Q1. How to obtain eCert access?
A: eCert access is derived from your Assignable Roles. Your Home Payroll Department sets up the Assignable Roles. Therefore, you must have the Effort Certification Reviewer role assigned to have eCert access. Contact your business manager or home department payroll if you do not have the Effort Certification Reviewer role. To review your assignable functions, please follow question (Q3) instructions.
Q2. How do I get added to eCert (LISTSERV) email notification?
A: The LISTSERV derives from the Effort Certification Reviewer role. Follow question (Q3) instructions to review your assignable functions. Please contact your business manager or home payroll department to request the Effort Certification Reviewer role if the position is missing from your assigned roles.
A: Use the Role Assignments for Worker Position report to view all your assignable roles and access rights. Please contact your business manager or home payroll department to request the Effort Certification Reviewer role if it is missing. See the below Exhibits.
Exhibit#1
Exhibit#2
Q4. How to verify if I am a delegated reviewer for an employee?
A: Open the employee’s Workday profile and click the (Job) tab located under the employee’s picture. Then, click the (Support Roles) tab and scroll down to find the Effort Certification Reviewer role underneath the assignable role column. If your name is not in the (Worker) column, you are not a delegated reviewer to the employee and cannot access the employee’s effort certification document in eCert. See the below Exhibits
Exhibit#1
Exhibit#2
Q5. How to know who my reviewer is?
A: Follow question (Q4) instructions to know who your delegated reviewer is.
Q6. How do you access or set up the Effort Certification Dashboard?
A: To access the Effort Certification Dashboard type (Effort Certification Dashboard) in the Workday search bar. See Exhibit A.
To set up the Effort Certification Dashboard, click the action wheel icon and enter the cost center or hierarchy cost center to display the effort documents data. See Exhibit B for instructions.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Q7. How to add the Effort Certification Dashboard icon to the Workday landing page?
A: To add the Effort Certification Dashboard worklet click the action wheel icon and add the (Effort Certification Dashboard) on the Option Worklets table. See the below Exhibits for instructions.
Q8. How to open an effort certification document (ECD) to review or edit?
A: To open an outstanding effort certification document, use the inbox in Workday or the Find Effort Certifications report.
- If the effort document has a (Not Started) status, the effort document will be in your Workday inbox.
- Use the Find Effort Certifications report to open up a not started, prepared, and certified effort document for a specific employee or eCert period. Open the Find Effort Certification report by typing Find Effort Certifications in the Workday search bar or click the Effort Certification Dashboard icon on your Workday landing page. See Exhibit A. See Exhibit B for the effort document search example.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
- Click the magnifying glass icon below the Effort Certification Event column to adjust/prepare a (Not Started) effort document. See Exhibit C.
- Click the effort document link below the Effort Certification column to review a (certified) or (prepared) effort document. See Exhibit D.
Exhibit C – (Not Started) effort document.
Exhibit D – In (Progress) or (Certified) effort document.
Q9. How to certify an effort certification document (ECD)?
A: The effort document must first be prepared and submitted by the reviewer for the effort document to route to the certifier’s inbox for certification. Additionally, an email notification with the link to the effort document is sent to the certifier once the reviewer has prepared and submitted the effort document. See Exhibit A Effort notification subject line example——> A Task Awaits You: Certify Effort Certification – XXXXXXX.
To certify an effort document: open the effort document in the inbox, click the email notification link, or use the Effort Certification Dashboard. Review the (Detail) tab, and click the (Submit) button if you agree with the effort document allocations. See Exhibit B
Note: if the reviewer has not prepared the effort document, the certifier can review the effort document by using the Find Effort Certifications report but cannot certify. See question (Q8) for instructions.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Q10. How recreate an effort certification document (ECD)?
A: To re-create an open eCert period certified effort document, email the eCert Department at (eCert@usc.edu) to re-create.
Note: to re-create a closed eCert period effort document, a comment stating the future adjustment must have been added before certification for the eCert Department to re-create the effort document. See question (Q11) Exhibits C & D for the comment recreation.
Q11. How to add a comment to the effort certification document?
A: Use the comment box to add a comment to a (Not Started) effort document.
- Scroll down the effort document page to see the comment box.
- Click the (Save for Later) button to register the comment, then click the (Submit) button when done preparing the effort document.
- To review your comment click the (Process History) tab. See the below Exhibit A & B.
Note: If the effort document needs to be re-created in the future or if a payroll accounting adjustment (PAA) needs to be approved by the eCert Department. Add a comment stating the future adjustment in the effort document in the below order. See Exhibit C & D.
Future ECD Re-creation = Reason + Month+ From PPGG + Amount + To PPGG.
Future PAA =Reason + Month + From PPGG + Amount + To PPGG.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Future ECD Re-creation = Reason + Month+ From PPGG + Amount + To PPGG.
Exhibit D
Future PAA =Reason + Month + From PPGG + Amount + To PPGG.
Q12. How to know if a grant is (active) or (frozen)?
A: Use the (Find Grants) report to know the status of a grant. See the below screenshots.
Q13. Why is a grant (GRXXXX) frozen?
A: A grant is frozen when there is an outstanding effort certification document from a closed eCert period. Please run the Find Effort Certification report to know which effort documents are pending. See Exhibits (A & B).
Note: the eCert Department runs a weekly report to reactivate the grants associated with outstanding certified effort documents. If you need the grant to be reactive immediately and there is no pending effort document, please email the eCert Department at (eCert@usc.edu) to reactive.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
A: Use the (Find Effort Certifications) report to know which effort certification documents (ECDs) are outstanding. Enter Effort Certification Date From, Effort Certification Date To, Effort Certification Type, and Effort Certification Status (Not Started, In progress, and N/A) parameters to filter the outstanding effort document/s from prior eCert periods. See Exhibit A & B examples.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Q15. Why is the certifier not seeing the effort document in the inbox?
A: If you are the reviewer, open the effort document using the Find Effort Certifications report and review the (Process History) tab to verify that the certifier cannot see the effort document in the inbox. If the certifier’s name is not in the Awaiting Action list underneath the Person (Up to 5) column, contact the eCert Department to reassign the effort document to the certifier. See the below Exhibit.
Note: If the certifier’s name is in the Awaiting Action list, the effort document is in the certifier’s inbox, waiting for approval. If the certifier cannot locate the effort document in the inbox. Have the certifier use the Find Effort Certifications report. See question (Q8) for instructions.
Q16. Why is the effort document not certified?
A: Open the effort document with the Find Effort Certifications report or the eCert Dashboard. See question (Q8) for the Find Effort Certifications instructions. Next, click on the Process History tab for the (Awaiting Action) list. Finally, contact the individual/s in the (Awaiting Action) list pending approval. See Exhibits (A & B).
Note: The eCert Department does not certify effort documents for Staff, GRA (Graduate Associate), and Postdocs. The GRA, Staff, and Postdocs certify their own effort documents. The student effort document is certified by the Private Investigator (PI). If a Staff, GRA, Postdoc, and PI are missing from the Awaiting Action list to approve, email the eCert Department to reassign the effort document. For a student effort document, provide the eCert Department with the 7-digit PI employee ID to delegate the document.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Q17. An (On Leave) employee is back. How to certify?
A: If the employee is back to work. The payroll department must update the employee’s Workday profile to active status to avoid the effort document routing to the PI or eCert Department for approval. If the effort document was submitted before the employee’s Workday profile was updated. Email the PI or eCert Department to Send Back the effort document to resubmit and route to the employee for approval. See the below Exhibits
Q18. How to append a manual certification document to the electronic ECD?
A: To append a manual certification document, click the (Change Effort) button in the effort document, scroll down the page to the (Attachments) section and append the manual certification document. See the below Exhibits.
Exhibit# A
Exhibit B
Note: if the manual certification is for a terminated PI, type in the comment box: [Terminated PI – Manual Certification Signed by + Job Title]. For On-Leave PI, type: [On-Leave PI – Manual Certification signed by + Job Title]. Finally, click the [OK] button to complete appending the document. See Exhibit C example.
Exhibit C
Q19. How to certify a terminated or on leave employee’s effort certification document?
A: A manual effort certification document is processed for a terminated or on-leave PI/faculty. No manual effort certification document is required for a terminated or on-leave Graduate Assistance (GRA), Co-PI, and Staff employees because the effort document is routed to the assigned Private Investigator (PI) for approval.
For a terminated Graduate Assistance (GRA), Co-PI and Staff review the effort document (Process History) tab to verify there is an assigned PI. See question (Q8) instructions on how to open a submitted/in-progress effort document. If there is no PI in the Awaiting Action list, contact the eCert Department to reassign the effort document to the responsible PI; provide the 7-digit PI employee ID for assistance. See Exhibits A & B.
Please click here for the manual certification instructions.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
