Contents:
- Introduction
- Criteria Used to Establish Permissions
- Examples of How Permissions are Established
- Standard Roles & Permissions
- Sample Scenarios
1. Introduction
In ERS, Principal Investigators have access to all effort reports related to their projects, while other users have access only to their own effort reports. ERS Coordinators and others who will assist in the certification process must be given roles and permissions to access reports in the system. Each role in ERS has permissions that allow a user to perform specific functions (e.g., view, edit, certify) on ERS reports. This resource discusses the different types of permissions and roles that can be set up in ERS.
To establish roles and permissions in ERS, complete the appropriate form and return it to Contracts & Grants Accounting via e-mail to ERShelp@ucdavis.edu:
Note: A user may be assigned more than one role. The user will have all rights and permissions of all the roles assigned.
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2. Criteria Used to Establish Permissions
ERS permissions are established and maintained by the ERS Security Administrator. ERS permissions can be given based on the following criteria:
| Payroll Home Department | This is how initial permissions are assigned in ERS |
| Organization | This is how initial permissions are assigned in ERS
|
| FAU | Full Accounting Unit |
| Account | Chart + Account and Chart + Fund are needed to set permissions at this level |
| Employee ID (This option should not be used unless necessary) | Individual Employee ID numbers |
If the person logged in has permission to view the effort report based on at least one of the values, they can access the effort report.
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3. Example of How Permissions are Established
An ERS Coordinator is initially given permissions for Home Department 012345 only. On entering ERS for the first time he/she subscribes to the PI Lists for all the principal investigators he/she supports. When viewing the PI Lists in the Effort Report List screen, some of the reports have the View icon available, but others do not. Why?
The employees who are assigned to home department 012345 are available to view, but employees with a different home department are unavailable.
How can the Coordinator obtain permissions to view the other reports?
- Assigning permissions based on the Organization (account) will allow the Coordinator to view any reports in which the employee has charged payroll to an account belonging to that Organization.
- Assigning permissions based on the Organization (fund) will allow the Coordinator to view any reports in which the employee has charged payroll to a fund belonging to that Organization.
- Assigning permissions based on the FAU will allow the Coordinator to view any reports in which the employee has charged payroll to that FAU.
- Assigning permissions based on the Account will allow the Coordinator to view any reports in which the employee has charged payroll to that Account.
- Assigning permissions based on the Employee ID number will allow the Coordinator to view any reports for that employee only. Since this option will require the most maintenance as employees come and go on projects, it should only be used when the other options are not feasible.
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4. Standard Roles & Permissions
These are the standard ERS roles and permissions. If necessary, they can be customized to meet the reporting needs of your organization.
Role: Viewer
If someone needs to only view an effort report, they can be set up as a Viewer.
A Viewer has permissions to:
- view effort reports for department/organization/FAU/employee
Note: A Viewer cannot input comments or changes or certify reports.
Role: Coordinator
If someone needs to review the report information and receive system notifications, they can be set up as a Coordinator.
A Coordinator has permissions to:
- receive e-mail notifications when new effort reports are generated, certification is due, and reports have been reissued
- view effort reports for department/organization
Note: A Coordinator cannot add comments or certify reports.
Role: Payroll
If someone needs to review but not modify the report, they can be set up as a Payroll Coordinator.
A Payroll Coordinator has permissions to:
- receive e-mail notifications when new effort reports are generated, certification is due, and reports have been reissued
- view effort reports for department/organization/FAU/employee
- can view payroll data on effort reports
Note: A Payroll Coordinator cannot add comments or certify reports.
Role: Reviewer
If someone needs to review and modify effort reports, they can be set up as a Reviewer.
A Reviewer has permissions to:
- view effort reports for department/organization/FAU/employee
- edit effort reports (only if open)
- add comments to an effort report
Note: A Reviewer cannot certify reports.
Role: Certifier
In some departments, the certification of an effort report may be done by someone other than the PI. If certification is done by someone other than the PI, it is critical that the certifier have first-hand knowledge of the work performed and be able to certify the indicated effort.
A Certifier has full access to the designated effort reports and has permissions to:
- view effort reports for anyone in the department/organization
- edit effort report for anyone in the department/organization
- view payroll details for anyone in the department/organization
- add comments to any effort report in the department/organization
- certify any report in the department/organization
- re-open a certified report (that was certified in error) in the department/organization
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5. Sample Scenarios
The following examples demonstrate a couple of different ways that roles and permissions can be set up in ERS.
It's recommended to have a discussion before setting up new roles and permissions in ERS. This will ensure that each ERS user in your organization has access to the reports and functionality they need.
- Scenario #1: Employee A wants to receive e-mail notifications when reports are ready to certify, review the effort reports (including payroll) for his/her PI without editing them, and then sit with the PI while the PI makes the changes and certifies.What Roles and Permissions Should be Added?Employee A should have a Payroll role with the e-mail notification option turned on, and should have permissions to view and view payroll for all employees in the home department. If some of the employees who work for his/her PI are not in Employee A’s home department, permissions may be given based on Organization, Account, or Employee ID so that all reports can be viewed.
- Scenario #2: Employee B wants to receive e-mail notifications when reports are ready to certify, review the effort reports (including payroll) for his/her PI, edit them, then notify the PI to certify.What Roles and Permissions Should be Added? Employee B should have a Coordinatorrole with the e-mail notification option turned on and a Reviewer role, and should have permissions to view, view payroll, and edit all employees in the home department. If some of the employees who work for his/her PI are not in Employee B’s home department, permissions may be given based on Organization, Account, or Employee ID so that all reports can be viewed.
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