An effort report (ER) is the receipt that auditors use to document the amount of effort actually performed (both directly charged and pledged as cost sharing) on a restricted grant or contract.
Although the current regulations in 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance allows for flexibility in the methods of documentation of personnel costs, MSU has elected to continue to follow the more restrictive requirements in OMB Circular A-21 section J.10 until it is known how auditors will react to some of the new options put in place at other institutions.
Auditors use ERs to validate that the percent of salaries charged or cost shared to the project are justified by comparing them to the effort percentages reported on the effort report. If, for example, an auditor could not find an ER, or the percentage of salary charged to the project is more than the percentage of effort reported (effort %), the auditor will request a refund of the difference. All Universities receiving grants, cooperative agreements or contracts from the federal government must document personnel expenses.
Effort reports are required for those individuals with salary charged, or committed cost share/effort, to projects funded from the Federal Government, the State of Michigan, or from other agencies that specifically require salary/cost sharing documentation (i.e. most sponsored project RC, federal MSUE RE and federal AgBioResearch RA accounts). The time reports for students and on-call/temp employees paid by CATS serve as their effort receipt, therefore, they will not have ERs.
It is critical to understand the importance of reporting effort accurately and understand the pitfalls and ramifications if inaccurate information is provided. The following recorded seminars are a valuable resource to help you fully understand effort reporting.
- ERA Webinar on Effort Reporting (to watch the webinar please follow these links):
If you have questions regarding your effort report or other tips to promote success when completing your effort report, please send an email to proposals@egr.msu.edu.
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