Effort certification and reporting technology (ECRT)

West Monroe Partners and Huron Consulting Group together launched the latest version of the Effort Certification and Reporting Technology (ECRT), a new web-based compliance technology to help research institutions minimize their risk of financial penalties for failing to meet federal regulations regarding effort reporting and salary certification.

The ECRT suite of products has been designed for universities, academic medical centers, and independent research institutions that desire a more efficient, accurate, and compliant effort-reporting process. ECRT provides a solution to better manage effort reporting, ensure that critical compliance requirements are met, and reduce administrative workload in tracking and monitoring this vital information. The system is built on the latest technologies to enable web-based effort certification throughout the institution.

Some of the ECRT benefits include:

• Resource utilization -- automated process to minimize the level of administrative burden with reporting and certification process.
• Enhanced accountability -- researchers approving effort reports can verify assignments first-hand -- wherever they are -- from their own computers.
• Accuracy -- certification is based on actual time spent, versus budgeted payroll charges and requires completion and return of effort reports in a timely manner.
• Management reports -- help to provide consistency, validation, and elimination of errors.
• Data centralization -- enable electronic archiving of certification data.

Huron Consulting Group helps clients effectively address complex challenges that arise in litigation, disputes, investigations, regulatory compliance, procurement, financial distress, and other sources of significant conflict or change. The Company also helps clients deliver superior customer and capital market performance through integrated strategic, operational, and organizational change. Huron provides services to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, leading academic institutions, healthcare organizations, and the law firms that represent these various organizations.

Huron Consulting Group's Higher Education Practice is a national leader in providing consulting services to colleges, universities, and academic medical centers. Its professionals have worked with more than 80 of the 100 largest research universities and academic medical centers to develop and implement solutions that address operational and regulatory requirements in a manner consistent with each institution's unique culture.

ECRT can be previewed online by visiting www.huronconsultinggroup.com.

Contact us for more information about ECRT.