PARs

Personnel Activity Report (PAR)

Information

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GENERAL INFORMATION

WHO NEEDS TO COMPLETE A PAR?

OVERVIEW OF PAR PROCESS

Campus procedures for operation of the PAR system include the following steps:

1. Reporting Periods:

  PAR forms for regular status employees are generated as follows:

2. Special Reporting Requirement for Nine-Month Faculty:

  PAR forms for nine-month faculty are reported as follows:

3. Mailed to Departments:

  PARs are mailed to departments for certification as follows:

4. The PARs are forwarded by Extramural Funds to the academic departments for completion. In addition to the PARs, each department receives a listing of all employees for whom PARs were generated, and a notice of the date completed PARs must be returned to Extramural Funds.

5. Importance of Return: In order for the University's PAR system to meet federal requirements, 100% must be returned.

6. Upon arriving in the department, the PARs should then be reviewed by a knowledgeable person to ensure that the payroll information on the form is correct. Changes made on the employee's appointment/distribution and/or the Payroll Expenditure Adjustments should be reflected in the payroll distribution printed on the PAR form. If any of the payroll percentages for sponsored projects are incorrect, this must be corrected by changing the appointment/distribution and/or completing a payroll expense transfer.

7. Once the payroll distribution data has been reviewed (and corrected if necessary), the employee or responsible official lists the estimated percentage of effort in the column "Effort Distribution." When completing the effort distribution section of the PAR, it is important to remember two things:

a. Total effort distribution must equal 100%, even if the employee has a less than full-time appointment or is on a split appointment.

b. The percent of effort reported for Sponsored Projects must be at least equal to the amount of charges listed in the payroll distribution for federal and federal flow through funds. If a lower percentage of effort is reported for sponsored projects than the percentage received as payroll from a sponsored project, a payroll adjustment may be necessary.

8. Once the effort distribution section on the PAR has been completed, proper certification must be obtained. Faculty and professional employees usually complete and sign their own PAR forms. PAR forms for non-professional employees are usually completed and certified by the employee's supervisor or a responsible official. When a non-professional employee has a split appointment in two or more units, the PAR is signed either by the employee or supervisors from each unit.

Who is a Responsible Official? A "responsible official" is normally a professional or non-professional employee (usually in a supervisory position) who:

a. Has comprehensive and first-hand knowledge of the employee's activities.

b. Has exercised suitable means of verification that effort was performed pursuant to distribution of payroll expense.

c. Can knowledgeably complete the effort distribution of the PAR form with reasonable accuracy.

d. If a "responsible official" must complete and certify a PAR form for a faculty member, the responsible official must be a faculty member of higher rank.

9. Once the PAR form has been completed and signed, it should be checked for accuracy. The department PAR Coordinator should make sure the effort distribution totals 100%, and the PAR has been signed by an appropriate individual. The original (yellow) PAR form is retained by the academic department and the white copy forwarded to Extramural Funds.

10. Extramural Funds reviews the PAR forms, provides follow-up as necessary, and arranges for data storage.

EXEMPTED DOS CODES

Certain payments through payroll are not extracted for PAR reporting.

The Description of Service (DOS) codes that identify the type of wages paid are on the appointment line and on the payroll ledger next to the period end date.

Following is a list of excluded DOS codes:

HOW TO COMPLETE A PAR FORM

The numbers listed below with the accompanying description refer to and explain the boxed numbers on the Sample Personnel Activity Report form.

No.  Description

1    PAR No: This number is generated from the PAR system.

2    Employee Name: Name of the employee that was directly paid from federal funds.

3    Title: The PAR system can only print one title code and corresponding description.

4    Department: The title is generated by the payroll records.

5    Employee Number: This is the employee ID number.

6    Report Period: The quarter the PAR is reporting.

7    Section I: The payroll distribution data in this area is taken directly from the University's payroll system. The percentages are determined by finding the total amount of reportable salaries and/or wages paid to the employee during the report period, and calculating the portion paid from each individual account/fund.

8    Section II: This section must be filled in with the percent of actual effort related to each account/fund combination. The percentage effort reported should total 100%.

9    Section III:

    a. Notes: This section can be used to explain corrections made to the detail in Section I.

    b. Certification: The PAR forms are signed by the employees or a responsible official. Faculty or professional employees usually complete and sign their own PAR forms. PARs for academic personnel cannot be signed by an administrative employee.

The original is retained by the department and the white copy is returned to Extramural Funds.

PAR CORRECTIONS

PARs are run approximately six weeks after the end of the quarter. This is to capture any payroll expense transfers completed for that quarter. If you receive a PAR and the payroll information on the PAR does not reflect the correct payroll percentages, an adjustment will be necessary.

For example:

A. If the preprinted payroll percentages on the PAR are not correct, then correct the PAR to reflect how the employee was paid. A copy of the payroll expense transfer should be attached to the PAR form.

B. If the effort reported is less than the preprinted amount on the "Sponsored Projects" area, then a payroll transfer should be submitted. A copy of the payroll expense transfer should be attached to the PAR form.

C. A payroll expense transfer is completed after a PAR has been returned to Extramural Funds. The department will need to submit a corrected PAR and a copy of the payroll transfer to Extramural Funds.

INVALID PARS

A PAR is considered invalid if it is:

1. not signed;

2. signed by someone unauthorized (e.g. a nonacademic signing an academic's PAR; a department chair without first-hand knowledge of duties signing a PAR);

3. signed with another person's name (e.g. an MSO signing for the department chair);

4. signed by use of a rubber stamp;

5. not completed (effort distribution is left blank);

6. inconsistent with the employee's appointment and/or payroll expense transfer.