Initiating body:	Division of Finance and Planning
Contact:	Comptroller's Office, 438-5674
Revised on:	06/2002

7.4.5 Time and Effort Reporting

Policy

The federal Office of Management and Budget’s Circular A-21requires the documentation of personal services charged to sponsored agreements. Circular A-21 requires after-the-fact reporting of the percentage of time each employee spent on all grants and contracts compared to total time (effort).

This reporting requires the signature of the employee, Principal Investigator, or responsible official(s) to confirm that the percentages allocated to each activity represent a reasonable estimate of the work performed. This process is commonly known as “Time and Effort Reporting.”

The purpose of the report is to confirm that the charge made to the payroll system “reasonably reflects” each employee's activity. Significant deviations from payroll charges require an adjustment to the payroll. The report is prepared by the Comptroller's Office and sent to each department three times per year (fall, spring and summer semesters).

Guidelines for Time and Effort Reporting

1. The Time and Effort report requires one certification signature for each department. The Dean or Department Head should sign the certification for the whole department (see an example of a Time and Effort Report).
2. The report should reflect how a person spent his or her total time (effort), which would not necessarily agree with how the person is paid. The estimated percentage of time shown should be adjusted if it is significantly different from the actual time spent on a particular activity.
3. The entire report, including the certification, should be returned to the Comptroller's Office, Hovey Hall 102 (Mail Code 1200), by the due date indicated on the cover letter that was sent with the report.