Time & Effort Certification Reminder & Timeline

Ohio University is required to document procedures and maintain supporting documentation for the distribution  of an individual’s effort spent on sponsored agreements/awards in accordance with federal regulations as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). Uniform Guidance Part 200.430 provides that records must reasonably reflect 100% of the activities for which an employee is compensated by the University.  Any individual who performed work on a federally funded project or serves as the project’s principal investigator must certify effort, unless in their absence, this task is delegated to a designee.  Uniform Guidance requires that the designee must have a suitable means to verify the distribution of effort for the individual who performed work on a federal award. The effort certification form documents this requirement in accordance with Uniform Guidance. 

Ohio University’s reporting periods for effort certification are: 

• Fall Semester August 16 – December 31 
• Spring Semester January 1 – May 15 
• Summer Semester May 16 – August 15 

The next Effort Certification period is for Summer Semester 2023 and will be sent to departments beginning on Friday, November 17th. This time period allows for departments to complete any necessary adjustments within the 90 correction period, in accordance with Uniform Guidance requirements.

An Effort Reporting dashboard is available on the OBI Finance dashboard, under the Grants tab. This dashboard can be used to view the payroll details included in the Effort Certification sent to you by Grants Accounting.

Questions? Contact the Grants Accounting Office at finance.grants@ohio.edu.