Quick Facts for Faculty

Quick Tips for Effort Reporting

1.  Effort reporting must reflect all compensated activities, including those not federally funded, such as: Instruction, Other Research, and Administration, for which you received compensation from the University of Florida.
2. Effort is NOT based on a 40 hour work week. It is the proportion of time spent on an activity, expressed as a percentage, as it relates to the time spent on all activities.
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 must be certified by someone with suitable means of verification, with first-hand knowledge and can validate the effort allocation.
7. Effort Reporting is the way Federal Agencies verify that salary dollars were charged properly, either direct charged or cost-shared.
8. Erroneously certifying effort can be viewed as Fraud.
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.
11. A reduction in effort, paid or cost-shared by 25% or more usually requires prior approval by the sponsor.
12. If you are paid 100% from a sponsored project, you must only work on that project and nothing else during that time.
13. The project(s) that you have the authority to certify for will display on the certification screen at the bottom. You will not necessarily be approving all projects shown and you are not approving any of the other activity listed as the PI.
14. FAR vs Effort – The Faculty Activity Report (FAR) is a plan of work at the beginning of an effort term. The Effort Certification is how your time is actually spent and certified after an effort term ends.

What is the Training Needed?

1. RSH500 Faculty Stewardship – Covers key concepts related to effort reporting as well as cost principles.

What is the Specific Security Role?

1. As the PI you will be automatically added to the effort report to approve YOUR projects, the projects that you are able to certify for will show on the bottom of the certification screen.
2. If you want to view everything for the entire department you can request:
   View only Access: UF_ET_VIEW_ONLY

Last Reviewed

Last reviewed on 03/20/2024

Contacts

Contracts & Grants: (352) 392-1235

Cost Analysis: (352) 392-5778

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