Annual Payroll CertificationsJuly 27, 2011

What are Payroll Certifications?• Federal Demonstration Partnership project • UCR and UCI submitted proposal to participate

and DHSS approved• A new way to confirm salaries charged to

federally funded sponsored projects represent an equitable distribution based on an employee’s work activities.

• Shift focus from “effort” concept to reasonableness of salaries based on work performed

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Why do Payroll Certifications?

• Provide greater accountability, accuracy, efficiency, and transparency

• Better alignment with award’s budget years

• Paper based process is inefficient• The concept of “effort” is confusing

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Comparison of processes 

Description 

    Effort Reporting System

 

 Payroll Certification System

System Focus

Individuals

Fund (Grant or Contract)

Certification Frequency

Quarterly

Annually (Based on project’s budget year)

Time frame for distributing the form

February, May, August,

and November

After the end of the project’s

budget year

Time frame to sign certification

30 days after distribution (Process to be

completed within 90 days after the end of the quarter, which is 45 days after receiving the form)

30 days after distribution (Process to be

completed within 60 days of the end of the budget year)

Signers

Individual employee, PI , or

person with first-hand knowledge

Required: Lead Principal Investigator

System Rationale (Theoretical

foundation)For Certifying Salaries and Wages

Salary Distribution percentages are reasonable

based on percentage of work effort

Salary amounts are reasonable based on work

performed

Committed Salary Cost Sharing

Cost Shared salaries should be included in

percentage of effort

Cost Shared salary amounts are reasonable based

on work performed

NIH Salary Cap

Shows total effort expended on the project, but

amount reflects cap limitations

The acceptable amount is net of the cap

disallowance.

Special Costing Requirements: Clerical and Administrative, NSF salary limit, No

proposal preparation charged to project, NIH cap

Not addressed

Part of the certification

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What is the department’s role?• Assist PI with the new process• Review for data integrity • Enter cost shared salaries• Enter pending cost transfers (hopefully

minimal)• Review Cost Notes and add comments• Ensure certifications are performed• Your participation is critical for the success of

the demonstration project5

Other Complementing Processes

• Review of PIWRS Monthly Reports oProvides monthly expenditure and

payroll detailoAssist with timely identification and

correction of errorsoElectronically marking as reviewed is a

best practice

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Other Complementing Processes

• Assist PI with accessing the Payroll Detail Reports within PIWRSoAssist with timely identification and

correction of payroll related errorsoDirectly linked to the Annual Payroll

Certification data to facilitate timely certification

oCovered in PIWRS Tutorials

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PIWRS Coordinator RoleIn addition to updating projections and other information on the monthly PIWRS report, this role can access the following payroll certification related items:• Listing of Funds Requiring Payroll Certification: http://

piwrs.ucr.edu/piwrs/view_annual_certs?p_period=4&p_fiscal_year=2011&p_refresh=Refresh

• View Payroll Certification reports under their Accountability Structure(s) via PIWRS Menu

• Add/Edit Cost Sharing Salary Data (until certified)• Add/Edit Salary Adjustments (until certified)• Add Comments (until certified)

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Direct Project Salary Adjustments• Annual Certifications include salary data only (no benefits) for

related budget year. This data is based on posted date not Pay Period End Date.

• Payroll adjustments (i.e. cost transfers) should be identified and corrected on a monthly basis

• In order to facilitate the timely certification of the Annual Payroll Certification report, the department should indicate pending payroll corrections affecting the reporting period

• Direct Project Salary Adjustments should be infrequent• These adjustments will automatically show as a reversal in the

next annual certification cycle• A comment explaining why the adjustment is necessary

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Cost Shared Salaries• Cost Shared salaries associated with the award’s

budget year being certified should be entered.• The FAU associated with the cost shared salaries

is required and must be from a non-federal source.

• In the short term, the paper based cost sharing form will also be required on an annual basis. The long term goal is to feed cost sharing information directly into the Annual Payroll Certification Report from an electronic cost sharing report.

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Cost Notes

Potential audit concerns are identified via the Cost Note field on the report. These items should be reviewed to ensure adherence to agency terms and conditions. Add comments as necessary.• Cost Note 1: NSF Sr. Project Personnel-2 month

salary restriction• Cost Note 2: 90%+ salaries to sponsored

projects• Cost Note 3: Clerical & Admin staff exception• Cost Note 4: NIH Salary Cap 11

Other Considerations• Identify the staff member(s) that will be performing the

departmental role– may be different than the person who coordinated PAR(s)– SAA needs to ensure role is assigned

• The PI has ability to add/edit cost sharing data and adjustments. Once certified, no other edits are allowed. When assisting your PI with payroll certifications, communicate expectations regarding these fields.

• No re-certifications• Budget years ending mid month; salaries only posted at

end of month• Ensure e-mails from “@ucr.edu” are not directed to junk

mail. 12

PI Responsibilities• Fiduciary responsibilities include review of costs

charged to sponsor projects on a monthly basis to ensure the appropriateness of expenses

• Prompt identification of errors so adjustments can be performed timely

• Reviewing monthly, PI should have confidence in the salary charges appearing on the annual report

• PIs certify that payroll expenditures are reasonable in relationship to the work performed, salary costs directly benefit the project and conform to the agency’s term and conditions.

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Timeline: Catch Up Period

In order to transition to the Annual Payroll Certification process and avoid preparing effort reports for Spring 2011, the following timeline will be used for April, May, June and July payroll certifications. • April 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators on

7/29/11 and to PIs on 8/8/11 with a due date of 8/29/11• May 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators on

approximately 8/8/11 and to PIs on 8/15/11 with a due date of 9/5/11

• June 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators on approximately 8/15/11 and to PIs on 8/22/11 with a due date of 9/12/11

• July 2011 Certifications will be distributed to the coordinators on approximately 8/22/11 and to PIs on 8/29/11 with a due date of 9/19/11

• August 2011 Certifications will follow the normal distribution cycle as outlined on the following slides. 14

Payroll CertificationEmail Notifications

• Several notifications will be system generated on the certification timeline

• E-mails to the PIWRS Coordinator will be in digest mode when possible

• A summarization of the recipients and content appear on the following slides

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Notice No. Notification Date: 1st day following the budget

year’s end date

Example: For a budget year ending on 04-15-12, a notice will be generated on 04-16-12

Recipient: PIWRS Coordinator(s) – digest format

Message: These funds will require Payroll Certification. Please begin reviewing PR expenditures and gathering applicable cost sharing data.

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Notice No. Notification Date: 8th day of the month following

the project’s budget year end date. Example: For a budget year ending between

04-01-12 – 04-30-12, a notice will be generated on 05-08-12

Recipient: PIWRS Coordinator(s) – digest formatMessage: Annual Payroll Certification is now

available for review prior to distribution to the PI on the 15th of the month. Review reports and enter adjustments & comments as necessary.

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Notice No. Notification Date: 15th day of the month following the project’s budget year end date.

Example: For a budget year ending between 04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be

generated on 05-15-12

Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator cc – PIWRS Coordinator

Message: Explains Payroll Certification must be completed within the next 21 days.

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Notice No. Notification Date: 30th day of the month following

the project’s budget year end date.

Example: For a budget year ending between 04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be

generated on 05-30-12

Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator cc – PIWRS Coordinator

Message: As applicable, reminder that Payroll Certifications are due within the next 7 days. Uncertified payrolls may be subject to transfer to an unrestricted funding source within your department and/or organization. 19

Notice No. Notification Date: 37th day of the month following

the project’s budget year end date.

Example: For a budget year ending between 04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be

generated on 06-06-12

Recipients: Prime – Principal Investigator cc – Department Chair and PIWRS Coordinator

Message: As applicable, Payroll Certifications are due today. Uncertified reports will be escalated to your Organizational Unit. Uncertified payrolls may be subject to transfer to an unrestricted funding source within your department and/or organization. 20

Notice No. Notification Date: 45th day of the month following

the project’s budget year end date.

Example: For a budget year ending between 04-01-12 - 04-30-12, a notice will be

generated on 06-13-12

Recipients: Prime – Organizational CFAOcc – Department Chair, PI, PIWRS Coordinator, Accounting Office

Message: As applicable, the Payroll Certification is past due for PI. Uncertified salary expenditures are considered unallowable charges to award. An unrestricted departmental/organizational FAU must be provided to within 7 days for transfer of uncertified salaries.

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Policy

• New Campus Policy on Payroll Certifications is available on the UCR Policy & Procedure website (200-40)

• Policy was shared with the Ethics and Compliance Risk Committee & Audit and Controls Committee in May 2011

• Payroll Certifications were discussed at the Council of Deans in July 2011

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PIWRS Tutorials

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• The following informational materials are available in the UC Learning Center (search for PIWRS). Reviewing these courses is recommended for both Principal Investigators and PIWRS Coordinators.

• PIWRS: Overview• PIWRS: Monthly Expenditure and Payroll 

Review Tutorial• PIWRS:  Annual Payroll Certification System

Contacts

• PIs will be referred to their department’s Financial Manager and/or Contract and Grant Analyst with questions regarding the Annual Payroll Certification System.

• Contact the Computer Support Group (CSG) Help Desk (x-23555) for assistance with popup blockers or connecting to the PI Web Reporting System from off campus using VPN.

• Please send questions, comments or feedback to piwrsfeedback@ucr.edu.

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Conclusion

• Participation in this Federal Demonstration Partnership project is an opportunity for UCR to demonstrate there is a more effective process than effort reporting

• You play an important role in the success of this demonstration that will impact University’s across the United States

• Thank You!

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Annual Payroll Certification System Demonstration

Thank you for attending today’s presentation.

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