What is being done to prevent similar occurrences in the
future?
Effort Certification Deadline

The Policy
All Reports Certified within 60 Days past issuance

The Consequence
All Effort Removed from Federal and
Federal Pass Through Projects
Effort Certification Policies

Effort Recertification
Office of Research Administration Cost Exception Committee



Only on an Exception Basis
Move effort to a cost reimbursable project
Recertifications requested after account expiration
The KFS Effort
Certification Documents
Effort Certification Documents and Routing
Employee 1 Employee 2 Employee 3
PI 1- Federal Project
30%
100%
0%
PI 2 - Non-Federal Project
30%
0%
50%
PI 3 - Non-Federal Project
40%
0%
50%
100%
100%
100%
Yes
PI 1
Yes
No
None
None
Employee Effort Report Created? Yes
PI included in Routing?
PI 1
Fiscal Officer / Delegates?
Yes
ACTION LIST EXAMPLE
KFS Effort Document – Project Director View
KFS Effort Document – Fiscal Officer View
Document Routing
Subaccounts on Effort Reports

Cost share sub-accounts are entered on a separate
line to allow users to identify the departmental
source accounts.

Expense subaccounts are aggregated to report at the
main account.

Effort is managed at the account level for effort
reporting.
Cost Share Subaccounts on Effort Reports
NIH Salary Cap
The NIH limits the amount of salary which may be
reimbursed to universities for salaries charged to DHHS
projects. In recent years, the salary limitation has been
tied to the federal government’s Executive Level II
salary rate.
Frequently Asked Questions

How do I modify small dollar amounts without changing
the effort percentage?

Account PI vs. Award PI

What if a Fiscal Officer or PI leave the University?

Ad Hoc Routing
How do I modify small dollar amounts
without changing the effort percentage?
When the Integer Percentage does not match the Derived Percentage, effort
modifications may require an additional adjustment to salary dollars.
How do I modify small dollar amounts
without changing the effort percentage?
1. Decrease Line 1 under Federal and Federal Pass Through Accounts to match the
2% reduction in effort. ($119.34)
2. Click “Save”
3. Increase Line 1 under Other Sponsored and Non-Sponsored Accounts to match the
2% increase in effort. ($95.91)
4. Click “Save”
How do I modify small dollar amounts
without changing the effort percentage?
The Account PI and Effort Document
Routing
The Account PI and Effort Document
Routing
Approvers No Longer at IU

Update accounts for new responsibilities

Request an update of both Award and Account PI

If an effort report is in routing to a terminated
employee, contact Tim Burris at thburris@iu.edu
Ad Hoc Routing: Rules and Constraints

Effort documents may be routed for:
o Approval
o Acknowledgement
o FYI

No changes are allowed

With ad hoc routing, the document routing
progression stops
Some Points to Remember

A21 Effort Reports are only generated if effort is on federal or
federal pass through accounts

Documents may only be modified from the Action List

Manage effort activity regularly (at least monthly)

Effort Recertifications are Exception Only

Cost Share subaccounts are reported on a separate line on effort
reports

Expense subaccounts roll up to the main account

Salary transfers are automatically generated when documents are
final approved.
Final Questions?
Resource Links

IU Policy link:

http://policies.iu.edu/policies/categories/research/Sponsored-ProgramsAdministration/Effort_Certification_under_OMB_%20A21.shtml

Effort Certification on the ORA Web
http://researchadmin.iu.edu/GrantContract/gc-gfo/gfo_effort.html

A21 Effort Guidance for Document Routing and Approval
http://researchadmin.iu.edu/GrantContract/docs/KFS_Effort_Certification_Guida
nce_for_Document_Routing_and_Approval.pdf

Role of Fiscal Officer, Account Manager and Account Supervisor
http://policies.iu.edu/policies/categories/financial/accountingadministration/FIN-ACC-I-1-role-of-fiscal-officer-account-manager-and-accountsupervisor.shtml
Questions & Additional Training
Tim Burris
Financial Compliance Manager
Office of Research Administration
Indiana University
509 E. 3rd Street
Bloomington, IN 47401-3654
Telephone
E-mail
(812) 855-0185
thburris@iu.edu
Questions & Additional Training
Rayna Amerine
Financial Compliance Associate
Office of Research Administration
509 E. Third St.
Bloomington, IN 47401
Phone: (812) 855-1516
Email: ramerine@iu.edu