Reporting Requirements
Technical and Programmatic Reports
The PI is responsible for complying with all reporting requirements and deadlines, as specified by the sponsor. Therefore, PIs should read the sponsor’s guidelines carefully to ascertain what reports are required, their frequency, and preparation instructions.
Effort Reports
Research Accounting prepares and distributes REQUIRED effort certification reports via email to the PI for salaries and wages charged to federally sponsored grants and contracts either as a direct charge or as a cost shared commitment. These reports are based on payroll records and are distributed within forty-five (45) days following the end of the Spring and Fall semesters and within sixty (60) days following the end of the Summer semester.
The reporting periods are as follows: (1) Fall Semester [August 1 through December 31], (2) Spring Semester [January 1 through May 31] and (3) Summer Semester [June 1 through August 31]. Other reporting time frames will be taken into account if required by sponsoring agencies.
The recipient of an effort report should certify his/her own effort report unless the employee is no longer available to certify. In this event, the Principal Investigator, or a person with direct knowledge of the employee’s workload, must certify the report.
Effort reports should be returned to Research Accounting within thirty (30) days of receipt.
Research Accounting accepts original signatures returned via campus mail, approved and scanned reports via email, or in the instance that the faculty and staff are away from campus, an emailed approval from the faculty or staff will be accepted and attached to the effort report.
For questions regarding time and effort reporting, please contact Research Accounting.
Financial Management and Reporting
Formal financial reports will be prepared by the Georgia Southern University Research and Service Foundation in coordination with Research Accounting. At the PI’s request, financial reports may be prepared and sent to the principal investigator for review prior to being sent to the sponsor.
While the PI is not responsible for generating the financial reports, the PI is responsible for managing and controlling project funds in accordance with restrictions imposed by the sponsor’s terms and conditions and university policy and procedure, RSSP-103 Principal Investigator Responsibilities.
PIs are responsible for ongoing fiscal management of their awarded projects. Business Objects reports are a valuable tool for project oversight and should be viewed each month to ensure expenditures and adjustments are timely, and expenditure rates can be monitored to assure availability of funds. Questionable charges must be brought to the attention of your Research Accountant promptly and corrected by an appropriate reallocation (transfer).
Last updated: 4/27/2021