Effort Reporting System

Effort reporting is a process mandated by the federal government to verify that direct labor charges to, or cost shared on, sponsored projects are accurate, timely, and reflect the actual level of work performed. Effort is the portion of time spent on a particular activity, expressed as a percentage of the individual’s total activity for the university. Effort reporting is the method of certifying to granting agencies that the effort required as a condition of the award has actually been completed.

Penn uses the Effort Reporting System (ERS) to facilitate this mandatory process.

Penn’s web-based Effort Reporting System (ERS) interfaces with University systems to collect the necessary reporting data for completing the effort reporting process and allows for the automatic routing of effort reports to the assigned pre-reviewers and certifiers.

There are many benefits to using ERS:

• Mitigates risk and promotes a structured discipline that reinforces compliance
• Streamlines the effort reporting process by using electronic forms
• Provides an audit trail, using an automated workflow process
• Supports all effort reporting periods and is generally accessible 24/7
• Provides management reporting for many roles, including ad hoc reporting
• Provides for a proactive and more prepared federal audit process
• Provides for electronic data collection and certification from hospital clinicians for purposes of UPHS Medicare Cost Recovery

Any questions about ERS can be directed to ers_help@isc.upenn.edu.

Effort Reporting Calendar