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ECRT stands for Effort Certification and Reporting Technology, the name under which Huron’s effort reporting application is used at some US universities. It is an after-the-fact system: people who are paid from, or cost-share to, sponsored projects confirm that the effort charged to those projects matches the work they actually did. This page explains what ECRT is, how institutions use it, and where it sits relative to Huron’s newer Employee Compensation and Compliance (ECC) module.
What ECRT is
Colorado State University’s Office of Sponsored Programs describes ecrt as “an after-the-fact effort reporting system” used to confirm that salaries charged or contributed to sponsored projects are consistent with the effort committed to them. Effort is expressed as a percentage of total effort, and the university uses the Huron ecrt application (page read 2026-11-08).
The underlying compliance question is set by federal cost principles, not by the software. 2 CFR 200.430 requires that salary and wage charges to federal awards be supported by records that are accurate, officially documented and reflect total activity, and it states that budget estimates alone do not qualify as support. The regulation does not name a specific effort-reporting system or require percentage-of-effort certification; institutions choose methods such as ECRT to meet it (text read at law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.430, verified 2026-09-03). For the wider context see the guide to effort reporting and payroll certification and the dictionary entries for effort certification and time and effort reporting.
Who runs it and what it covers
Huron Consulting Group supplies the application. Each institution administers its own use, normally through its sponsored programs or research administration office, so reporting periods, roles and deadlines are local. At Colorado State, for example:
- Certification is on a fiscal-quarter basis. A certification period begins on the 15th of November, February, May and August and ends on the 15th of the following month.
- Before each period there is a pre-review window in which the Department Effort Coordinator checks accounts and awards (for example October 16 to November 14 for the first quarter).
- Principal investigators generally certify for everyone whose salary is charged or cost-shared to their projects, and may delegate through a Designee or Delegation of Certifier form.
These dates and roles belong to Colorado State only; another institution using the same software may use different periods and role names.
How it is used
The vendor does not publish public help documentation for ECRT, so the workflow is defined by each institution’s own training pages. Colorado State describes the following: users reach the production environment through a link on the office’s page; PIs certify for the people charged to their projects; revision requests are handled through a defined process; and support material includes PI detail and quick guides, a video and an online training course. To certify, use your own institution’s research administration page rather than a generic walkthrough.
ECRT and Huron’s ECC module
Huron Research Suite is Huron’s set of research-administration modules. Huron’s own page lists “Employee compensation compliance (ECC)” as a module to “strengthen effort reporting, certifications, and payroll management” (huronconsultinggroup.com, read 2026-11-08). The University of New Mexico describes ECC as one of seven Huron Research Suite modules, “now live as of March 30, 2026”, within a 2026-2027 transition (research.unm.edu, read 2026-11-08). Neither page mentions ECRT by name, so this page does not claim that ECC retires ECRT everywhere; institutions may use either name for effort certification depending on their rollout.
| Item | What the sources say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ECRT (ecrt) | After-the-fact effort reporting application; quarterly certification at Colorado State | Colorado State OSP |
| Huron ECC | Module for effort reporting, certifications and payroll management in Huron Research Suite; live at UNM from 2026-03-30 | Huron; University of New Mexico |
For other tools used in post-award work, see the post-award grant management software comparison.
Strengths and limits
- Strength: it produces a dated record that salary charges matched actual effort, the kind of documentation 2 CFR 200.430 expects an institution’s internal controls to support.
- Strength: pre-review and delegation steps, where an institution uses them, let departments correct accounts before certification opens.
- Limit: it is after-the-fact; it cannot fix a charge that was never reviewed during the period.
- Limit: rules are local, and there is no vendor-published public manual. Percentages across multiple awards still need consistent methods; see effort reporting methodologies and faculty effort allocation across multiple grants.
FAQ
What does ECRT stand for?
Effort Certification and Reporting Technology. It is the name used for Huron’s effort reporting application at institutions such as Colorado State University.
Is ECRT required by federal rules?
No. 2 CFR 200.430 sets documentation and internal-control standards for salary charges but does not require a particular system or percentage-of-effort certification. Institutions adopt ECRT as their method.
Who certifies in ECRT?
At Colorado State, principal investigators generally certify for everyone whose salary is charged or cost-shared to their projects, with an option to delegate. Other institutions set their own rules.
Is ECRT the same as Huron ECC?
The sources read do not establish that. Huron lists ECC as a Huron Research Suite module for effort reporting and certification, but its page does not mention ECRT.
Sources
- Colorado State University Office of Sponsored Programs, Effort Certification and Reporting Technology (ecrt): research.colostate.edu/osp/effort-certification-reporting-technology-ecrt/ (read 2026-11-08)
- Huron, Huron Research Suite: huronconsultinggroup.com/expertise/research-enterprise/huron-research-suite (read 2026-11-08)
- University of New Mexico, Huron resources: research.unm.edu/resources-support/huron/index.html (read 2026-11-08)
- 2 CFR 200.430, Compensation – personal services: law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/2/200.430 (verified 2026-09-03)
