ERS Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does an effort report status appear as Certified/AdjustReqd?

2. How do I get an effort report certified if the PI or employee no longer works for the University

3. How can the PI access ERS from off-campus?

4. Who is responsible for ensuring that effort reports get certified for employees on my home department list, but do not work for my department?

5. Why can’t the PI access/view the effort reports for his projects?

6. What is the meaning of an Exception status?

1. Why does an effort report status appear as Certified/AdjustReqd?

   Certified/AdjustReqd occurs when the “original payroll%” and “adjusted payroll%” on the effort report do not match.

   Typically, if the report is certified prior to the payroll adjustment being processed in the Payroll system, the effort report status will change to show Certified/AdjustReqd”.  However, once the payroll transfer is processed and a “late pay” is issued (during 1 of the 3 payroll cycles) and picked up by ERS, the report status will change to “Open/Reissued” indicating that the report is ready for final certification. 

   The following steps should occur when the Payroll Adjusted % column is changed:

   1. Update the report in the “adjusted payroll” column to reflect your change,
   2. Certify the effort report,
   3. Process the payroll transfer (Upay),
   4. Allow for the “Late Pay” update to ERS to occur in the upcoming payroll cycle,

   After the “late pay” process occurs the effort report status will change to “Open/Reissued” and the “original” and “adjusted” payroll percentages should match.

   The report is ready for final certification by the appropriate personnel.

   If the status did not change to Open/Reissued after all the above steps have occurred, please contact via email ERS Support and fully describe your problem.  Any support documentation you can provide will help us in our research.  Support documentation can be provided as attachments.
   

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2. How do I get an effort report certified if the PI or employee no longer works for the
   University?

   When a PI terminates his appointment before certifying his or his staff’s effort reports, we recommend one of the following actions:

   1. If the PI is still affiliated with UCLA and has access to ERS, please have him logon to the system and certify his reports.  Bear in mind that if he is accessing the system from off-campus, he will first need to logon to the UCLA network via VPN.  Step-by-step VPN instructions and screenshots can be found at: http://www.bol.ucla.edu/services/vpn/pptp/.  Once he is connected to the UCLA network, he can then access the ERS site at: https://i4w.ais.ucla.edu/ils/login.aspx?izAppId=edu.ucla.ais.ers.prod.
      
      
   2. If the PI no longer has access to ERS, you may send him a copy of the effort report requiring certification and have him reply with his certification.  To do so, you may either use the “Send” function in the system (navigate to the desired report and click the “Send” button on the top right hand) or take a screenshot of the report and paste it in an email to him.  In his response, he should verify/confirm the effort in the attached report is correct, or state what the correct effort should be, if any changes are required.  (This email should be kept on file in your department as back-up documentation).  Upon receiving the PI’s “manual” certification, someone in your department, preferably the department chair or someone closely-related to the project, should log into the system and electronically certify the report on the PI’s behalf.  He/she should also provide an explanation in the “Comments” field that the PI has left the university but has manually certified via an email/letter that is on file with the department.
      
      
   3. If the PI is no longer reachable and option 1 and 2 above are not feasible, then the last option is to have someone here at UCLA with first-hand knowledge of the project and the effort worked to certify the effort reports.  As with option 2, the individual certifying the report on behalf of the PI should provide an explanation in the “Comments” field, indicating that the PI is unavailable and that the person certifying on his behalf has first-hand knowledge of the PI’s or employee’s effort..
      

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3. How can the PI access ERS from off-campus?

   Below is a link to instructions on how to connect via BOL VPN.  It is the simplest one, which does not require downloading anything. 

   - Use this link:  http://www.bol.ucla.edu/services/vpn/pptp/
   - Scroll to the bottom of the page and select the configuration for your specific operating system
   - Follow the step-by-step instructions and screenshots provided
   - Once you are connected to the UCLA network via VPN, you can then access the ERS site. 
   
   Here’s a link to save you some time navigating:  https://i4w.ais.ucla.edu/ils/login.aspx?izAppId=edu.ucla.ais.ers.prod
   - When you see the login page, you will need to enter your username and password, and select the corresponding login type.
   

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4. Who is responsible for ensuring that effort reports get certified for employees on my home department list, but do not work for my department?

   The ERS coordinator for your department is responsible for monitoring and following-up on certifications for individuals in the department (even if their effort was paid from a different department).
   

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5. Why can’t the PI access/view the effort reports for his projects?

   As a result of recent system enhancements/changes, employees who are paid under a PI's FAU no longer need to be manually linked (as they were in the past) to the PI.  Now, they will automatically appear in "My Projects" list of the PI from whom they are paid, so long as the PI is designated in the financial system as a Managing Investigator for his/her account/cost center.  In other words, if employee's effort on sponsored projects was paid from an account/cost center for which the PI is designated as the Managing Investigator, his/her reports will appear in the PI’s list.
   

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6. What is the meaning of an Exception status?

   1. This status is often triggered when the effort does not total 100% on the report, if there are unrecognized earnings (you can see by clicking “View Payroll Detail”).
   2. Another possible cause may be that there are unrecognized earnings (also in the payroll details), due to an invalid FAU, in which case you would need to process an adjustment or transfer of expense to a valid FAU.

   These are a few examples but each situation may be different and require further investigation. In any case, a report with a status of “Exception” cannot be ignored and definitely requires some action. 
   
   

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Last updated 06/04/2009