[Plsfaculty] FW: Creation of January - June 2024 Effort Certification Documents Due by 9/30 FO and PI

Thu Aug 15 09:52:55 MST 2024

Hi Everyone,

Effort Certifications have come out for the period of January through June of last fiscal year. Over the next week or so, I will approve and push these out to PIs for their approvals. Since I am newer to SPLS, I request that you review them carefully and let me know of any issues since I do not know any of your employees yet.

If you see salary that is incorrect, please send me an email (directly to me only) with the UA Financials document number (upper right corner) and provide which accounts need to be updated. Please provide a brief justification of what the employee was doing on the account I need to move salary to also. I will then pull back the effort certification, adjust the salary, and re-approve. I am hoping there isn't that many that need updating since Amanda and I made a lot of corrections in the final two months of FY24.

I will remain the Manager of Finance for SPLS permanently, so eventually, I will get to know accounts and employees.

Thank you for your help on these this time around.

[The University of Arizona block 'A' logo.]
Kevin K Teres
Manager, Finance and Administration
Environmental Science/Water Resources Research Center,
School of Plant Sciences
College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Shantz, 429F
PO Box 210038 | Tucson, AZ 85721
Office: 520-626-5881 |
kteres at arizona.edu<mailto:kteres at arizona.edu>
environmentalscience.cals.arizona.edu/<https://environmentalscience.cals.arizona.edu/>

[Integrity, Compassion, Exploration, Adaptation, Inclusion, Determination]<https://brand.arizona.edu/signature>

From: Holan, Tabatha M - (tholan) <tholan at arizona.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2024 9:16 AM
To: SPCS-financialcompliance <SPS-financialcompliance at email.arizona.edu>
Subject: Creation of January - June 2024 Effort Certification Documents Due by 9/30 FO and PI

Good morning,

The federal effort certification reports for Base Pay certifications are now in your UAccess Financials action lists. On Friday, August 16th the reports for Supplemental compensation pay certification will be on your action lists. Below is information about effort reports, due dates, and report tracking. After reviewing the notes, I encourage you to contact the SPCS Financial Compliance Services team with questions or training needs. Online training and policy documents are on the research gateway at: https://research.arizona.edu/administration/managing-projects/effort-reporting

The team consists of:
Tara Gonzales, Senior Manager - tgonzale at arizona.edu<mailto:tgonzale at arizona.edu>
Tabatha Holan, Principal Sponsored Projects Administrator - tholan at arizona.edu<mailto:tholan at arizona.edu>
Phone: 520-626-6000

Why am I receiving this email, and what are effort certification reports?

  *   Effort certifications are reports required by the federal government for all University employees who receive a portion of their pay from federally sponsored grants and contracts.
  *   The reports show the individual's pay distribution over a six month period and serve as after the fact confirmation that the percentage of pay charged to the federal projects is a fair representation of the time actually worked on the project.
  *   The reports have two sets of required approvals:
     *   Fiscal officers for all accounts the individual was charged to.
     *   Principal investigators for the federal projects the individual was charged to.

I am the fiscal officer for a unit that does not conduct sponsored research, what do I do?

  *   If you are the fiscal officer of a unit that does not normally conduct sponsored project activity, you are receiving the report because the individual charged to your non-sponsored account also has pay on federal research accounts. Please verify the charge on your non-sponsored account matches your reconciliations and approve the document.

I am the fiscal officer for a unit that does conduct sponsored research, what do I do?

  *   Review the policy and training materials at https://research.arizona.edu/administration/managing-projects/effort-reporting
If you are the fiscal officer of a research unit, you are responsible for verifying the charges on your accounts match your reconciliations.
  *   You are responsible for following up with the principal investigators for your federal accounts to ensure they approve the reports after you complete them. SPCS will also send reminder emails to PI's, but we need and appreciate your cooperation. Below you will find information about how to track reports.
  *   The principal investigator is the person responsible for certifying the work was performed according to the distribution and amount charged. Their approval is the official auditable certification that the distribution is correct.
  *   Contact us if you have questions, or problems getting a report approved by your PI's or fellow fiscal officers.

Due Dates:

  *   Reports are due within 30 business days of document creation date. The due date for the January - June 2024 effort certifications documents to be finalized is Monday September 30th . A finalized effort certification includes approval from both the fiscal officer(s) and project director(s).

  *   Federal grants policy does not allow delegation of PI approvals to business personnel.
  *   The reports first route to Fiscal Officers, and only after all the Fiscal Officers have approved, do they route to the Principal Investigator. For that reason, we ask Fiscal Officers to complete their approvals as soon as possible to ensure our PI's have ample time to review and approve.

Cost Share and NIH/HHS Salary Cap Cost Share

  *   All committed principal investigator effort should be listed on the effort report as either a direct charge or cost share.
  *   Please ensure all committed cost share is accurately charged on the effort report. Committed cost share includes mandatory cost share that was required by the sponsor, and/or voluntary cost share that was included in our proposal and budget. Both types must be tracked and charged.
  *   SPS will be adding notes to effort reports that have NIH salary cap cost share reminding you to check the NIH/HHS cap cost share. We will attach a worksheet that shows the amount that is required. We have worksheets on our website that assist with calculating the necessary NIH cap cost share, they can be found here: https://research.arizona.edu/administration/build-budget/budget-categories/Salaries-and-Wages/HHS-Salary-Cap
  *
Report Tracking:
Fiscal Officers are responsible for tracking their unit's reports to ensure they are all approved in a timely manner. After approving reports, Fiscal Officers can monitor status in UAccess Financials with their choice of two tools.

  *   The Outstanding Effort Certifications dashboard located in UAccess Analytics within General - Sponsored Projects:
     *   This is the preferred report, as it includes approvers email addresses to facilitate contacting approvers. The report updates nightly.
     *   Can adjust view for report detail also
     *   adjust the fiscal year or your org code as needed.
     *   https://analytics.uaccess.arizona.edu/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard&PortalPath=%2Fshared%2FFinancial%2F_portal%2FGeneral%20-%20Sponsored%20Projects&Page=Outstanding%20Effort%20Certifications&PageIdentifier=bt5krepk6va5fk25&BookmarkState=3o2c8sn6ulqq6glv7jrebrs41q&options=frd
  *   The Outstanding Certification Report within Financials which is located at this link<https://financials.uaccess.arizona.edu/kfs/kr/lookup.do?methodToCall=start&businessObjectClassName=org.kuali.kfs.module.ec.businessobject.OutstandingCertificationsByOrganization&docFormKey=88888888&returnLocation=https://financials.uaccess.arizona.edu/kfs/index.jsp&hideReturnLink=true>
     *   This report is useful if you need up to the minute tracking information. Set to fiscal year 2024 and your org code.

Thank you for your cooperation in completing this federally required procedure.

Thank you,
Tabatha Holan  [paw]
Grant and Contract Analyst, Principal, Financial Compliance Services
p. 520.626.6442 |e. tholan at arizona.edu<mailto:tholan at arizona.edu> | Hrs: M-Th 8 -5:30 & F 1:30-5:30
Sponsored Projects Services<http://www.rgw.arizona.edu/> | The University of Arizona<http://www.arizona.edu/> | Ethics & Compliance Hotline<hotline.arizona.edu> | 866.364.1908
Upcoming OOO:
Land Acknowledgment<https://click.comms.arizona.edu/?qs=54f04291fd12444332ba4c96370cab681d1e8a1a5f911832346d91fd58219e8c5cb864a29c41f7d751d589f0ebbe6f25a3eca3d7ad6e8695>
We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O'odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.

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