Transitioning from ePAC to Workday for Effort Reporting & Certification

EFFORT-RELATED ACTION ITEMS

  • Review Payroll Costing Allocations prior to the completion of the current payroll cycle.  Make changes promptly to minimize the need for Payroll Accounting Adjustments.  Check the Payroll Calendar for deadlines.
  • Ensure that expired awards are not included in the current Payroll Costing Allocation.

Effort Questions and Support

vumc.effort@vumc.org – Available for any “effort” related, payroll costing allocation, payroll accounting adjustment questions.  This box is managed by the Effort Reporting Team.   Robert Dow is scheduling and conducting effort interviews.  It is a perfect time to review effort distributions in Workday.

ePAC

As of May 4, 2023, ePAC is available for historical purposes and document retrieval only – any initiated RDCs will be rejected.  Any RDC submitted after March 17 that would have required an EDC for future periods require a change to the Payroll Costing Allocation in Workday. 

Effort Changes for periods prior to Workday April 1 Go-Live

If you need to process a retroactive payroll change for activity prior to April, use JET (instructions at WDFI-205_Q1_Accounting_Journal_Requests.pdf (vumc.org)), to submit a journal to move the expense from where it is in Workday using the cost center translator tool to where you need it to be charged.  Historical payroll transactions were converted along with all other GL activity as accounting journals.  Please include the Cost Transfer memo, if applicable.

Workday Effort-related Terminology

Payroll Accounting Adjustment (PAA) = Retroactive Distribution Change (RDC) in ePAC --- changes to prior periods

Payroll Costing Allocation (PCA) = Earnings Distribution Change (EDC) in ePAC --- changes to current and future periods

“Allocations” and “distributions” are currently being used interchangeably as users attempt to establish new standard language.  We might always use both interchangeably. 

Previously, salary cap was included in our terminology when referring to cost share because that was the mechanism we used to meet the salary cap requirement.  In Workday, salary cap is now a separate and distinct concept referred to as “Salary over the cap”.  WDRG-300 Salary Over the Cap (the salary cap calculator is linked with instructions in this guide)

Resources, Training, and More

VUMC Effort Reporting Policy

Payroll Costing Allocations (PCA) guide for Research Areas (dated 6-22-2023)

Payroll Accounting Adjustment (PAA) guide (dated 10-18-2023)

WDRG-300 Salary Over the Cap (dated 3-3-2023) - Salary Over the Cap for PAAs is covered on pages 3-4. Follow the steps carefully on page 4.

Salary Over the Cap for PAAs

Salary Effort Trend Report QRG

Pro Forma Effort Certification Report Guide

Cost Share FAQs

WDFI-207 Payroll Costing Allocations and Payroll Accounting Adjustments

WDRG-119 Effort Certification Introduction

Effort Certification Reviewer: Effort Administrative Review in Workday

Effort Certification for Certifiers One-Page Quick Reference

Payroll Accounting Adjustment Calculators

Financial Research Compliance

Research Administration at VUMC Newsletter

Research Town Halls

Pegasus

You can submit a help desk ticket for effort questions. Please ensure you select the correct category.  Workday request https://pegasus.vumc.org/ess/workday then scroll in the drop down to find “Research Grants – Effort Certification”.