Payroll distribution certification is Stanford's means of providing assurance to federal sponsors that effort was devoted at a level that reasonably reflects the activity for which the employee is compensated by the institution. For anyone whose Stanford salary meets one of the four criteria listed above, the eCertification Payroll Distribution System displays salary charges to: sponsored projects, cost sharing accounts, over the salary cap category and non sponsored category, expressed as a percentage of total Stanford payroll for review and certification.

Federal regulations require certification of payroll distribution (total salaries) for each faculty, staff, ASR (Academic Staff Researcher), student and postdoctoral scholar whose Stanford salary is charged in whole or in part to one or more of the following:

• Federally sponsored projects
• Subawards with a federal prime sponsor where Stanford is a recipient
• Cost sharing accounts for federally sponsored projects
• Non federally sponsored projects that have adopted the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Federal Requirements (A-21) or Uniform Guidance

Faculty, and in rare situations designated certifiers, will review and certify employee payroll distribution on an annual basis beginning with calendar year 2013 salaries and wage, using the eCertification system. Prior to certification, the financial or research administrator will review the annual payroll distribution for reasonableness.