Quick Facts for Effort Coordinators

What you need to know about Effort for Grants as the Effort Coordinator

1. Effort reporting must reflect all compensated activities, including those not federally funded, such as: Instruction, Other Research, and administration, for which the individual received compensation from the University of Florida.
2. Effort is NOT based on a 40 hour work week, It is the proportion of the time spent on an activity as it relates to the time spent on all activities during an effort term.
3. Effort must be a reasonable estimate, a degree of tolerance is acceptable.
4. Certifying effort is not the same as certifying payroll.
5. Effort must equal 100%, regardless of FTE.
6. Effort should be certified by the Employee or PI, but if a proxy needs to be added it must be someone with suitable means of verification, who has first-hand knowledge and can validate the effort allocation This is usually:
   • A department chair, dean, or center director
   • The individual’s direct supervisor
   • The lab manager of where the research is being conducted
7. In order to view all effort reports for a department, a View Only effort Role can be requested.
   • You do not need to add someone as a proxy to view an effort report.
8. Effort Reporting is the way Federal Agencies verify that salary dollars were charged properly.
9. Fines can be levied against the university for missing or inaccurate effort reports.
10. Commitments entered into on award agreements should be recorded in the commitment module in PeopleSoft for reporting and documentation in the correct categories, either as Direct Charged Salary or Committed Cost Share. This should be adjusted to reflect an increase or decrease per effort term. Actual effort that exceeds the commitment can be shown as uncommitted cost sharing as long as the work done is not required to maintain the 25%  tolerance of the overall.
11. A reduction in effort, paid or cost-shared, by 25% or more, usually requires prior approval by the sponsor.
12. If an individual is paid 100% from a sponsored project, they must only work on that project and nothing else during that time.
13. A superseded effort report means that there was a change in payroll, courses or commitments. These new reports will be released if they require recertification and a comment will be added as to what required the recertification.
14. The effort system is considered a “feeder system.” The payroll, commitments and courses that appear on the effort record are being pulled in from the Payroll system, the Commitment system, and the Academic Activity Reporting (AAR) system.

What is the Training Needed

1. RSH207 Effort Commitments, Management, and Reporting
   • A “deep dive” into the most important aspects related to effort, including effort commitments and cost sharing. This course also discusses managing effort throughout the life of a sponsored project, and a variety of case studies and practical examples.

1. RSH220 Effort Fundamentals
   • Discusses the most essential concepts related to effort, including Total University Effort, committed effort and cost sharing. It also covers the activities that are allowable and unallowable on sponsored projects.

1. RSH260 Cost Principles
   • 2 CFR 200 is a foundational document for determining the appropriateness of costs charged to federal grants. It review the principles of allowable costs. It also explains the need for consistent treatment of direct and indirect costs.

What is the Specific Security Role

1. Effort Coordinators: UF_ET_EFFORT_COORDINATOR

Who Do I Contact for Questions, Training, or Assistance

Cost Analysis – effort@admin.ufl.edu; or (352) 392-5778

Last Reviewed

Last reviewed on 03/20/2024

Still have a question?

View our FAQs