Finance and Budget

University Controller’s Office

Effort Reporting

Welcome to VCU Effort Reporting! We are part of the Grants and Contracts Accounting and Effort Reporting department.

As a recipient of funding by the federal government, and other sponsoring agencies, VCU must ensure that the effort expended on sponsored program activities justifies the salary charged to them. In order to do this, we utilize ECC, a web-based system which allows employees to certify their effort electronically, on a scheduled basis throughout the year (see resources below).

For more detailed information please see our Effort Reporting Policy, and the Minimum Effort on Sponsored Programs. We also encourage you to attend one of our in-person or web-based trainings scheduled throughout the year.

ECC status

ECC is Available

Log in to ECC

ECC Access Request for Effort Coordinators 

Research administrators requesting primary or secondary access to the Effort Reporting system (ECC) first need to complete the required course, Effort Reporting 101: Effort Coordinator Training, in Canvas. To access the course and request ECC access, please follow the below steps.

  1. Log into VCU Canvas using your VCU eID and password.

  2. Enroll in the “Effort Reporting 101: Effort Coordinator Training” course. You may search use this self-enroll link once logged in, or alternatively search for the course name under the Courses tab. Select “All Courses” and “Browse More Courses”. Search for the course name. Click “Join this Course” and then “Enroll in Course”.

  3. After completing the training, please fill out this ECC Access Request Form. Upon completion, you should receive an email confirming that the requested access has been granted by the effort reporting team within 48 hours.

Documentation Requests for Historical Effort Statements

Due to the recent (Fall 2021) upgrade of the University's effort reporting system, all requests for effort statements that contain effort/labor distribution from CY2020 and prior must be submitted to effortreport@vcu.edu. Additionally, all effort-related documentation requests pertaining to an audit or external review of sponsored projects must be submitted to the Office of Grants & Contracts Accounting and Effort Reporting. Should you have any questions, please email our office at effortreport@vcu.edu. 

Resources