Payroll Certification Hub (PCH)
This page provides an overview of the Payroll Certification Hub and how it supports payroll certification at UC San Diego.
What is the Payroll Certification Hub (PCH)?
We are modernizing certification at UCSD! UCSD’s Payroll Certification Hub (PCH) is a smarter, transparent, more connected approach to certification. PCH is a platform to certify payroll dollars charged to federally sponsored research and federal flow-through.Why are we moving to payroll certification?
The Payroll Certification Hub (PCH) is replacing effort reporting. All employee salaries charged directly to federal and federal flow-through funds must be certified per UC San Diego guidelines according to Uniform Guidance Section §200.430 and Section §200.431. Federal regulations (Uniform Guidance, Section §200.430 and Section §200.431) require us to validate that salary charges to federal awards are accurate and that no individual is charged more than 100% of their institutional base salary.
Under the current process, PIs certify effort percentages derived from payroll data, which can be difficult to validate. Under PCH, PIs will certify the actual payroll dollars charged to their awards—the same information Fund Managers currently review—making the process more transparent, verifiable, and audit-ready. This approach aligns UC San Diego with the broader UC system. The requirement is not changing; only what is certified.
Key Benefits of PCH
- A dedicated FM review window prior to PI certification prevents duplicative work
- PIs only see the records they need to certify - no guesswork required
- Reporting is per Oracle Project, improving the certification experience for cross-discipline research projects
- A dedicated delegation process that allows flexibility in certification when appropriate
- Role-based dashboards showing certification status and actions required
- A simplified PI review process
- Certifying payroll actual data from UCPath reduces burden and the opportunity for error
- A modernized user interface which will allow quick and easy tracking of certifications, and a simpler workflow which will reduce errors and time spent on certifications.
Defined Payroll Certification Hub (PCH) Roles and Responsibilities
- Principal Investigators can certify payroll and track certification progress for their awards.
- Fund Managers can track certification progress of their PIs.
- Department leaders can view and track certification progress of their departments.