The University of California at Riverside's Pilot Payroll Certification System Did Not Provide Accountability Over Payroll Charges to Federal Awards 

The University of California at Riverside's (the University) prior effort-reporting system did not always provide the information needed to confirm that payroll costs had been appropriately allocated to Federal awards, and its current payroll certification system pilot (pilot PCS) provided less accountability over payroll charges to Federal awards than its prior effort-reporting system. Effort reporting is a person-based methodology that allocates each employee's reasonable estimate of time worked on all awards and other activities. Specifically, the pilot PCS did not comply with requirements of Circular A-21 and, as designed, limited the ability of the University and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide oversight of these funds. On the basis of our sample, we estimated that the University put at risk $11.7 million in salaries and $5.9 million in associated facilities and administrative costs claimed against National Institutes of Health awards.