6_ UCM Instruction Manual 2024.pdf

Division of Aging Services

GEORGIA DIVISION OF AGING SERVICES

UNIFORM COST METHODOLOGY

TRAINING MANUAL

MAN 5600, Appendix G Updated 11/18/24

Division of Aging Services

Georgia Division of Aging Services Uniform Cost Methodology Training Manual

Table of Contents

Page #

Table of Contents

I. OLDER AMERICANS ACT (OAA) ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING

Administration of the OAA Funding of the OAA Purpose of the UCM How the UCM Relates to Provider Reimbursement Implications to funding caused by inaccurate UCMs

II. RECENT UCM UPDATES IN GEORGIA

III. GEORGIA’S UNIFORM COST METHODOLOGY POLICIES, DEFINITIONS AND

PROCEDURES

General Policies, Procedures and Definitions:

IV. TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED

Gathering Needed Information Tips for Entering Data on the Excel Spreadsheet

V. HOW TO COMPLETE THE UCM EXCEL SPREADSHEET

PERSONNEL_INPUTS SHEET

Identification & Service Selection (Line 1 Column A & Line 2 Columns H-AF) .. 13

Provider Staff List (Column A and B)

Base Wages (Column C)

Fringe Benefits Rate (Column D)

Productive Hours (Column E)

Hour Types (Column F, G, H-AF)

SUPPORT_INPUTS SHEET

Expenses (Lines 7-89)

Cost Pool Section: Service Subcontract Allowance (Line 96)

Cost Pool Section: Reallocate Shared Building Space (Line 99)

Cost Pool Section: Billing Units (Line 101)

In-kind Donations (Lines 103-115)

PERSONNEL_OUTPUTS SHEET

1. Fringe Benefits Dollars (Column E)

2. Total Wages and Benefits (Column F)

3. General Admin % (Column H)

4. General Admin Costs (Column J)

5. Staff for Building Maintenance % (Column K)

6. Shared Building Space Costs (Column M)

7. Total Hours (Column N, R, etc.)

8. % of Staff Time (Column P, T, etc.)

9. Wages and Benefits Cost (Column Q, U, etc.)

10. All Other Programs % (Column DJ)

11. All Other Wages (Column DK)

12. Total Wages and Benefits (Line 44)

13. Percent of Total Wages and Benefits (Line 45)

14. Total Hours (Line 46)

15. Units of Service (Line 47)

16. Percent of Total Hours (Line 49)

SUPPORT_OUTPUTS SHEET

1. Wages & Benefits Expenses (Lines 8-10)

2. Total Allowable Costs (Line 97)

3. Cost Pool Section (Lines 110-130)

4. Donated Cost Pool Section (Lines 134-144)

5. Total Costs (Line 146)

6. Potential Unit Cost (Line 148)

EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMS AND PRACTICES / WORKSHOPS / SESSIONS:

FULL UCM EXAMPLES

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

APPENDIX A: EXPLANATION OF COSTS

APPENDIX B: EXPLANATION OF MEAL COSTS

I. OLDER AMERICANS ACT (OAA) ADMINISTRATION

AND FUNDING

Administration of the OAA

The Older Americans Act (OAA) is a federal program that was first passed in 1965 to help older adults remain active in their communities and benefits from offered services. This legislation was reauthorized in 2006 to include guidance materials (i.e., FAQ section) for the aging network, in 2016 to include provisions aimed at the protection of vulnerable elders, and in 2020 to include provisions aimed at removing barriers to the aging network and providing some allocation flexibility to the states and localities. New regulations that aim to clarify policies, guide newly authorized programs, and incorporate lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic were updated to take effect on March 15, 2024.

The aging network is made up of federal agencies that oversee the State Units on Aging and Tribal Organizations in Figure 1 below. These federal agencies include the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor, Administration of Community Living, Administration on Aging, and Employment and Training Administration. Georgia’s State Unit on Aging is the Division of Aging Services (DAS) that oversees the Area Agency on Aging (AAAs) working with local service providers. The SUA is overseeing that the AAAs and providers support the older and disabled adults within the services offered through the OAA, such as transportation, nutrition, congregate or home-delivered meals, adult day care, evidence-based programs/workshops, and more.

Figure 1: Administration of the OAA

Funding of the OAA

Usually, OAA funding is comprised of 85% federal funds, 5% state funds, and 10% local match. In Figure 2, federal funding is shown to be provided to support direct services to older Georgians. In brief, the federal agencies award funding to the State of Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Aging Services (DAS) who allocates funds to the AAAs to contract for services with providers. As these funds flow down, State of Georgia DAS needs to match certain percentages of the federal funding to add to the money given to AAAs.

The money that providers eventually receive is a combination of the federal funds, state match, and local match. State matching can vary by service. The state is required to give a 15% match towards supportive services, congregate, and home-delivers nutrition programs; in Georgia the AAAs provide 10% of this while DAS provides the remaining 5%. The Family Caregiver Program requires a 25% state match; in Georgia the AAAs provide 10% of this while DAS provides the remaining 15%.

Local funds make up about 10% of total funds in Georgia, inclusive of local donations from providers, counties, cities, or multiple other methods local providers have of receiving donations.

Figure 2: Funding of the OAA

Purpose of the UCM

The purpose of the UCM is to determine the full costs of a particular service, regardless of fund source and to allocate costs using the same allocation statistic.

Providers and AAAs complete the UCM as part of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process initiated by the AAAs to acquire service providers to bid on services. This methodology will provide AAAs with information about all aging programs/services administered by a single provider, and how costs are shared between programs/services in one complete annual budget. AAAs review the RFP responses to select service providers based on multiple criteria, not solely the lowest unit cost.

While DAS budgets each AAA’s dollars from federal and state funds, this does not necessarily mean a provider with costs outside of this budget will not be chosen, as cost is only one component of the provider selection criteria. Hence, providers should complete the UCM to accurately reflect the costs of providing services independent of the budget allocated to AAAs.

Once full costs have been determined and the cost pools have allocated indirect or shared costs between all aging programs appropriately, then providers must have a plan for adequate resources to cover all costs – both cash and non-cash.

Each Area Agency on Aging is required to report not only federal, state, program income and minimum required match to the Division, but other funds which support these programs as well. This is in accordance with the federal Older Americans Act.

Providers can use this information to effectively manage their programs and assure they are capturing all their costs when using the UCM Spreadsheet – regardless of who pays for these services. Providers must then be able to assure to the AAA that adequate revenues are available to cover all costs proposed for each service as outlined in their RFP. These funds will include the federal and state funds allocated from the AAA, as well as other community resources that support aging programs in Georgia.

How the UCM Relates to Provider Reimbursement

The UCM submission and funding processes are separate, but parallel. Figure 3 below shows these processes. The blue arrows illustrate the current processes:

the providers submit their UCMs to AAAs as part of the Request for Proposal (RFP) to bid on providing services to older adults. The AAAs then review the UCMs and select a provider to deliver OAA services. Separately, the federal government awards funds to DAS. DAS will distribute funds to AAAs, so they can reimburse providers after service completion.

The grey arrows show a potential future process addition, which shows how the UCM submission and the funding process may interconnect. This includes DAS using data from the UCMs to inform the budget needs for older Georgians.

Figure 3: UCM and Funds Flow

Implications to funding caused by inaccurate UCMs

Accuracy of the UCM is critical for providers to be able to plan their services correctly. If providers underestimate their costs, this could lead to potential need for them to pay out-of-pocket. Another implication of inaccuracy would be DAS being impeded from being able to accurately capture funding needs for older Georgians.

II. RECENT UCM UPDATES IN GEORGIA

In September 2024, the UCM Training Manual and Excel Spreadsheet were updated to make them accessible and efficient for providers and AAAs to use. These changes were informed by stakeholder feedback from DAS leadership and subject matter experts, AAAs, and providers.

Changes to the spreadsheet included:

• Separation of spreadsheet inputs and outputs for clearer data entry

• Addition of Cover Page and Quick Start Guide to orient users to spreadsheet

• Locked cells and sheets to prevent manual overrides

• Methodological changes

• All providers delivering direct services enter hours in Billable Hours

• Hours for General Admin and Shared Building Space are manually input, and their % of staff time is auto calculated

• Updated list of services to align with current Taxonomy

Changes to the manual included:

• Expanded summary of the OAA administration and funding

• Relationship between the UCM related and provider reimbursement

• Systematic review of definitions, purpose, documentation requirement, methodology, examples, and spreadsheet instructions per input FAQ section

III. GEORGIA’S UNIFORM COST METHODOLOGY POLICIES,

DEFINITIONS AND PROCEDURES

The provider, Area Agency on Aging and the Division of Aging Services must know full costs of services so the aging network can track funding needs to assure quality aging services for older Georgians.

General Policies, Procedures and Definitions:

1. Providers and Area Agency on Aging (AAAs) shall use the spreadsheet developed by the Division of Aging Services. Please note that the term “providers” in this manual and in other UCM training materials refers to both local service providers and AAAs.

2. This Uniform Cost Methodology is a costing system to be used by all providers in response to Request for Proposal for aging services to calculate costs in the same fashion, treating costs in a consistent manner.

3. AAAs are required to complete the UCM inclusive of all services at the

AAA level.

4. This Uniform Cost Methodology is a costing system to be used by providers and AAAs.

5. Allowability of costs must adhere to all Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) Circulars, as appropriate, including A-87 “Costs for Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments” and A-122 “Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations”. Note: These circulars may be obtained at the following web address: Circulars | OMB | The White House.

6. Documentation of Cost will be determined on a prospective or budget basis and will consist of prior actual year costs to justify direct assignment of costs.

7. Each Area Agency on Aging will evaluate the costs, negotiate contracts and enter appropriate data in the Division of Aging Services Data System (DDS).

8. All services shall be subject to the Uniform Cost Methodology, but not all services will be reimbursed on a unit cost basis. Always reference the current DAS Taxonomy of Service for the correct “Method of Reimbursement” for each service. In addition, for services reimbursed based in a line-item budget, the AAA must complete the Uniform Cost Methodology Excel Spreadsheet and the billing units for these will be listed as “1” unit.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/circulars/#:%7E:text=To%20obtain%20circulars%20that%20are%20not

9. During the first year of a new service, AAAs may request a waiver to contract for a line-item budget if the service is normally reimbursed on a unit cost basis. This will allow for start-up costs for a new service. This waiver requires prior approval from the DAS.

10. When excluding a provider from the Uniform Cost Methodology, AAAs must request a waiver and justify why the provider should be excluded.

This waiver requires prior approval from the DAS.

11. The Area Agency on Aging shall exempt commercial food vendors who are submitting sealed bids for meals from completing the Uniform Cost Methodology spreadsheet.

IV. TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED

Gathering Needed Information

To input information in the UCM Excel Spreadsheet, the following documentation will be needed:

• Payroll documentation: to support salary expenses of staff claimed in the UCM

• General ledger statements, paid invoices, receipts, vouchers, logs/journal entries, vendor contracts, etc.: to support supplies and services expenses

• Log of volunteer hours: to record value of volunteer time

• Itemized donation list and receipts: for donated supplies

Each topic in the Personnel_Inputs and Support_Outputs section reviews supporting documentation needed to support costs.

Tips for Entering Data on the Excel Spreadsheet

The Excel Spreadsheet is separated into inputs and outputs for

Personnel and Support expenses. Data should only be entered into the Personnel_Inputs and Support_Inputs tab, where the cells are colored in Green. The Personnel_Inputs tab is to input staff wages and benefits costs. The Support_Inputs tab is to input expenses for supplies and services. The Personnel_Outputs and Support_Outputs tabs auto-calculate additional fields based on values entered in the Personnel_Inputs and Support_Inputs tabs. The Outputs tabs should be locked based on the services for the proposal. The locked spreadsheet should not allow added lines or columns. Note: If it does, please contact the Area Agency on Aging to obtain a locked spreadsheet. This will help assure that no formulas will be erased or corrupted.

If a provider is proposing less than 25 services, they may hide the additional service columns in the Personnel_Inputs and Support_Inputs tabs if they like. If more lines for listing staff are needed, please request assistance from the Area Agency on Aging staff to unlock the spreadsheet and add rows.

Color coding where data is to be entered (or not):

o Green – Enter data here o Blue – Instructions for entering data (or not) on spreadsheet o Black – Do not enter data – the spreadsheet will automatically calculate

Use the following chapters of this manual on the Personnel_Inputs and Support_Outputs tabs for specific instructions on how to complete each column and row.

Any other questions from providers will be e-mailed and answered by the assigned staff at the Area Agency on Aging.

• The Excel Spreadsheet has certain checks throughout to help verify that your spreadsheet is in balance:

o The Percent of Total Wages and Benefits and Percent of Total Hours must equal 100% for the UCM Personnel Spreadsheet to balance.

o The UCM Spreadsheet Check (Support_Outputs Line 96) and Total

Allowable Cost (Support_Outputs Line 97) must equal so that the UCM spreadsheet is correct, and all costs have been either allocated to a cost pool or assigned to a service.

o The Cost Pools (Support_Inputs Columns D-G) will show an over-allocated notation if more money is allocated to a service than inputted as the total in Support_Inputs Column B.

o The spreadsheet will show as “Out of Balance” in Column B of the

Support_Outputs tab if the Total Actual Costs by Service (Support_Outputs Line 116) does not equal the Total Allowable Costs (Support_Outputs Line 97).

V. HOW TO COMPLETE THE UCM EXCEL SPREADSHEET

PERSONNEL_INPUTS SHEET

Identification & Service Selection (Line 1 Column A & Line 2 Columns H-AF)

• Before setting up any data, go into Line 1 Column A and enter the name of the

Provider

• Go to Line 2 Column H and Click on “Choose a Service” and a drop-down arrow will appear

• Click on this arrow and a list of services from the DAS Taxonomy of

Services will appear; select one service.

• Go the next “Choose the Service” and repeat this process for each different service until all services have been listed for this provider.

NOTE: This step may have been completed by the Area Agency on Aging for each provider, but if not, please complete and hide the remaining columns that are not used see the spreadsheet more effectively. Do not delete columns or you will mess up the formulas in the spreadsheet.

PERSONNEL_INPUTS SPREADSHEET

Provider Staff List (Column A and B)

Definition of Staff List

• Staff List is the inventory of all paid employees for a given provider. It should include employees’ names and positions.

• Staff includes drivers if the provider directly operates client transportation or delivers meals using drivers employed by this provider. Only include the time the driver delivers meals.

Name Position Teresa Nurse John Nurse Steve Manager

Purpose of Staff List in the UCM

• To be able to associate personnel costs (Base Wages and Fringe Benefits) with a specific employee or position and allocate them to a service or cost pool.

• To determine a unit cost for a specific service, costs of that service must be allocated correctly.

Documentation providers should gather to input Staff List

• Payroll registry of complete Staff List

Methodology for inputting Staff List in the UCM

• There are two methods to input a Staff List, either on the individual name level or on a position / role level.

• Choosing the position level requires you to calculate Base Wages, Productive Hours, and

Hour Types based on the number of staff in that position before inputting them into the spreadsheet. This choice is more ideal when employees of a position have the same salary and hours worked.

• Choosing the individual levels allows you to enter Base Wages, Productive Hours, and Hour Types specific for that employee, and is therefore ideal when employees have different salaries and hours worked.

Example on the Individual Level

• A provider employs tutors to give language guidance to older Americans.

• According to last year’s payroll documents, two people were employed: Mary Smith and

Emily Cooper.

• This has no relevance to an input level decision.

• They were both tutors.

• By having the same role, this may make it easier to choose a Position Level input.

• Mary makes $45,000, while Emily makes $50,000. Both Fringe Benefits Rates are 22%.

• However, different salaries suggest it would be easier and more accurate to choose

Individual Level inputs.

• Neither tutor works General Admin or Shared Building Space Hours. Mary works 1,800

Billable Hours, while Emily works 2,000.

• Different hours worked further supports that it may be easier and more accurate to choose Individual Level inputs.

• Input Mary Smith into one row of Column A of the Personnel Inputs sheet and Emily

Cooper into another row. Enter “1” into Column B of that same sheet in each row. Calculate their respective Productive Hours and Billable Hours before entering each, as shown below:

• Productive Hours = Annual Hours - Annual Leave

• Mary takes 20 vacation days, 5 holidays, and 10 sick days, or (20+5+10) 35 annual leave days.

• (52 weeks/year × 40 hours/week) – (8 hours/day × 35 days) = 2,080 hours – 280 hours = 1,800 hours

• Emily takes 15 vacation days, 5 holidays, and 3 sick days, or (15+5+3) 23 annual leave days.

• (52 weeks/year × 40 hours/week) – (8 hours/day × 23 days) = 2,080 hours – 184 hours = 1,896 hours

• Neither tutor works General Admin or Shared Building Space Hours. All of their hours are

Billable Hours.

• Billable Hours = Productive Hours

• Mary’s Billable Hours = 1,800 hours

• Emily’s Billable Hours = 1,896 hours

• Input Mary Smith into one row of Column A of the Personnel Inputs sheet and Emily

Cooper into another row. Enter “1” into Column B of that same sheet in each row. Enter their respective information in the remaining columns, as shown below:

Example on the Position Level

• A different provider also employs tutors to give language guidance to older Americans.

• According to last year’s payroll documents, two people were employed.

• This has no relevance to an input level decision.

• They were both tutors.

• By having the same role, this may make it easier to choose a Position Level input.

• Both make $60,000 annually with Fringe Benefits rates of 25%.

• Having the same salary supports it being easier and more accurate to choose a Position Level input.

• Neither tutor works General Admin or Shared Building Space Hours. Both work 1,904

Billable Hours.

• Working the same hours further supports that it may be easier and more accurate to choose a Position Level input.

• Both tutors take 10 vacation days, 8 holidays, and 4 sick days.

• Working the same hours further supports that it may be easier and more accurate to choose a Position Level input.

• Input “Tutor” into a row of Column A of the Personnel Inputs sheet. Enter “2” into Column B of that same sheet and row. Calculate the Base Wages, Productive Hours, and Billable Hours before entering each, as shown below:

• Both make $60,000 annually.

• Base Wages = $60,000 × 2 = $120,000

• Both tutors take 10 vacation days, 8 holidays, and 4 sick days, or (10 + 8+ 4) 22 annual leave days.

• Productive Hours = Annual Hours - Annual Leave

• (52 weeks/year) × (40 hours/week) – (8 hours/day × 22 days) = 2,080 hours – 176 hours = 1,904 hours

• 1,904 hours × 2 people = 3,808 productive hours

• Neither tutor works General Admin or Shared Building Space Hours. All of their hours are

Billable Hours.

• Billable Hours = Productive Hours = 3,808 hours

• Input “Tutor” into a row of Column A of the Personnel Inputs sheet. Enter “2” into Column B of that same sheet and row. Calculate the Base Wages, Productive Hours, and Billable Hours before entering each, as shown below:

How providers can input Staff List in the UCM

• Enter names or positions in Column A of the Personnel Inputs sheet

• Enter the number of the staff in that position or by that name in Column B of the Personnel

Inputs sheet

Base Wages (Column C)

Definition of Base Wages

• Base Wages is the salary portion of an employee’s total compensation, or the amount an employee earns before taxes and other deductions.

• Fringe Benefits Dollars are the other portion of an employee’s total compensation. These are perks provided to an employee which are discussed further in the Fringe Benefits Rate section.

Purpose of Base Wages in the UCM

• To calculate an employee’s total compensation, also known as Total Wages and Benefits in the UCM spreadsheet. This allows providers to capture the total cost of employing staff in the UCM.

Documentation providers should gather to input Base Wages

• Payroll documentation

• If the provider chooses to approach inputting data at the individual level, payroll documentation is needed for each individual staff member to locate their Base Wages.

• If the provider chooses to approach inputting data at the position level, individual payroll data per position must be aggregated to calculate Base Wages.

Methodology for calculating Base Wages

• For Individual Level Inputs: Salary of that Individual

• For Position level Inputs: Sum of Salary of Staff 1 + Staff 2 +…

Example on the Position Level A provider has seven Transition Coordinators working to transition older Americans back into the community from Skilled Nursing Facilities. Each Transition Coordinator makes $50,000 annually.

• Base Wages = 7 × $50,000 = $350,000

• Input the Transition Coordinators’ Base Wages into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet by entering “Transition Coordinator” in Column A, “7” in Column B, and $350,000 in Column C, as shown here:

Example on the Individual Level A provider has two employees providing Nutrition Counseling:

• Alex is a registered dietitian making $50,000 as an annual salary.

• Julia is a nutrition counselor making $60,000 as an annual salary.

• Input Alex and Julia’s Base Wages into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet by entering each name in Column A, “1” in Column B, and the respective salary in Column C, as shown here:

How providers can input Base Wages in the UCM

• The Base Wage for each staff member (or staff type) should be entered into Column C of the UCM Personnel spreadsheet.

Fringe Benefits Rate (Column D)

Definition of Fringe Benefits

• Fringe benefits, or “perks”, are non-wage compensation provided by employers to employees, in addition to their regular salary.

• These can vary based on employer, but common examples include a 401k, workmen’s compensation, health insurance, FICA, paid vacation, tuition assistance and more.

o The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) is a tax paid in part by some employers that goes towards funding Social Security and Medicare programs. These contributions help provide for those that are retired, disabled, or sick.

Purpose of Fringe Benefits in the UCM

• The Fringe Benefits Rate is the percentage of salary that represents the fringe benefits costs that a provider incurs on behalf of their personnel.

• It is part of an employee’s total compensation package, and part of the total cost of employing staff, in addition to their salaries and wages earned. Hence it is captured as a cost in the UCM.

• In the UCM Spreadsheet, the Fringe Benefits Rate is multiplied by Base Wages to calculate Fringe Benefits Dollars. This is then utilized in the calculation of Total Wages and Benefits Cost to help calculate unit cost per service. Additional explanation is provided in the “Support_Outputs” section.

Documentation providers should gather to calculate Fringe Benefits

• Existing payroll documentation for all staff

Note: The Finance Department of your organization may provide a company-wide Fringe Benefits Rate, which would negate the need to calculate this rate.

Methodology for calculating Fringe Benefits Rate

• To calculate Fringe Benefits Rate, fringe benefits costs are divided by annual salaries per employee. This decimal is then multiplied by 100%.

Fringe Benefits Rates = Fringe Benefits Costs

Annual Salary or Base Wage × 100%

Example of calculating Fringe Benefits Rate Annually, Pat’s FICA is $5,000, health insurance is $10,000, and pension is $4,000. He does not receive worker’s compensation or any other benefits. Pat’s annual salary, or Base Wage, is $85,000.

1) Sum the fringe benefits costs: $5,000 + $10,000 + $4,000 = $19,000

2) Divide the fringe benefits cost by the salary: $19,000 ÷ $85,000 = 0.224

3) Multiply by 100% to get a rate: 0.224 × 100% = 22.4%

Pat’s Fringe Benefits Rate is 22.4%. This value would get entered in the Personnel Inputs tab’s Column D and the row associated with Pat, as seen in the image below.

How providers can input Fringe Benefits into the spreadsheet In the UCM Personnel Inputs tab, providers should input the Fringe Benefits Rate for each staff member or position into Column D.

Productive Hours (Column E)

Definition of Productive Hours

• Productive Hours are actual hours spent on work-related tasks, excluding vacation, holidays, sick leave, and any other absences such as parental leave.

• Productive Hours are a portion of Annual Hours, as shown in green below. The other elements of Annual Hours, in orange, are not included in Productive Hours, since these are not hours spent on actual work.

Purpose of Productive Hours in the UCM

• The UCM only reimburses costs for productive hours, so costs for non-productive hours need to be removed from the work week.

• They are the basis of calculating Percentage of Staff Time spent on services or cost pools.

Without it, the amount of time and cost allocated to each service or cost pool cannot be determined, and unit cost per service cannot be calculated.

Documentation providers should gather to calculate Productive Hours

• Previous time studies or timesheets

• Holiday and leave policies

Note: If this documentation does not exist, providers should calculate Productive Hours by multiplying the number of hours worked per week by 52 weeks.

Methodology for calculating Productive Hours

• Deduct hours for any annual leave or non-productive time from annual hours.

• Productive Hours = Annual Hours – (Holidays + Vacation + Sick Leave + Other Leave)

Example of calculating Productive Hours Pat is a full-time Administrative Director at an adult day care who leads staff and spearheads projects.

• Pat works full-time, at 40 hours/week:

• Annual Hours = 40 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 2,080 hours

• Per his annual leave policy, he has 8 days holidays, 10 vacation days and 6 sick days.

• Annual Leave Hours = (8 + 10 + 6) = 24 days

• 24 days × 8 hours/day = 192 hours

• Pat does not anticipate taking other leave.

• Productive Hours = 2,080 – 192 = 1,888

Enter this in the Personnel Inputs Sheet Column E.

How providers can input values in the spreadsheet In the personnel spreadsheet, providers will enter annual Productive Hours by either staff type or per each individual staff member into Column E.

Hour Types (Column F, G, H-AF)

Definitions of Hour Types

Hour Type Definition Typical Associated Positions

General Admin Hours Time spent on management or general activities, that are not specific to a service

• Executive Director

• Fiscal Office Staff

• Human Resources Staff

• Data Processing Office

Shared Building Space Hours

Time spent on building maintenance and upkeep, that are not specific to a service

• Janitorial Staff

• Security Officers

• Building Maintenance

Supervisors Billable Hours* Time spent directly assigned to a specific service

• Local Service Providers

• AAAs

All Other Hours Time not allocable to other hour types

• N/A

*General Admin staff may enter hours here if they spend time directly overseeing a service, based on supporting documentation.

Purpose of Hour Types in the UCM

• The UCM Spreadsheet uses General Admin, Shared Building Space, Billable, and All

Other Hours to calculate the Percentage of Staff Time per Service, and the Wages and Benefits Cost per service, which are necessary for unit cost per service calculations.

• All four Hour Types sum to Productive Hours in the figure below.

Documentation providers should gather to calculate Hour Types

• Employment contracts

• Holiday, sick leave, and other leave policies

• Timesheets with the number of hours spent on activities

Methodology for calculating Billable Hours

• Billable Hours = Total Annual Work Hours minus (Holiday + Sick + Vacation + Other Leave

+ Travel + Training + Administrative Time).

• General Admin Hours = Total Annual Work Hours minus (Holiday + Sick + Vacation +

Other Leave + Direct Service Hours).

• Shared Building Space Hours = Total Annual Work Hours minus (Holiday + Sick + Vacation

+ Other Leave + Direct Service Hours). Same as General Admin Hours.

• All Other Hours = Productive Hours minus (Billable + General Admin + Shared Building

Space Hours)

Example of calculating General Admin Hours Mary is an administrative assistant to a recreational coach who teaches and organizes tennis classes for senior centers through the Senior Recreation Service.

• She works full-time, at 40 hours/week

• Annual Hours = 40 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 2,080 hours

• Per her annual leave policy, she plans to use all 8 holidays, 10 vacation days and 3 sick days:

• Annual Leave Hours = (8 + 10 + 3 days) = 21 days = 21 days × 8 hours/day = 168 hours

• Mary spends no time on direct service delivery.

• Admin Hours = 2,080 – 168 = 1,912 hours

• Input Mary’s 1,912 Admin Hours into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet in

Column F and the row associated with Mary, as shown here:

Example of calculating Billable Hours Kyle is a recreational coach who teaches and organizes tennis classes for senior centers through the Senior Recreation Service.

• Kyle works 40 hours per week

• Annual Hours = (40 hours/week × 52 weeks/year) = 2,080 hours

• Per his annual leave policy, he has 10 holidays, 10 vacation days and 4 sick days:

• Annual Leave Hours = (10 + 10 + 4 days) = 24 days

• Similar to last year, Kyle anticipates he will spend 50 hours on training. He does not spend time on administrative tasks or have travel expenses.

• Total time to deduct from 2,080 equals:

• Holiday/Leave: (24 days × 8 hours/day) = 192 hours

• Training: 50 hours

• Total deductions: 192 + 50 = 242 hours

• Billable Hours = 2080 – 242 = 1,838 hours

Input Kyle’s 1,838 Billable Hours into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet in the column associated with the Senior Recreation Service, Column H below, and the row associated with Kyle, as shown here:

Example of calculating Billable Hours for two services Nick is a counselor at a healthcare organization who hosts group sessions for caregivers dealing with grief, and individual sessions for older adults going through lifestyle changes.

• He works full-time, at 40 hours/week. He spends 15 hours/week on group services and 25 hours/week on individual sessions:

• Group Annual Hours = 15 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 780 hours

• Individual Annual Hours = 25 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 1,300 hours

• Per his practice’s annual leave policy, he has 10 holidays, 10 vacation days and 8 sick days. These are divided equally amongst his services.

• Proportion of Group Annual Hours to Total Annual Hours: 780 ÷ (780 + 1,300) = 780 ÷

2,080 = 38%

• Annual Leave Hours = (10 + 10 + 8 days) = 28 days

• Group Annual Leave Hours: 38% × 28 days = 11 days

• 11 days × 8 hours/day = 88 hours

• Individual Leave Hours: 28 – 11 days = 17 days

• 17 days × 8 hours/day = 136 hours

• Similar to last year, Nick anticipates he will spend 10 hours on training for counseling overall. These are divided equally amongst his services.

• Group Training Hours = 10 hours ÷ 2 = 5 hours

• Individual Training Hours = 10 hours ÷ 2 = 5 hours

• He does not spend time on administrative tasks or have travel expenses.

• Group Billable Hours = 780 – 88 – 5 = 687 hours

• Individual Billable Hours = 1,300 – 136 – 5 = 1,159 hours

Input Nick’s Billable Hours into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet in the columns associated with the Group Counseling and Individual Counseling services, Columns H and I below, and the row associated with Nick, as shown here:

Example of calculating General Admin and Billable Hours Taylor is a manager at a legal firm that provides Elderly Legal Assistance services. She mainly partakes in administrative paperwork, but she does provide some direct help to clients weekly.

• She works full-time, at 40 hours/week.

• Admin Annual Hours = 40 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 2,080 hours

• Per her annual leave policy, she has 10 holidays, 5 vacation days and 4 sick days.

• Annual Leave Hours = (10 + 5 + 4 days) = 19 days

• 19 days × 8 hours/day = 152 hours

• She spends 2 hours/week directly providing Elderly Legal Assistance. This is her Direct

Service Time or Billable Hours.

• Direct Service Time = Billable Hours = 2 hours/week × 52 weeks/year = 104 hours

• General Admin Hours = 2,080 – 152 – 104 = 1,824 hours

Input Taylor’s General Admin Hours into the Personnel Inputs tab of the spreadsheet in Column F and the row associated with Taylor. Input her Elderly Legal Assistance Billable Hours in the column associated with that service, Column H below, and the same row. This is shown here:

How providers can input them into the spreadsheet Enter the calculated value into either the General Admin Hours column (Column F), the Shared Building Space Hours columns (Column G), or the Billable Hours columns under the corresponding service (Column H, etc.) for the line associated with each staff.

SUPPORT_INPUTS SHEET

Expenses (Lines 7-89)

Definition of Expenses

• Expenses entered in the Support Spreadsheet represent money spent in the process of providing a service, that do not directly relate to employee compensation.

• These are usually physical items or supplies.

• They may also be services or activities, such as rent or utilities.

Expense Categories There are different types of Expenses, which can be categorized into goods, services, or capital.

• Goods are physical items, such as supplies, food, or clothes.

• Services are intangible activities, such as vehicle maintenance and utilities.

• Capital is assets that can be used for multiple years to generate more money, such as buildings or cars.

Types of Expenses

Expense Type Definition Example Expenses

Staff Travel Expenses

Money spent on business-related travel • Mileage reimbursement

• Per Diem reimbursement

Vehicle Operating Expenses*

Money spent for the operation and maintenance of vehicles used for business purposes

• Gas and oil / maintenance

• Insurance

Building Expenses Money spent to maintain or lease physical facilities. For owned properties, depreciation, or decrease in value, is also accounted for in this section

• Insurance / rent / utilities

• Maintenance / janitor** / repairs

Computer Operating Expenses

Money spent on the purchase and maintenance of computers used to complete work

• Purchase

• Maintenance / janitor**

/ repairs

Capital Equipment Expenses

Money spent on items that last more than a year and cost $5,000+

• Maintenance

• Depreciation or usage fees

Supply Expenses Money spent on materials, goods, or products necessary for the operation and delivery of services

• Advertising / printing / shipping

• Background checks / drug tests

Service Contracts Cost of Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) contracts* or any service contracts

• Service contracts

Congregate Meal Cost Only

Costs associated with preparing meals in communal settings

• Raw food

• Labor

Congregate Meal Management Only

Costs associated with serving meals in communal settings

• Labor

• Building expenses

Home Delivered Meal Cost Only

Costs associated with preparing meals for at-home settings

• Raw food

• Labor

Home Delivered Meal Management Only

Costs associated with serving meals for at-home settings

• Meal delivery

• Labor

Other Operating Costs

Costs incurred for business operations that are not specifically categorized under other expense items

• Agency indirect / audits / legal

*Requires certain staff to be listed on the Personnel Inputs tab (i.e., a driver or SCSEP staff) **Janitor cannot be captured on Personnel Inputs tab, if chosen to include in expenses.

Purpose

• To capture the supplies and services costs incurred and allocate them to specific services or cost pools to calculate unit costs per service.

• Cost pools are groupings of expenses that are related to an activity or function. The four

UCM cost pools within the Support Spreadsheet are the General Administrative Cost Pool, Shared Building Space Cost Pool, Support Cost Pool, and Client/Meal Transportation Pool, which are depicted below:

Cost Pools vs. Services

• Expenses should be assigned to services only if there is supporting documentation that ties them to a service. Otherwise, they will be auto-assigned to a cost pool.

• If a computer was bought to be used only for one service, Tutoring, then the computer’s cost would be allocated to that service. If that computer was purchased to be used for multiple services, Tutoring and Counseling, then it would get allocated to the General Admin Cost Pool.

• Cost pools that expenses can be allocated to varies by expense per this table:

Cost Pool Expenses Allocated to Cost Pool

General Admin • Wages & Benefits

• Staff Travel Expenses

• Computer Operation Expenses

• Capital Equipment Expenses

• Other Operating Costs

Shared Building Space • Building Expenses

• Wages and Benefits

Client/Meal Transportation • Vehicle Operating Expenses

Support • Supply Expenses

• Service Contracts

Documentation providers should gather to calculate and input expenses

• Documentation from general ledger statements, paid invoices, vouchers, and logs/journal entries

• Vendor Contracts (for Service Contract Expenses)

Methodology for calculating Support Spreadsheet expenses The Support Spreadsheet expenses are derived from supporting documentation, and providers should assign costs to specific services if the documentation exists to do so. The remaining expenses not assigned to specific services will be automatically entered in their respective cost pools.

1. Enter each total line-item expense in Column B of the Support Inputs tab.

2. Allocate total expenses to services or allow them to auto-allocate to a cost pool.

Example of service allocation only Jane is a provider that organizes senior center outings for older adults. Luke is a driver, listed on the Personnel Inputs tab’s Column A Staff List, that Jane has hired to take them to these outings.

• Gas is $500 annually.

• Enter $500 in line 13’s Column B and the “Transportation – Individual” Service Column.

• Car insurance is $1,000 for the year.

• Enter $1,000 in line 14’s Column B and the “Transportation – Individual” Service Column.

• Car maintenance, such as oil changes and tire rotations, was $250 throughout the year.

• Enter $250 in line 15’s Column B and the “Transportation – Individual” Service Column.

• These inputs are shown below:

• If these expenses were not allocated to the “Transportation – Individual” Service Column, they would be automatically allocated to the Client/Meal Transportation Cost Pool in Column F.

Example of service and cost pool allocation Suzy is a counselor for both individual clients and groups. She uses her computer to communicate with clients to schedule and provide these services.

• Computer maintenance was needed to repair broken keys and clear viruses, which cost

$100 over the course of the year.

• Enter $100 line 29’s in Column B

• She also needed to buy a new charger and mouse for $50.

• Enter $50 line 30’s in Column B

• She took a virtual training course on group counseling for $25.

• Enter $25 line 31’s Column B and the “Counseling – Group” Service Column.

These inputs are shown below:

Suzy’s computer training was specifically for group counseling; therefore, it is allocated to that service. The other expenses with general costs associated with her job are auto-allocated to the General Administrative Cost Pool in Column D.

Depreciation Definition

• Depreciation is the process of spreading the cost of an asset over the period of time it is intended to be used.

• Commonly used to measure the cost of long-term, physical assets, such as buildings and equipment.

• In the UCM, depreciation is calculated for building expenses and capital equipment expenses.

Depreciation Methodology

• Straight-line depreciation is the most common method of depreciation used on an organization’s financial statements.

• It allocates the cost of the asset evenly over time.

• Other depreciation methods may be used in the UCM if supporting justification and calculation is provided.

• Providers may want to consult with their financial specialist to confirm methodology and calculation.

• Annual depreciation expenses are commonly calculated as:

Depreciation Expenses= Asset's Cost-Salvage Value

Useful Life

Term Definition

Asset's Cost Cost of purchasing asset

Useful life The number of years the asset is expected to be used

Salvage value The amount that could be obtained by selling the asset at the end of its useful life

Depreciation Example

• On July 1, 2022, Elizabeth purchased a company vehicle for $10,500 to deliver meals to seniors.

• Elizabeth initially paid $10,500 for the vehicle.

• Asset’s Cost = $10,500

• The estimated amount that the car will be worth at the end of its use is $2,000, because it depreciates each year from wear and tear.

• Salvage Value: $2,000

• The estimated amount of time the car can be utilized for is 10 years.

• Useful life: 10 years

Annual Depreciation Expenses= $10,500 - $2,000

= $850

• Input $850 in line 35 in Column B for Capital Equipment Expenses in the Support Inputs

Tab, as shown below:

SUPPORT_INPUTS SPREADSHEET

Cost Pool Section: Service Subcontract Allowance (Line 96) Please note that this section is only completed if there is a contract of over $50,000 involved.

Purpose of the Service Subcontract Allowance in the UCM

• To prevent overestimating the general administrative costs for larger contracts.

• The Office of Management and Budget only considers $25,000 of large contracts to be attributable to general administrative costs for contracts over $50,000. Any excess of this amount is not used to distribute costs from the General Administrative Cost Pool to services.

• Example: Jane is a provider and contracts with Bob to do some plumbing work on the bathrooms in her recreational center. The amount of time and cost Bob spends on completing paperwork does not differ if the contract is $100,000 or $150,000. Therefore, a flat $25,000 rate for the general administrative cost of this contract is applied, regardless of the contract price.

Documentation providers should gather to enter the Service Subcontract Allowance

• Vendor contracts

• Invoices

• Receipts

Methodology to calculate the Service Subcontract Allowance

• Service Subcontract Adjustment = Contract Amount - $25,000

Example of calculating the Service Subcontract Allowance Tony is a provider of two services: Map Habits (Service 1) to help older Americans organize their routines, and Intake (Service 2) of abuse and neglect reports.

• Tony contracts a software designer for $60,000 for Service 1 who takes the organizational ideas Tony has and turns them into visuals for an elder to see.

• Service 1 Subcontract Adjustment = $60,000 - $25,000 = $35,000

• There is no service subcontract for Service 2.

• Service 2 Subcontract Adjustment = $0

• Input Tony’s Service Subcontract Adjustment in line 96 of the Support Inputs tab under the column associated with Service 1, Map Habits, as shown below:

Please refer to the Cost Pool Section portion of the Support Outputs area of this manual for information on how this input is used and the methodology behind related auto-calculations.

Cost Pool Section: Reallocate Shared Building Space (Line 99) Purpose of the Reallocated Shared Building Space in the UCM

• To allocate costs in the Shared Building Space Cost Pool to the General Administrative

Cost Pool and services, if multiple services are used in a building

Documentation providers should gather to calculate Reallocated Shared Building Space

• Salaries or payroll documents

• Building blueprints or square footage documentation

• Receipts

Methodology to calculate the Reallocated Shared Building Space

• Square Footage is a measurement taken of a room or space

• Salary Ratio = (Sum of all salaries per Service / Sum of all salaries of workers using the space) * Square footage of space

Example of calculating the Reallocated Shared Building Space A building has three rooms and houses five services.

• Total Building Expenses are $100,000 and need to be allocated among the five services housed in the building.

• The building is 5,000 square feet.

• Room 1 houses Alzheimer’s service; Room 2 houses Congregate Meal services; Room 3 houses Homemaker Services, Nutrition Counseling Services, and another Office of Management (OM) service.

• Room 1 accounts for 500 square feet of the building space and is devoted to the delivery of

Alzheimer’s services.

• Square Footage for Room 1 = 500 sq ft

• Room 2 accounts for 2,000 square feet of the building space and is used for the provision of Congregate Meals services. The site includes the kitchen for preparing meals and the dining room for serving.

• Square Footage for Room 2 = 2,000 sq ft

• Room 3 is 2,500 square feet, but it is not possible to determine the space split amongst the three services with physical measurements: Homemaker Services, Nutrition Counseling Services, and Office of Management (OM) service.

• A salary ratio needs to be calculated for Room 3:

• Two homemakers use Room 3 with $50,000 salaries each.

• Sum of Homemaker Service Salaries in Room 3 = 2 × $50,000 = $100,000

• Two nutrition counselors use Room 3 with $65,000 salaries each.

• Sum of Nutrition Counseling Services Salaries in Room 3 = 2 × $65,000 =

$130,000

• One office manager using Room 3 makes $60,000.

• Sum of OM Salaries in Room 3 = $60,000

• Sum of all Salaries in Room 3 = $100,000 + $130,000 + $60,000 = $290,000

• Salary Ratios are needed to split the room’s square footage.

• Homemaker Services = $100,000 ÷ $290,000 = 34%

• Nutrition Counseling = $130,000 ÷ $290,000 = 45%

• Office Management = $60,000 ÷ $290,000 = 21%

Check that ratio equal 100%: 34% + 45% + 21% = 100%

• Room 3 is 2,500 square feet.

• Homemaker Services = 34% × 2,500 = 850 sq ft

• Nutrition Counseling = 45% × 2,500 = 1,125 sq ft

• Office Management = 21% × 2,500 = 525 sq ft

• Below is a depiction of how salary ratios were used divide Room 3:

• Input the square footages in line 99 of the Support Inputs tab under the column associated with each service, as shown below:

Please refer to the Cost Pool Sections portion of the Support Outputs area of this manual for information on how square footage input is used to automatically reallocate Shared Building Space Cost Pool expenses into the General Administrative Cost Pool and services.

Cost Pool Section: Billing Units (Line 101) Purpose of Billing Units in the UCM

• A billing unit is how one unit of measure is defined for each service.

• By dividing total costs by the number of billing units, the unit cost per service is determined:

• Actual Cost Per Unit of Service = Total Actual Costs By Service ÷ Number of Billing Units

Documentation providers should gather to input Billing Units

• Invoices

• Service receipt documentation

Methodology for calculating Billing Units

1) Refer to the Taxonomy’s Column E for a service’s Method of Reimbursement

a) If the Method of Reimbursement is “Unit Cost”, then refer to the Taxonomy’s Column C for how a billing unit is defined per service. Estimate the number of billing units to deliver this year based on last year’s number (if available)

b) If the Method of Reimbursement is “Line Item”, then enter “1” as the Billing Unit

Example of Calculating Billing Units Ryan is a Congregate Meals provider. The Taxonomy states a unit of service for Congregate Meals is one meal.

• Ryan has a log of last year’s services provided. He provided 2,000 meals last year.

• Billing units = 2,000 meals

• Input billing units in line 101 of the Support Inputs tab under the column associated with the service, as shown below:

SUPPORT_INPUTS SPREADSHEET

In-kind Donations (Lines 103-115)

Definition of In-Kind In-kind Donations are any benefits you derived, which you did not pay for. They are also referred to as Donated Personnel or Non-Cash Match in the UCM spreadsheet. Below are examples of in-kind donations:

Type of In-kind Donation Examples Personnel Volunteers or unpaid staff Fringe Benefits Non-wage compensation that a paid worker would receive Travel Transportation (flights, train passes,…