All faculty completing FECs as well as staff involved in the FEC process should carefully review FEC reports, keeping in mind the compliance requirements of the sponsored projects being certified.

Items to Review

This list represents some, but not all,  of the areas which Management Accounting and Analysis (MAAⁱ), as well as internal and external auditors, will focus their attention.

1. Effort commitments are met, both direct charged and cost shared.
2. The individual certifying the FEC has adequate means to verify effort (Note, only deans, directors [of an organization or department level program], chairs and department chairs may certify on behalf of faculty).
3. Committed and actual effort is based on institutional base salary  (IBS).
4. K-award effort is met, including any cost share requirements.
5. Amounts over the National Institutes of Health (NIHⁱ) salary cap are charged to non-Federal funds.
6. Certifications are done in a timely manner (UW provides approximately 60 days to complete after the end of each FEC cycle).
7. Committed cost shared effort is accounted for and certified.
8. Online salary expense transfers (OSETs), especially those charging sponsored funds, are properly documented, i.e., adequate justifications are provided. GIM 15, “Transferⁱ of Expenditures Between Budgets,” details the necessary guidelines for these transfers,
9. Changes that affect IBS are documented and accounted for (e.g. overpayments and retro pay).
10.  Re-certifications are properly supported including why the report was originally certified and what circumstances changed to cause  the re-certification.
11. Total committed effort (directly charged to sponsored agreements and cost shared) is met when a shift in funding between grant and non-grant sources occurs.