How to fix PBJ reporting errors: a submission review checklist.

Give each finding an owner, resolution, and supporting source. If the underlying hours change, review the affected finding again and generate a new export. Keeping a previous approval attached to changed data makes the audit trail misleading.

• Match every expected payroll period and agency delivery to a received file.
• Investigate days with unexplained gaps; distinguish missing data from confirmed zero reportable hours.
• Compare roles present in the filing with the facility’s staffing sources.
• Look for overlapping payroll and agency files, repeated uploads, and correction files counted as additions.
• Reconcile totals by file, employee, and work day. A balanced grand total can hide offsetting errors.

Keep an explicit list of unresolved items for the reviewer. Do not fill a gap with estimated staffing records just to make a chart look complete.

If an agency sends a total invoice without daily staffing detail, request the supporting time records. If the same hours appear in payroll and the agency file, compare the employee and work date before excluding a duplicate. Start with the PBJ reporting source-file checklist when you are unsure what to collect.

Download the free PBJ review checklist (CSV). Keep an owner, status, evidence reference, and correction note for each check. The worksheet is a preparation aid, not a CMS form or proof that a filing has passed review.

For a professional second check, request the $49 PBJ consultant review: one facility’s quarterly filing, written findings, and one follow-up check of corrections. Confirm timing before relying on it for a deadline.

Meals: CMS excludes paid and unpaid meal time and requires at least a 30-minute deduction for each full shift; longer meal breaks require their actual time removed. Check deductions already present in payroll before applying another. Policy manual §2.2(d).

Example: an eight-hour shift with a 30-minute meal already removed in the payroll export has 7.5 hours before any other exclusions. Subtracting the same half hour again would understate that source record. Keep the payroll evidence supporting the treatment.

Leave and training: exclude leave hours. Training time is not reportable when the employee is unavailable to perform their primary role. Additional salaried hours need qualifying pay evidence tied to the extra work. CMS FAQ, questions 2, 14, and 20.

Overtime and bonuses: inspect whether a source line contains hours, dollars, or a pay premium on hours already listed elsewhere. Do not count the same work twice or treat a dollar amount as hours.

Shared work: obtain support for facility allocation, primary roles, and contract duties. A department name or payment code alone is not enough to decide the reporting treatment. Compare the actual situation with policy manual §2.2.

CMS’s August 2026 iQIES update introduced error -1025 when a System Employee ID exceeds 22.5 hours in one day, including its linked employee IDs. Review the person’s combined hours across roles and sources. CMS iQIES update.

If a result exceeds the limit, investigate duplicate files, overlapping shifts, incorrect midnight allocation, meals, and mistaken identity links. Do not cap the number automatically or move hours to another person to clear an error.

When payroll IDs change, CMS provides a linking workflow. The IDs remain separate records tied to a common system identity, and linking applies within a facility. Prepare the old-to-new ID crosswalk from confirmed employment records. CMS linking methodology.

Record the facility, quarter, filing revision, reviewer, unresolved items, and submission mode. Confirm that the XML totals agree with the review workbook and audit package. For a replacement, verify that the intended replacement covers the complete quarter.

Use the submission guide to record the CMS result against that exact export. EasyPBJ supports review and follow-through; it does not establish universal regulatory compliance or submit automatically to CMS.