Information for Participant Employers

• Assists with enrollments of the participant, employer, and employee by collecting all required paperwork necessary for the IRS, state, and local taxing authorities, and the Department of Labor.
• Acumen fulfills all employer and employee tax withholding and reporting requirements. These include employee payroll deductions, processing payments for the employer, and sending employer and employee taxes to state, federal, and local taxing authorities on the employer’s behalf.
• Handles and prepares employee W-2 and 1099s to vendors and subcontractors.
• Provides reports and account statements that allow the employer to track spending plans (authorizations/budgets).
• Processes payroll and then bills the funding source.

• Determines participant’s eligibility
• Determines support needed
• Creates Plan of Care
• Develops authorization/budget/spending plan

• Represents the participant (or the client) by handling the day-to-day business matters of the account.
• Recognized by the IRS as a person who employs workers and pays wages in compensation.
• Recruits, hires, supervises, and terminates employees.
• Establishes pay rates according to program and state guidelines.
• Ensures that all new-hire paperwork is complete and turned in to Acumen to finalize the hiring process.
• Keeps and secures all employee records (such as time sheets and records, daily logs, documentation, and disciplinary actions).
• Provides a safe work environment, trains, and supervises the day-to-day work of those providing home care assistance.
• Reviews, approves, and submits employee time records to Acumen.
• Reviews account statements from Acumen and ensures they are correct.

Works for the employer and provides services and supports described in the Plan of Care to the participant. Employees provide home or community-based care. The participant served is identified by the waiver or funding source and is generally comprised of the following populations:

• Individuals with developmental disabilities
• Individuals with intellectual disabilities
• Individuals with physical disabilities
• Individuals with brain injuries
• Aging adults
• Veterans

Acumen utilizes Direct Care Innovations (DCI) system, which provides employers with budget/allotment authorization information, including usage and remaining balances. Please note: Employer login and password information were provided in the employer Good to Go letter. To learn more about the reports available, view our Reports Guide.

In addition, many programs provide employers with account statements that detail (1) the amount being paid to employees and (2) the amount being paid for employer taxes. Account statements are emailed to your DCI account (check your mailbox icon within DCI). With these tools it is easy to monitor the budget/allotment/authorization.

If you are not receiving services from Acumen and have general questions, please contact our Customer Services Department. You can either call our general toll-free customer service line at (877) 211-3738 or click on the interactive map to find the toll-free phone and fax number designated for your state/program. Our main office hours of operation are 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MST. If you call before or after regular business hours, your call will be returned within one business day. You can also email with a question through our contact us form.

If you are in the process of enrolling or are active as a consumer of Acumen services, please contact your assigned Acumen agent. Phone numbers for local offices and their hours of business will be located at the bottom of the Acumen state specific page.

We are required to deduct taxes from a participant’s budget/allotment/authorization for employer taxes. These can include workers’ compensation, federal and state unemployment taxes, Medicare, and Social Security taxes. The taxes that are deducted from the employee’s paycheck are the same taxes that would be taken out if he/she worked anywhere else. These are dependent on individual state tax requirements, but generally include federal and state income taxes, FICA, and Medicare.

You must fill out and submit a direct deposit form and a blank, voided check. You have four options for obtaining forms:

• Visit your state-specific page on our website. Select your state from the interactive map or from the list of states. Scroll down to the program that you are a participant in and select what type of form you are looking for.
• You can email enrollment@acumen2.net and request forms.
• You can email or contact your local agent and request forms.
• You may call Acumen at (877) 211-3738 and request forms.

Direct deposit will start two to three pay periods after the direct deposit paperwork has been processed.

If your employee is not going to be paid or will be shorted pay, the employer will be contacted via email or telephone prior to the check date but after processing has closed. Please refer to the program-specific schedule for pay periods, due dates, and check dates.

Below are some examples including but not limited to why Acumen was unable to process time submitted. Not all of these may apply to your specific program.

• Employer/employee/participant may not be active
• Insufficient dollars or units in a budget/allotment
• Duplicated hours
• Overlapping hours
• Exceeding weekly hours
• Exceeding max hours per day
• Exceeding monthly hours
• CPR/first aid or other certifications have expired
• Lack of cost share payment

There are a few issues in which Acumen will make a best attempt to reach the employer for clarification and/or corrections during the payroll processing:

• Missing or incorrect AM/PM
• Missing or incorrect dates
• Missing signatures and/or signature dates
• Illegible time sheets
• Missing service codes

Please note that Acumen strictly adheres to the pay schedules, and an employee may not be paid in the regular payroll if his or her time sheet or web time is submitted after the due date. These instances will result in the employee being paid in the next regularly scheduled payroll, and no phone call will be made.

You must fill out and submit a direct deposit form and a blank, voided check. You have four options for obtaining forms:

• Visit your state-specific page on our website. Select your state from the interactive map or from the list of states. Scroll down to the program that you are a participant in and select what type of form you are looking for.
• You can email enrollment@acumen2.net and request forms.
• You can email or contact your local agent and request forms.
• You may call Acumen at (877) 211-3738 and request forms.

The following are reasons why an employee is inactive:

• We received termination paperwork from the employer.
• We have not received all the forms, or we have received the forms, but they are not accurate and/or completely filled out, making them ineligible to provide services.
• The employee’s certification has lapsed, and Acumen Fiscal Agent has not received updated information. When this occurs the account that connects the employee to the service is automatically inactivated. The enrollment team will activate the account once the updated certification has been submitted.

It depends on how long it takes for the employer or employee to submit all the employee enrollment forms. The forms must be accurately and completely filled out. Once we receive a form, it will be processed within two business days.

We need to have received the following:

• All necessary participant, employer, and employee enrollment forms that are completed correctly.
• The participant’s budget/allotment/authorization showing funding amounts for approved services. Budgets/allotments/authorizations are generally provided to Acumen by the support coordinator/case manager or pulled directly from the state funding website.
• Each program may have specific enrollment requirements. Time may vary depending on other agency’s task completion outside of Acumen’s control.

You need to check with your state funding source/program. In most states the answer is yes. Within the rules established by your program, you have the flexibility to employ all of your supports directly, or you can buy just the pieces you want from an agency. You can mix and match support options as your needs change. Acumen Fiscal Agent will be there to help you with the fiscal agent tasks related to the services you are self-directing. Acumen Fiscal Agent is one of the largest and oldest fiscal employer agents in the nation. We help thousands of individuals and their families take charge of the supports they receive.

Being an employer is not for everyone. You are encouraged to weigh the pros and cons of choosing each service model. There are provider agencies in states that do a good job and should be considered, but if you want to employ your own support staff, be in total control of your support services, do some paperwork, and receive more services for your money, then Acumen Fiscal Agent is your choice.

A provider agency is the employer for the employees that provide support services. If you use a provider agency, they have the employer responsibilities, which include hiring, training, scheduling, and processing payroll and tax filing for themselves as the employer and their staff. This will typically come at a higher cost.

With Acumen Fiscal Agent and self-direction, the individual receiving services is the employer or has identified another individual to act as the employer. Therefore, you recruit, hire, schedule, and train your own employees. This generally means more support for the same dollars and more control for the individual receiving services.

A Fiscal Employer Agent (FEA), also known as a Fiscal Intermediary (FI) and a Financial Management Service (FMS) are required by Medicaid rules to assist those that choose a self-direction option where the individual has “budget authority.” The FEA ensures that payroll, taxes, and other legal employment requirements are met. Acumen ensures that the correct enrollment paperwork is completed by the employer and employee, pays employees and vendors, and submits required payroll taxes for the employer and employee according to federal and state rules.