According to the Federal Government Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21, Section J8a-b, institutions must document the distribution of charges for personal services under sponsored agreements. The Effort Report documents that labor charged to a sponsored agreement was in fact performed. The report must include all activities for which the employee is compensated by the institution.

The Effort Reporting method must recognize the principle of after-the-fact confirmation so that costs distributed represent actual costs. To confirm that the distribution of activity represents a reasonable estimate of the work performed by the employee during the academic period, the reports must be signed by the employee, the principal investigator, or a responsible official using suitable means of verification that the work was performed.

For professional staff/faculty and graduate assistants, this report will be prepared monthly. For other employees (such as temporary or student workers) the reports must be prepared monthly, unless the employee signs a time card that is turned into payroll to document payroll charges. Time cards may satisfy the requirements for Effort Reporting.

Effective September 1, 2000, Time and Effort Reporting for our institution is mandatory, and monthly reports must be completed within fifteen days after the close of the prior month’s payroll. The Effort Report sample is shown below.

Time & Effort Reporting Form

Please contact Sarah Baker, Grant Accountant at903-886-5045 or Sarah_Baker@tamu-commerce.edu, if you have questions