Overview
Payroll Verification = Cost Verification for payroll charges on sponsored projects – the final step in Boise State’s compensation compliance (internal controls, documentation, and procedures).
Federal Uniform Guidance
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly called “Uniform Guidance”) provides Federal funding recipients with specific guidance surrounding tracking and reporting of payroll related costs (2 CFR 200.430).
Definition
Payroll Verification is an award-based method of certifying that salary and wage charges on sponsored projects are reasonable in relation to tasks performed. Principal Investigators (PIs) are responsible for certifying that all payroll costs on their sponsored projects are reasonable, directly benefit the project (allocable), and comply with the agency’s terms and conditions (allowable). The Annual Payroll Verification process complements the PI’s biweekly to monthly review of project expenditures.
Resources
- PI News (related post)
- Job Aid for Principal Investigators
- Example Payroll Confirmation Report.pdf
- Institutional Base Salary (Policy 7590) (IBS)
- Supplemental Pay (Policy 7195)
- Signed Payroll Verification Reports
(Google Drive folder – must be signed into Google with Boise State employee credentials to access.) Reports can be downloaded to provide copies when requested in an audit. - Old Effort Reports
(Summer 2021 and prior; new payroll system implemented Fall 2021)
(Must be signed into Google with Boise State employee credentials to access.)
Reports can be downloaded to provide copies when requested in an audit.
Payroll Verification is a methodology that provides greater flexibility for institutions to comply with the compensation compliance requirements of the federal government. Traditional effort reporting was a methodology that calculated the amount charged to a project as a % Effort (or Time equivalency) that would be confirmed by the individual as being accurate. This method may be confusing in instances where faculty may have expended a percentage of time above the amount that was charged to the project (for a variety of research or budget management reasons). Payroll Verification is a methodology that is better aligned to the compensation regulations that were changed in the Uniform Guidance (UG) and issued by OMB. Under Payroll Verification, the PI, by award, can confirm salary and wage expenses charged to a project do not exceed the value of the work/tasks performed for the project. This change in methodology should also provide for a significant reduction in faculty and administrative burden for this required process to confirm the accuracy of salary charged to the federal government.
Boise State University has a system of internal controls to help ensure compliance in accordance with UG § 200.430 -Compensation. These internal controls rely in part on the periodic review of payroll expenditures to help ensure interim charges and budget estimates for payroll are reasonably accurate for the work being performed. The Payroll Verification Report documents the PI(s) After-the-Fact Review to confirm the payroll charged for the tasks performed on a project does not exceed their proportionate share of their Institutional Base Salary (IBS). This action confirms that the final amount charged to the federal government is accurate.