Effort reporting is considered a high risk area for many institutions. Failure to verify time and effort within the certification period or improper allocation of an employee’s time according to a sponsored agreement can lead to breach of the agreement, loss of future awards, financial audit disallowances, and adverse publicity.
Criminal charges may be brought against an individual who certifies a falsified report (Federal False Claims Act). Therefore, each System member and its individual certifiers are required to document 100% of the effort for individuals paid or providing cost shared effort on federally sponsored projects.