PBJ Reporting (Payroll-Based Journal)
PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) reporting explained: CMS requirements, quarterly deadlines, meal break rules, and what staffing agencies must give nursing homes.September 24, 2026
5 min read
Healthcare Staffing
Written by the NextCrew team
Definition
PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) reporting is the CMS requirement for nursing homes to submit daily direct-care staffing hours every quarter, based on payroll and time records. It must include agency and contract staff, so staffing agencies that place nurses and aides in nursing homes supply their clients with the hours data.
The nursing home files PBJ, but the agency's hours are part of it. Every shift your CNAs, LPNs and RNs work at a skilled nursing facility has to appear in that facility's quarterly submission, by day and by role. If the agency's data is late, incomplete or in the wrong shape, the facility's staffing numbers are wrong, and those numbers are published and feed its star rating.
How agency hours reach a PBJ submission
What are the PBJ reporting requirements for nursing homes?
- Who files. Every long-term care facility certified for Medicare or Medicaid submits through CMS's PBJ system.
- What is reported. Hours worked by each staff member, each day, by job title, for direct-care roles such as RNs, LPNs, certified nurse aides and medication aides, plus resident census.
- Agency and contract staff. Included, reported with the contract pay type (code 3) alongside employees.
- Paid hours worked only. Hours are counted per calendar day, split at midnight, and meal break time is excluded.
- Auditable. The data must be based on payroll and other verifiable records, not schedules.
When is PBJ due?
Each quarter's data is due by the 45th calendar day after the quarter ends. CMS uses the federal fiscal year, so the quarters and deadlines are:
| Quarter | Months covered | Due by |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | October to December | February 14 |
| Q2 | January to March | May 15 |
| Q3 | April to June | August 14 |
| Q4 | July to September | November 14 |
Deadlines from CMS's PBJ page. CMS updates the PBJ Policy Manual and FAQs from time to time, most recently in August 2026; check the current version before relying on a detail.
What does a staffing agency need to give a nursing home for PBJ?
A shift-by-shift record the facility can load or map without re-keying. Facilities usually ask their agencies for these fields:
| Field | Why the facility needs it |
|---|---|
| Facility and date | Hours are reported per facility, per day |
| Staff name or ID | Each person is reported individually |
| Discipline (CNA, LPN, RN) | Mapped to the CMS job title code |
| Start and end time | Lets the facility split shifts that cross midnight |
| Meal time | Excluded from reported hours |
| Regular and overtime hours | The paid hours worked |
| Hire date | An optional PBJ field some facilities still collect |
Illustrative field list. Ask each facility for its template; some want the file weekly, others monthly or quarterly.
Where agencies get PBJ wrong
- Sending scheduled hours. PBJ needs hours actually worked. Scheduled hours overstate staffing.
- Leaving meal time in. An 8-hour shift with a 30-minute meal break is 7.5 reportable hours.
- Vague job titles. "Nurse" cannot be mapped. Report the discipline the person actually worked in.
- Late or missing corrections. A timesheet fixed after the report went out has to be resent before the facility's deadline.
- Building it by hand. Retyping hours from timesheets into a spreadsheet each quarter is where errors come from.
Bottom line: PBJ is the facility's filing, but agency hours are a large part of it in many nursing homes. Give facilities accurate, worked hours by day and role, with meal time separated, and you remove one of their hardest quarterly chores.
How NextCrew handles PBJ reporting
NextCrew can be set up to produce a PBJ report for a client from the same timesheet records the agency already approves, so nobody rebuilds the hours by hand. Each row is one shift, with:
- Facility and Crew Member. Who worked, and where.
- Discipline. CNA, LPN, RN or other role worked.
- Start and end date and time. So shifts that cross midnight can be split by day.
- Meal time. Shown separately from regular hours.
- Regular and overtime hours. From the approved timesheet.
- Hire date and billed amount. For the facility's records and reconciliation.
The report is configured per client, and it can reach the facility three ways: exported as a file, pulled automatically through NextCrew's Open API, or delivered by SFTP. See healthcare staffing software and timesheet management software.
Frequently asked questions
Related terms
- Healthcare credentialing: what makes a clinician placeable at a facility.
- Missed punch: a gap in the time record that PBJ data depends on.
- Time clock rounding: how punch times become reportable hours.
- Double time pay: overtime rules behind the hours.
- Primary source verification: verifying the licenses of the people on the report.
General information, not regulatory advice. Follow the current CMS PBJ Policy Manual.