Why can’t I access my Effort Reports?
Log into ERS Effort Reporting System using your UCLA Logon ID and Password. You will need to log in with either the UCLA network on campus or VPN if you are working remotely to access the ERS website.
Who should certify?
The Certifier must have first-hand knowledge of the work performed. If an individual does not have first-hand knowledge of the work performed, whether they are an employee in an administrative role or involved in the research, they are not authorized to certify.
- Principal Investigators and other faculty in Professorial, Professional Research, and Management titles who are paid on or have commitments to work on federal or federal flow-through funds are required to certify their own effort since they are in the best position to understand how they are spending their time in support of the various activities in which they are engaged.
- Principal Investigators should also certify for employees that they have primary oversight of, given the fact that they have first-hand knowledge of the work performed.
- Self-certification for all staff is an option. However, each department sets their own self-certification policies based on their department’s culture.
If you are uncertain who should certify the effort report, please consult with your ERS Coordinator or ERS Support.
Why does an effort report status appear as Certified/AdjustReqd?
A Certified/AdjustReqd status occurs when an effort report is certified and the Payroll % and Paid Effort % to Certify columns do not match.
If the Paid Effort % to Certify reflects the correct figures and it doesn’t match with the Payroll %, the effort report can be certified but it will show a status of Certified/AdjustReqd. In this case, payroll transfers should be submitted to make them match. Once the payroll transfer is processed and a “late pay” is issued (during 1 of the 3 payroll cycles) and picked up by ERS, the report’s status should change to “Certified.” If the payroll transfer was processed correctly and the Payroll % still does not reflect the correct figures, contact ERS Support for assistance.
What does an Exception status mean and how to address it?
This status is often triggered when an effort report does not total 100%. An effort report that totals less than 100% is usually caused by unrecognized earnings. To see if a report has unrecognized earnings, select the “View Payroll Detail” option on the effort report. Typically, unrecognized earnings are payroll transactions that contain an account number or full accounting unit (FAU) that has not been defined in ERS. When ERS cannot identify a FAU on a payroll transaction, it cannot include the earnings in the effort report calculation because the system cannot properly categorize the earnings as belonging to a sponsored project or not.
Another situation when an effort report will have an Exception status is when a FAU on the report’s total is a negative percent. This usually means a credit has been processed and there has been no debit to offset it. To fix this issue a payroll adjustment needs to be processed.
However, there are other situations that can cause an effort report to go into an Exception status. In any case, a report with an Exception status cannot be ignored and requires some action. If you are having trouble certifying one of these reports, please contact ERS Support for assistance.
What happens to reports with a rounded total of 99% or 101%?
When a report is generated and it’s rounded total equals 99% or 101%, the system will add or remove a percent from the first FAU on the effort report. As a result, the report’s total will be 100%. This also happens after payroll transfers are processed.
Example: A report has three FAU’s at 33.33% each. The true rounded total would be 99%. Since effort has to be 100% for certification, the system will add a percent to the top FAU making it 34%. Subsequently, the report total will equal 100%. When a report’s true total is 101%, the system will remove a percent from the top FAU to make the report total 100%.
However, the system will not use this rounding methodology when there are unrecognized earnings.
For more helpful information, please visit ERS FAQs.