Data entry of labor is an on-going task. I am going to make a pitch for doing it in the most detailed fashion possible. Shortcuts often backfire, more often backfire. If you have a time-keeping system that can accurately show the eligible work, the employee, date and work description that also uses the fringe rate, then you are way ahead of most. Some systems and some Wizards can make this happen. It has to follow the same rules and be 100% accurate. If done well, you can do data entry into Tempest-GEMS in batches. Just click “Add Expense” and select your expense type as “Force Account”.
90% of the people I have seen use this trick end up with rejected entries. In April 2020, the OIG published negative findings from Puerto Rico about the water and sewer agency. They took shortcuts that resulted in massive losses.
Let’s move forward. We need to report labor costs. FEMA has standard reports for this process. I’ll list them and show a picture of Tempest-GEMS reports. This is under the grants reports menu. FEMA Force Account Labor Record, FEMA Force Account Equipment Record, FEMA Force Account Material Record, and the Force Account Consolidated Record. The first three are bog-standard FEMA reports – been around for decades.
Our favorite and recommend report is the Force Account Consolidated Record. This report clearly shows that the labor, equipment, and material are linked. The reviewers and auditors have an easy time seeing that Billy Bob is on his big yellow truck. Or Brad is working 2 hours on Green River Rd in Truck 5 which has FEMA cost code of 8720 and he had no materials in his truck.
If you do not have to report operator and equipment, as is likely with the COVID-19 disaster, the FEMA Force Account Labor record is more concise.
For reporting labor costs, you will need detailed labor records – as shown and generated from Tempest-GEMS – or another tool.
And you will need the detailed payroll records. You’ll need the worklogs that demonstrate the work fit within the scope of the grant. You’ll need the payroll reports and information showing the full costs of the payroll. And you’ll need some sort of proof of payment. FEMA varies on this a bit. Best to have it. Some banks or payroll companies provide ACH summaries. Get these scanned and uploaded to Tempest-GEMS. You can upload as “grant documents” – label it well so the reviewers know this pile is for the pay period X to Y. Or you can upload the entire thing on the first data entry point for the pay period. I tend to use the grant document process. It’s easier to see.