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If there's one administrative task that unites faculty and research administrators in shared frustration, it's effort reporting. Every quarter or semester, principal investigators certify the percentage of time they devoted to each grant, administrators follow up on pending certifications, and everyone prepares for audit questions.
Did you know that the Federal Demonstration Partnership Faculty Burden Survey found that 95% of faculty could devote more time to research with better administrative support? Personnel management, which includes effort reporting, consistently ranks as one of the top burdens.
But here's the thing: Integrated research administration systems like eGrants help simplify the process by centralizing all effort data in one place. They send automated reminders for deadlines, track which certifications are complete or still pending, and keep the necessary documentation ready for audits.
This turns a traditionally time-consuming process, involving spreadsheets, emails, or siloed systems, into a more organized and transparent system with clear visibility of certification statuses.
The Reality of Effort Reporting in Research Administration
Federal regulation 2 CFR 200.430 requires institutions to certify the percentage of time faculty actually spent on each grant. But the problem is that research doesn't follow neat percentages.
A Principal Investigator (PI) managing five grants and teaching receives a certification form asking for the percentage of time spent on each project last quarter. The PI struggles to recall exact figures—was it 15% or 18% on the NSF grant? Research work fluctuates, with periods of intensity followed by slower phases. But the form requires everything to add up to exactly 100%.
After completing the form, the PI finds that the numbers don’t align with payroll distribution. This triggers:
- Administrator intervention: The administrator must request approvals, move funds between grants retroactively, and document discrepancies (e.g., 40% effort on an NSF project when only 25% was budgeted).
- Manual corrections: The work was legitimate, but documenting it weeks or months later is time-consuming and requires coordination across multiple offices.
On the other hand, the siloed systems multiply the burden. For instance, payroll data is in the HR system, grant budgets are in finance, and effort certifications are in yet another system, or even on paper. None of these systems is synchronized and requires an administrator to manually check for discrepancies and initiate the cost transfer process when they occur.
How Modern Integrated Systems Fix The Challenges
Modern platforms like Key Solutions eGrants integrate effort reporting with your grants management system. Instead of treating effort reporting as a separate task, it connects with other pre and post-award tasks, such as proposal budgets, award data, payroll information.
The system pre-fills certification forms based on your prior certifications, budgeted effort, and current payroll distribution. You review and adjust rather than starting from scratch. When your effort matches expectations, the administrator can complete this certification with just one click. When it doesn't match, the system flags the variance before you submit and asks for an explanation right then.
Integration That Matters
eGrants seamlessly integrates with institutional systems like Banner, PeopleSoft, Oracle, or any system your institution uses. When payroll is processed, the effort system automatically accesses the relevant data. Similarly, when grants are awarded, the system updates with the committed effort, and by the time certification is due, the necessary information is already in place.
This integration is crucial as it removes the need for manual reconciliation across multiple systems. Effort, payroll, and grant budgets are automatically aligned, saving time and reducing errors.
Workflow Improvements
- For faculty: Pre-populated data streamlines the process, reducing certification time from 30 minutes to just 5 minutes, eliminating the need for memory-based calculations.
- For administrators: Real-time dashboards provide a clear view of what’s complete, pending, or overdue by department, grant, or individual. Automated reminders eliminate the need for follow-ups. Exception reports highlight only certifications with discrepancies that require attention. Audit reports can be generated with a single click, eliminating days of manual compilation.
The system automates the supervisory review workflow, ensuring compliance with federal requirements through electronic signatures. Complete audit trails are maintained automatically, without the need for manual creation.
What This Means for Your Institution
Institutions using integrated effort reporting systems report measurable improvements:
- Administrator time per cycle drops by 50% or more
- Faculty certification time decreases significantly
- On-time completion rates increase
- Audit findings decrease
- Documentation happens automatically
The system catches variances before payroll finalizes, not after. Cost transfers drop because problems get fixed early. When auditors arrive, documentation is organized and complete.
Ready to Get Started?
The federal requirement isn’t going away, but the burden can be reduced significantly. If effort reporting creates quarterly workload spikes at your institution or if audit concerns are constantly rising, it’s time to evaluate whether your current systems are serving your compliance needs efficiently. Modern research administration platforms like Key Solutions eGrants can transform effort reporting from a compliance burden into a streamlined process that satisfies auditors and respects faculty time.
Address the area causing the most pain:
- Electronic certification to replace paper?
- Integration with payroll to eliminate manual reconciliation?
- Automated reminders to reduce follow-up?
Start with one of these solutions, measure the improvement, and expand when you're ready.
Research institutions that have made this shift report the same outcomes: faculty spend less time on certification, administrators aren’t overwhelmed each quarter, audit results are stronger, and documentation is improved, all without additional work. The technology exists. The question is whether you’re ready to stop fighting the same quarterly battle.
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