Welcome and congratulations on becoming an employer of record! We are pleased to be your Fiscal Agent and we look forward to working with you and your employees! This video training series presents general information to support and assist you in your role as an employer. NOTE: Always check with your Program to verify details of this information and specifics of the law as they apply to you. If you have questions, please contact us. Terms to know. Important NOTE: Self-directed services means that Participants, or their representatives if applicable, have decision-making authority over certain services and take direct responsibility to manage their services with the assistance of a system of available supports. “You” in the following descriptions is inclusive and refers to the Participant and/or designated representatives. Acumen – The Fiscal Agent that helps you manage employer-related financial and other responsibilities pertaining to your self-directed services. Authorization – Documentation that specifies approved services, service codes, and number of units, hours, or dollars for delivery of goods and services included in the Plan of Care. Case Manager – Person assigned by the Program to work with you and facilitate details of your self-directed program (a Case Manager may be known by other titles, depending on Program terminology). Employee – Person who works for you and provides services to the Participant. Employer – Person who hires and supervises staff to provide services to the Participant (the Employer may also be the Participant). Fiscal Agent – (Acumen) provides payroll processing, tax services, payments and other administrative functions authorized by the Program. Participant – Person receiving services authorized by the Program (the Participant may also be the Employer). Payment Services – Payroll Services (employee-related payments and processing); Vendor Services (vendor-related payments and processing). Plan of Care – Plan you create with your Case Manager and team to determine Participant needs and how to meet them, based on the Participant’s preferences, choices, and abilities. It assists the Participant in directing their services. It includes the number, type and duration of approved goods and services. Program Administrator – Entity that manages the Program and/or waiver funding. Welcome to the module: Employee Payroll and Budgeting. This module explains common terms used to talk about payroll and budgeting in your self-directed program. It answers questions about how to make sure your employees get paid accurately and on time. It includes information about how to plan and budget to make the most of the units or hours and funds available. Finally, it provides contact information if you need assistance. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions you will be able to answer (and more) after this session. How does Acumen process payments within my Authorization limits? Why is the Cost to You more than the employee pay rate? Can I set or change my employee’s pay rate and how do I do that? When can my employee start working? When do I submit employee time worked and when will they be paid? Can I submit time for employee services to the Participant during a hospital or facility stay if the employee is with the Participant? What payment options are available? How do I request a reissued check when necessary? When will my employee(s) get their W2 tax form? Let’s go over some important terms. The Case Manager creates a Plan of Care with you and the team to evaluate participant needs. The Plan of Care includes the number, type and duration of goods and services the Participant needs. Then the Case Manager submits the Plan of Care to the appropriate state Program Administrator(s) for approval. This process may require more than one approval. Once the state approves (or authorizes) the Plan of Care, notice of authorized services is sent to Acumen. All details are included and this becomes known as the Authorization. The Authorization allows Acumen to begin processing payments for approved goods and services up to the limits specified in the Authorization. Authorization Limits include the date range for services to be provided, the number of units or hours, and/or the dollar amounts available, the types of service, goods, if applicable. Acumen can only process payments within the limits of the Authorization. What will Acumen do if I submit more hours than are authorized? Acumen will email you an “over limits” notice if we have an email on file for you. If we do not have an email on file, Acumen will call the phone number we have on file for you (the employer) to let you know that hours were over limits and cannot be paid. NOTE: Acumen can only pay up to the amount that is available in your Authorization. If you schedule or allow your employee to work over your authorized service amounts, you are legally responsible for ensuring that your employee is paid for the time they worked. It is your responsibility to plan and budget your hours of service accurately so this doesn’t happen. Please contact your Case Manager with budget questions. It is important that you understand overtime. Overtime occurs when an employee works more than 40 hours in a pay week. A pay week is considered to be seven (7) consecutive calendar days, Sunday (12 am) to the following Saturday (11:59 pm). Other circumstances may apply in certain states where overtime is accrued if the employee works more than eight (8) hours in one day. Please clarify your state and local overtime regulations with Acumen. Overtime rules vary from Program to Program and overtime hours may or may not be allowed in your Program. In some cases, if overtime is allowed, hours may be restricted. In the past, some Programs may have recognized certain overtime exemptions, but recent legislation may have prompted changes. We encourage you to contact your Case Manager for a complete list of Program rules. Please contact Acumen with specific questions about overtime calculations. WARNING: even if a Program allows payment for overtime, you need to be aware of the heavy toll this can take on your budget. You will reach and perhaps exceed your authorized limits more quickly if your employee works over allotted hours and receives overtime pay. You risk running out of available hours/units and/or funds for the budgeted period of time. Failure to comply with the Program’s overtime rules may result in you having to pay for services out of your own pocket. Overtime is just one of the Program rules you must follow. It is important that you, as the employer, are aware of all the Program rules concerning the Participant. Next, how do I calculate total costs so I can plan and budget wisely? Acumen provides a form, Show Me the Money, that will help you analyze the total cost of paying an employee and staying within your budget. It costs more to employ someone than paying just their wages. Here is a helpful breakdown of those costs. By law, employers need to pay federal unemployment taxes (FUTA), state unemployment taxes (SUTA), and if required, Workers’ Compensation, plus a portion of their employee's Social Security and Medicare taxes. Acumen calculates and pays these taxes and Workers’ Compensation on your behalf. There is a Cost to You that represents the employee’s wage, plus the required employer taxes and Workers’ Compensation. The total of these is the amount that will be deducted from the Authorization for every hour your employee works. NOTE: this image is a sample of the Show Me the Money form to illustrate the calculation. Please visit the Acumen website or call Customer Service to obtain a copy of the Show Me the Money form (or process) that applies to the Participant’s Program. Employee pay rates are likely to be the single biggest expense in your budget. Acumen’s Show Me the Money form can help you calculate the difference between the hourly employee pay rate and the actual cost to you (based on the Authorization). You can use the Show Me the Money form to calculate the Cost to You based on the rate you decide to pay your employee. Setting employee pay rates is important to your overall budget. One way your employee’s pay rate is communicated to Acumen is on the Employee Rate Sheet. If this form is used by your Program, it will be included in the employee enrollment information. In some cases, a Case Manager will make the rate change and send it to Acumen as part of the Authorization. In other cases, you (as the employer) have control and can submit the rate directly to Acumen. Check with Acumen or your Case Manager about the process used for your Program. In any case, you may want to consult with your Case Manager to determine the best rate of pay for your employee(s) in order to make the best use of the funding you have available. Part of that discussion can include how to be sure you are staying within the Program rules. You may also want to ask: how do I make changes to my employee’s pay rate? First, make sure the new rate is within program limits. Then, if you want to give your employee(s) a raise, or make any other change to employee wages, send Acumen new rate sheets for each employee that show the new rate, service code, and the date the change should start. You need to submit notice of the change to Acumen (usually by sending the rate sheet) at least two weeks prior to the requested effective date. This will ensure the new rate is included in the employee’s pay. Keep in mind that Acumen cannot make rate changes retroactive to a previous date if payroll for those dates has already been processed. An employee cannot provide a service unless the service is approved on the Authorization and there is a pay rate established for that employee. In order to pay, Acumen must also have an Authorization matching every service code you submit on your employee rate sheet(s). Acumen cannot pay an employee for any service dates without an active Authorization and having either a Rate Sheet or rate approval from the Case Manager on file for the period of those services. When is my employee Good To Go? Or when can my employee start working? Once the Participant and employee enrollment is complete, Acumen will notify you (the employer) by email (if we your email address on file) to give you the employee’s Good To Go date, ID number, and the payment schedule. If your employee is still using paper timesheets, the information will include forms with the participant and employee names and ID numbers pre-filled. If Acumen has no email on file for you, they will call you with the information and then follow up with a packet in the mail with the same information. Do not schedule your employees to work prior to their Good To Go date. Any service that was provided before you received the official Good To Go notice from Acumen is not payable under the Program due to Program rules. To avoid having to pay employees out of your own pocket, do not schedule them to work before Acumen officially notifies you they are Good To Go. Payment schedules and due dates raise the important question: when do I submit employee hours to Acumen and when will they be paid? Acumen will give you the official payment schedule when we send Good To Go information, along with available choices for how your employees will track and report their time. The schedule is set up to match the fiscal year, which runs from July to June of the following year. Acumen will send a new payment schedule to all active employers when the current one ends. Acumen emails the schedule if there is an email address on file for you. If not, you will receive information in the mail. Please remember to follow the payment schedule so your employees get paid on time. What happens with late or incorrect time submission? It is very important that your employee’s hours worked are submitted on time. This is true whether time (or hours worked) is entered electronically using a web-based time entry system or your employee is using a paper timesheet. You must make sure all information is accurate and complete, including service codes, signatures, dates, and that shifts are correctly noted as AM or PM. Late time that is submitted after the due date, or that has missing or incorrect information, will not be processed until the following payroll cycle. If you choose to submit your hours using a web-based time entry system, you will find it will reduce the likelihood of errors due to faxing and missing information. However, you must still approve the hours on or before the deadline. We have several options on how to submit employee hours. Our goal is to make submitting your time as simple and accurate as possible. We offer multiple ways to submit your employee’s hours to Acumen so you can choose the option that best fits your needs and comfort level. We offer four options: use web-based time entry system; fax paper timesheets; email paper timesheets; mail paper timesheets. Web-based time entry involves accessing a website from any computer with an internet connection. Depending on which system that is being used, you also may be able to use a smartphone to enter and approve time. We recommend web-based time entry as the preferred method for submitting employee hours to Acumen. Using web-based time entry, you can easily submit time online instead of faxing or mailing paper timesheets – no more lost or misplaced timesheets. You can identify and correct errors quickly. The entire process is faster, and you can also access reports, view employee information, and run Account Statements. Registering to use a web-based entry system is simple. Our Customer Service representatives are prepared to help you every step of the way. We offer personalized online trainings. Please Contact Customer Service at (866) 795-7163 or use your Program’s assigned number for assistance or to schedule training. You may fax paper timesheets if using a web-based time entry system is not an option for you. You may choose to submit your timesheets by faxing them to Acumen using your Program’s assigned fax number. Please use dark-colored ink and print clearly in designated spaces so the fax is legible. We recommend using a web-based time entry system if you have a choice. The additional benefit is to avoid issues created by poor legibility and transmission. If you fax timesheets, keep in mind that Acumen will not know that you sent a fax if your machine does not transmit properly. We recommend that you keep the fax confirmation for your records. If, for whatever reason, you want us to confirm receipt of your fax, please wait 20 minutes after you send the fax before you call or email Customer Service. Have the date and time you sent your fax available for reference. For your convenience, Acumen also utilizes an automated Timesheet Verification system that allows you to verify your faxed timesheet was received any time in the past seven (7) days. When you call the number Acumen assigned to your Program, as the employer, you will select a menu item that asks you to identify yourself. If you are the employer or Participant, you will select the menu item that says you are the employer and/or Participant. Next, you will be asked to enter the Participant’s social security number as the unique identifier. If the employee calls in, they will enter their own social security number. The system will read the unique identifier and respond whether or not a fax was received that matches within the past seven (7) days. If there are additional questions, you may select the menu option to speak to a customer service representative. Note: please wait 20 minutes after faxing before you call Customer Service to use the automated timesheet fax receipt system. You are able to email paper timesheets to Acumen. You must follow all guidelines for accurately completing timesheets and submitting them by the deadlines set for payroll. When the timesheet is complete with all information, and you have signed that you approve the employee’s time, scan the completed document and email it to CustomerService@acumen2.net. You may also mail paper timesheets using U.S. Mail. This is the final option for submitting paper timesheets to Acumen. If you choose this option, be aware that we cannot control how much time it takes for the post office to make delivery to us. Acumen is not responsible for mail carrier delays or lost mail. In the event your employee’s timesheets are received after the timesheet due date, they will not be processed with the regular pay cycle. Your employee will have to wait an additional two weeks or more before the next payday. Acumen’s mailing address is: Acumen Fiscal Agent Attn: (Your Program) Payroll, 4542 E. Inverness Ave, Suite 210, Mesa, AZ 85206. We strongly encourage you to use a web-based time entry system. But paper timesheets are an option if you don’t have internet access. After your employee is successfully enrolled with all timesheets are filled out completely and correctly with all entries made in the designated spaces. Use dark-colored ink and write clearly. Be sure you mark the correct AM/PM circle next to each entry. Enter the correct service code for each entry. It indicates the type of service provided and the rate of pay for that service. Next, here are two frequently asked questions. Q. How do I enter overnight shifts? This is an important question if your employee will work overnight hours that pass through the midnight hour. A. The answer is, enter a new line for each day. You must make two separate entries because the shift covers two distinct calendar days. Q. Do I submit time for services provided when the Participant is in the hospital or another facility? A. The answer is: in general, an employee cannot be paid for services provided during Hospital or Facility Stays by the Participant. (There are some exceptions. Check with your Case Manager about your Program’s rules.) This is the case, even if the employee is with the Participant in the hospital or facility. Always verify Program rules with your Case Manager. ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: please notify Acumen of any Participant hospital or facility stays. Here are some common timesheet errors. We recommend that you check your timesheet for the following errors before submitting it to Acumen: fax cover sheet was used; missing or incorrect service code(s); no matching rate sheet for service code; missing or incorrect ID numbers; AM or PM not marked; overnight hours written incorrectly; paper notes attached to timesheets; overlapping hours; unreadable because of illegible writing (didn’t use dark ink, wrote outside designated spaces); missing signatures. Acumen cannot pay for employee hours submitted while the Participant was in the hospital or a facility. (There may be exceptions. Check with your Case Manager.) Acumen cannot pay for employee hours submitted prior to the Good To Go date. Acumen provides three payment options for employees to receive their pay. These are: direct deposit, pay card, paper check. NOTE: to change a payment option selection at any time, submit a new Pay Selection Agreement form, which is available in the FORMS section on our website www.acumenfiscalagent.com. Let’s discuss the options. Direct deposit – there are many reasons for your employee to use direct deposit. No waiting in line at the bank. No worry about bank hours or holidays. No waiting for mail delivery. No worry about weather delays. No risk of having check lost or damaged. No check cashing fees. Get pay on exact payday. No delays due to address changes. Receive pay stubs electronically. If the employee has an email on file, Acumen will email a copy of the stub directly to the employee. Q. How does my employee set-up direct deposit? A. To set up direct deposit, Acumen must have the Authorization for Direct Deposit form which is available in the FORMS section on our website and a copy of a voided check from the account. The sample check shows where to find the routing number and account number on most checks. If the account holder does not have checks, they may provide a letter from the bank on the bank’s company letterhead with the customer’s full name as well as routing and account numbers. Direct deposit may take up to 2-3 pay periods to go into effect. If the account is NOT in the employee’s name, the employee must indicate that and sign off to that effect. This is a fraud prevention measure to keep the account holder from withholding or misusing the employee’s money. Here are some advantages of the pay card option. Employees may choose to receive their pay on a pay card. Pay cards are a great option for employees who do not have a bank account, but want the benefit of having their pay automatically deposited into an account on payday. If this option is selected, the employee will be sent a pay card that carries a major credit or banking logo, along with an information kit explaining how the card works. Employees using the pay card can also receive pay stubs electronically. Once the pay card is received, the employee must make two phone calls. 1) Call the pay card company to activate the card. 2) Call Acumen so we can verify the account number and switch the payroll account from paper check to pay card. NOTE: the account number is located on the paperwork that is sent with the card. It is NOT the number printed on the card itself. Be sure to tell your employee not to throw away the paperwork that comes with the card. Employees have the option to receive paper paychecks that are delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Acumen is not liable for checks that are lost, delayed, or damaged during mail delivery. However, we will assist in reissuing checks, if necessary. If, for whatever reason, your employee did not receive their paycheck, please contact our Customer Service Department so we may research the issue. NOTES: If Acumen determines that a check was issued but was not received, Acumen must wait for five (5) business days from the pay date before we can request a stop-payment and reissue the check. There is a $35 processing fee for this service. Fee will be waived if the requesting employee agrees to sign up for and use either direct deposit or pay card. Here is how to request a reissued paper check. The employee is required to submit a signed Stop-Payment Request Form which will be sent to the employee, upon request. Once the request is submitted, Acumen must first verify with the bank that the check has not been cashed. If the check has not been cashed, we can request that our bank stop payment on the check, making the check null and void. Once a check has been voided, it cannot be reversed, even if the original check turns up. We will reissue a replacement check with the next regular pay cycle after we receive confirmation from the bank that the initial check has been voided. The stop-payment and reissue process may take one or two pay periods to complete. If the check has been cashed, we will provide you or your employee with a copy of the front and back of the cashed check so you can view the endorsement signature to see if the check was cashed by someone else. Acumen cannot reissue a check that has already been cashed. If your employee believes the check was cashed by someone else, they should contact their local law enforcement agency to determine the best course of action. Finally, here is a question frequently asked by employees regarding their Employee W2s. How do I get my W2? Another employer responsibility that Acumen handles on your behalf is preparing and sending out W2s to your employees. A W2 is a tax document that is a record of payments and withholdings that were made to your employee throughout the year. A W2 is necessary when it is time for the employee to file personal income taxes. W2s are sent out to all employees that received pay during the calendar year. These are sent out the last week in January each year, but no later than January 31st. We’ve covered a lot of information! Let’s summarize today’s highlights. Follow your Program’s rules/limits when you schedule your employee’s work hours. Use the Show Me the Money form to calculate how much to pay your employees so you stay within your budget. The Good To Go date is the first day your employee is eligible to start work and have wages paid using Program funding. If your employees work for you prior to their Good To Go date, you may have to pay them out-of-pocket. Acumen will give you an official payment schedule when we send your employee’s Good To Go information. Acumen cannot pay for employee hours submitted while the Participant was in the hospital or a facility, unless allowed by your program. Check with your Case Manager. It is important that you submit your employee’s hours on time, and ensure that all information is accurate and complete. Hours worked (time) can be submitted electronically using a web-based time entry system, or with a timesheet that is faxed, emailed or mailed. Employees can choose a payment option: direct deposit, pay card or paper check. Employees can request a reissued check, if the check has not been cashed. Acumen charges a $35 fee for this service. Acumen will waive this fee if the employee selects and signs up to use either direct deposit or the pay card option. Acumen will send W2s to your employees in late January each year. Congratulations! And thank you for completing the Acumen Employer Training module, Employee Payroll and Budgeting. We hope this module gave you information that provides a good basis for setting employee pay rates to help you manage your budget, and tips to help get your employees paid accurately, on time, and within your budget! Welcome to Self-Direction. Welcome to Acumen!