Technical time applied by employees is used in planning and creation of the SB/SE Examination Plan and the LB&I Annual Program Plan for monitoring each area to ensure the plans will be met. Fiscal year plans are developed by Headquarters (HQ) using time data and input from areas or practice areas. After final approval, plans are incorporated in the Internal Revenue Service Operating Financial Plan. Time is captured for technical employees by the activities an employee performs each day. Employees must account for the daily number of hours matching the employee's work schedule. Refer to IRM 4.7.5, ERCS Group and Territory, for more information about charging time in the group. Refer to the Employee Records chapter of the ERCS Group Handbook for more information about setting up the employee's work schedule. At the end of each reporting cycle, time charges are extracted from ERCS, validated, and transmitted to the Martinsburg Computing Center (MCC). There the data goes through a second validation process and is extracted for inclusion on Table 37, Examination Program Monitoring. The data is also sent to the Audit Information Management System (AIMS) Centralized Information System (ACIS). ACIS data is available to HQ analysts and upper level management for their specific area or practice area to create reports and to monitor time data against the Examination Plan or the Annual Program Plan.

IRM 4.1.1, Planning and Special Programs - Planning, Monitoring, and Coordination, contains details for PSP to monitor time applied and use historical time charges to prepare the Examination Plan.

IRM 4.4.12, AIMS Procedures and Processing Instructions - Examined Closings, Surveyed Claims, and Partial Assessments, contains instructions on entering applied time on Form 5344, Examination Closing Record.

IRM 4.4.27, AIMS Procedures and Processing Instructions - Reports, contains requirements to work Table 10.1(B), $100,000 Case Listing $50,000 or Greater Delete Case Listing, with regards to applied time and dollar amounts on accomplishments.

IRM 4.7.4, Examination Returns Control System (ERCS) - Planning and Special Programs (PSP), contains information about PSP’s use of SETTS time in the creation of the Examination Plan and to ensure the field has the correct amount and type of inventory to accomplish the plan. It also contains information for employees in PSP required to input time.

IRM 4.7.5, Examination Returns Control System (ERCS) - Group and Territory, contains requirements for employees in exam groups with respect to time input.

IRM 4.7.7, Examination Returns Control System (ERCS) - Technical Services, contains requirements for employees in Technical Services (TS) with respect to time input.

Technical employees are responsible for the following:

Administrative Support employees are responsible for the following:

The manager is responsible for the following:

The AIMS/ERCS staff is responsible for the following:

The HQ ERCS and HQ SETTS analysts will assist the AIMS/ERCS analysts with validation issues. They will also coordinate with the programmers to identify and correct programs causing inaccurate data. In addition, the HQ SETTS analysts will review potential time input errors for returns closed during the cycle.

Reports to monitor SETTS time charges are available through ERCS and ACIS. Additionally, Table 37 provides a summary report of return data from AIMS and employee and time data from SETTS. These reports provide Headquarters and Field Examination analysts and management with timely and reliable information regarding technical time charges.

A Business Entitlement Access Request System (BEARS) request is required for ERCS and IMS access to update records and input time. These systems contain security checks to ensure only authorized users have access and users are kept within the boundaries of their permissions.

There are numerous program validations to ensure the validity of the time data. It is validated when entered, when extracted, and again when it reaches the MCC server.

Manual validations are also performed each cycle by an HQ SETTS analyst who oversees the program validation process.

See Exhibit 4.9.1-6, Acronyms, for acronyms used in this IRM.

The following documents and websites contain information related to technical time charges:

The following IRMs provide information and user instructions concerning topics related to technical time:

The following ERCS Handbooks contain information about ERCS employee records and applying time:

Information from the ERCS employee record is used for time reporting and included in the SETTS file. The items with asterisks below are pulled from the employee record and cannot be changed by the user. It is essential to update the employee record as soon as changes are known and prior to the last day of the reporting cycle so the data used to generate Table 37 is correct. In particular the following unmarked items must be kept current. Refer to Document 6036 for information on the position code, employee status, and AAC. Refer to the ZipPOD tables for information on POD codes:

When time applied to returns or no-return DET activities (activity codes between 001 and 599) is extracted from ERCS for SETTS, the time is grouped by the codes listed below. Some of the codes come from the return record on ERCS or IMS, some come from the time charge records, and some are set by the ERCS program. To ensure the time is recorded with the correct codes for SETTS, the group should verify the codes listed below prior to applying the first time charge to the return. In addition, it is essential to update these codes as soon as changes are known:

When time applied to non-return activities is extracted from ERCS for SETTS, it is grouped by activity code. This data comes from the time charge record. Time should never be applied to a non-return activity code to fill in missing time for an employee. Doing so will make it appear the employee's time is complete for the reporting cycle and may result in the SETTS data being extracted before the group has a chance to correct the time.

The SETTS file consists of four line types. The lines in the file start with a 0, 1, 2, or 3, depending on the type of data in the line:

There is one header line for each employee. The header line contains information about the employee from the ERCS employee record. Data in the header line includes the following:

The DET line consists of all time charges to Activity Codes 001-599. These consist of time charges to returns, penalty records, and DET activities that may or may not be associated with an ERCS record. Data in the DET line includes the following:

The non-DET line consists of all time charges to activity codes above 600. These are mainly time charges to overhead types of activities and leave.

The totals line is a single line for each employee consisting of totals for lines one and two. The first number is the line type and is always set to 3.

The employee ID is a five-digit number which is pulled from the ERCS employee record. This number is generated by ERCS when an employee record is added to the system.

The position code is a three-digit number pulled from the ERCS employee record. Position codes are input by the user when an ERCS employee record is added or updated.

Position codes which correspond to "management" are restricted from applying time on cases. Valid activity codes for managers are activity codes greater than 600.

The table below reflects some miscellaneous position codes. Refer to Document 6036 for a complete listing with the descriptions.

The following table contains all the position codes valid on ERCS and if SETTS time is required:

The employee status is a two-digit number set by the ERCS program. It is used to reflect the employee's current status or a change in status during a given reporting cycle; such as promotion to management, grade changes, position code changes, etc. Refer to Document 6036 for information on employee statuses.

The duplicate employee code is a two-digit number used to identify a duplicate time report for an individual. This code is used so employees are not counted twice if more than one time report is submitted during the same cycle. This can happen if an employee is transferred to another area or practice area or if an employee’s time from a prior cycle is appended to the current cycle. Duplicate Employee Code 01 indicates this time report is the primary report and the employee should be counted. Duplicate Employee Code 00 indicates this is an additional time report for the employee and the employee should not be counted again.

When an employee moves to another area or practice area during a reporting cycle, the time report for the losing area or practice area will have a code of 00. The receiving area or practice area will have a code of 01. The program uses the employee status to set this code in the SETTS file. When an employee’s time report from a prior cycle is appended to the SETTS file, the user needs to verify the code is 00 on the appended record.

Time is entered in ERCS and IMS in whole hours, partial hours, or a combination of whole and partial hours. Partial hours are entered for 15 minute intervals as shown in the chart below:

The SETTS file has several hours fields. The DET lines contain the current month hours and the cumulative hours for each unique combination of P of RB code, activity code, SSC, DET other PBC, source code, project code, tracking code, ARC, LCC Code, and PBBA Indicator. The non-DET lines contain the current month hours for each unique activity code. The totals line contains various total hours fields including the total time applied by the employee during the cycle. This final total must be within the maximum number of hours allowed for the cycle.

When appending time reports from a prior cycle to the SETTS file, the cumulative hours must be zeroed out.

Examination employees throughout the IRS spend a considerable amount of time attempting to prevent the erroneous release of money back to a taxpayer. As such, it is very important for the IRS to capture time spent on these activities, as well as any results associated with them. We refer to this as "Protection of Revenue Base (P of RB)," or "Revenue Base Protection (RBP)." The most common example of this would be time spent working a "claim for refund."

The P of RB field also identifies time charges to shelter returns, nonfiler returns, and applied review time. Valid codes include the following:

An "N" is used to record applied time to returns when no other P of RB codes apply and when time is applied to Activity Codes 501–599.

Generally, "P" time must be reported if all of the following are true:

An "R" is used to record applied time examining non-P of RB issues for the same tax year when the following is applicable:

Time charges may be applied to both "P" and "R" on the same return on the same day and should be recorded on separate lines on the time input document. Refer to Protection of Revenue Base in the ERCS book in the Virtual Library for detailed instructions concerning P of RB time.

An "S" is used to record applied time examining shelter issues. It should never be used when there is a data inconsistency blocking the correct P of RB code "P" , "R" , or "N" from being used. If a data issue exists and cannot be resolved by the user, the user should contact his or her AIMS/ERCS staff for assistance.

A "Q" is used by TS employees along with a specific SSC to record review activities associated with returns. Refer to IRM 4.7.7, Technical Services, for specific instructions on time reporting for TS employees. The SSCs valid with a P of RB code "Q" are as follows:

A "C" is set by the ERCS program in the SETTS file when a nonfiler examination is completed and a return has not been secured.

The activity code is a six-digit number consisting of a three-digit first segment code and a three-digit SSC. The first three digits are commonly referred to as the activity code, and the last three digits are commonly referred to as the SSC.

Activity codes less than 500 are return related and identify the type and class of return examined. These activity codes require a SSC which is set by the ERCS programs based on other fields on the return such as source code, claim features, etc.

The SSC provides detail management data. The first digit of the SSC indicates program monitoring, the second digit indicates category, and the third digit indicates special feature. See Exhibit 4.9.1-2, Direct Examination/ Compliance SSCs, for information about the parts of an SSC.

When time is applied to a return, the SSC on the return is associated with the time charge record with the following exception. When time is applied by a TS employee and "Q" is entered in the P of RB field, the user must enter a direct review time SSC. This code is used to indicate the type of review activity performed. See IRM 4.9.1.5.6 (8) for a list of valid review time SSCs.

SSCs for Activity Codes 501-598 are set by the ERCS program to 000, with the exception of Activity Codes 521, 548, 575, 588, and 599. Activity Codes 521 and 588 can have a SSC of 000 or 040. Activity Codes 548, 575, and 599 can have multiple SSCs. The SSCs for these exceptions must be input by the user when applying time. See also Exhibit 4.9.1-3, SSCs for Activity Code 548, and Exhibit 4.9.1-4, SSCs for Activity Code 575, and Exhibit 4.9.1-5, SSCs for Activity Code 599, for a list of SSCs valid for these activity codes.

SSCs are not valid for Activity Codes 600-905.

The DET other PBC is a three-digit code used to identify work performed for other BODs, areas, or practice areas. This code represents the PBC being supported and is set by ERCS in the SETTS file. All SB/SE and LB&I PBCs are valid. The following table shows examples of how the DET other PBC is set:

Support work is work performed by another area or practice area to assist in an examination. Examples include collateral reports, engineer valuations, computer audit specialist reviews, etc. The time applied to the support work is charged to the return on ERCS and IMS. This does not include work performed by employees detailed to the SB/SE area, LB&I practice area or TS.

The source code is pulled from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return. Otherwise, for time charges to Activity Codes 500-599, the source code is set to 99. See Document 6036 for a list of valid source codes. See the Source Code Job Aid for more information about how the source codes are used.

The project code is pulled from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return or penalty/non-aims record. Otherwise, for time charges to Activity Codes 500-599, the project code is set to 0000. See the Project Code Listing for nationally defined project codes. See the Project Code Listing - SB/SE Local Codes for SB/SE locally defined project codes and the LB&I Project and Tracking Codes for LB&I locally defined project codes.

The tracking code is pulled from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return or penalty/non-aims record. Otherwise, for time charges to Activity Codes 500-599, the tracking code is set to 0000. See Tracking Codes for a list of nationally defined tracking codes. The local list of tracking codes may be generated by the AIMS/ERCS staff or by the local PSP staff through the ERCS programs. See LB&I Project and Tracking Codes for LB&I locally defined tracking codes.

The ARC is pulled from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return or penalty/non-aims record. For time charges to Activity Codes 500-599 not associated with returns the ARC is set to the following:

See Aging Reason Codes for a list of nationally defined ARCs.

The LCC code is pulled from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return. Otherwise, for time charges to Activity Codes 500-599, the LCC code is set to N.

Valid codes include the following:

The PBBA Indicator is set from the ERCS or IMS record if there is an associated return. Otherwise, for time charges to Activity Codes 500-599, the PBBA Indicator is set to N.

Valid codes include Y (Yes) or N (No).

The number of workdays in a reporting cycle is determined by deducting Saturdays, Sundays, federal holidays, and any day declared a non-work day by the President (e.g. the day before Christmas or a day of national mourning) from the number of days in the reporting cycle. The number of work days in each reporting cycle are listed in Document 6036.

When employees work over their scheduled number of hours for the day, they must record how they are to be compensated for the time. Authorized overtime and compensatory time (including religious compensatory time) are accrued under the appropriate activity code with an offsetting adjustment to Activity Code 840, "Hours Worked for Overtime, Credit Hours, and Comp Time," with the appropriate leave code. See Activity Code 840 in Exhibit 4.9.1-1, for the leave codes associated with Activity Code 840.

Employees on leave without pay (LWOP) should charge their time to Activity Code 831, "LWOP" , with the appropriate leave code. See Activity Code 831 in Exhibit 4.9.1-1, for the leave codes associated with Activity Code 831.

All other leave is charged to Activity Code 830, "General Leave" , with the appropriate leave code. See Activity Code 830 in Exhibit 4.9.1-1, for the leave codes associated with Activity Code 830.

Employees must account for their holiday time on ERCS using Activity Code 830, and Leave Code "H," holiday. The number of hours a full time employee should apply to holiday time depends on their work schedule as shown in the chart below:

When a full time employee is not scheduled to work on a federal holiday, the ERCS program will determine the employee’s ILOH date using the table below:

Inauguration Day is a legal public holiday for IRS employees working in the Inauguration Day area. The Inauguration Day holiday is administered differently than other federal holidays. Employees who are not regularly scheduled to work on Inauguration Day are not entitled to a day off in lieu of the holiday. Eligible employees should apply their time to Activity Code 830 with Leave Code "LH" , Local Holiday. Check for current guidance and eligibility from the Office of Personnel Management, the Employee Resource Center, and Single Entry Time Reporting (SETR) alerts. Employees should direct questions to their managers.

When the IRS has an unscheduled closing, the leave code used with Activity Code 830 depends on how the closing was declared or the type of conditions that create an unsafe situation for the employee. See Activity Code 830 in Exhibit 4.9.1-1, for a list of leave codes for Activity Code 830. A few examples are included below:

Detail work can include a formal detail to another group, function, or operating division where an employee is working full time in another group for a specific length of time, or it can be work performed for another function or operating division without a reassignment.

There are four situations governing how time should be applied on ERCS for detailed employees:

Details starting and ending during a cycle may require the employee to submit two time input documents, one for each group. See IRM 4.9.1.7.4 , When Two Time Reports are Required, for more information.

"Details out of Division or Area" activity codes include: 733, 734, 811, 812, 814-818, 820-824, and 826-828. See Exhibit 4.9.1-1. for the definitions for these codes.

A furlough is when the IRS shuts down due to a lack of funding. Detailed instructions are provided to users after the furlough is ended to ensure their time is entered correctly on ERCS and IMS for the furlough period. The instructions may not necessarily coincide with the instructions released by SETR since SETR and ERCS are used for different types of time tracking. The general ERCS and IMS instructions are:

ERCS creates two time input documents:

The manager, or someone designated by the manager, will review the time input documents for accuracy. The input documents should be compared to the Agent Analysis to ensure the agent's time was entered into ERCS accurately. See IRM 4.9.1.8, Agent Analysis, for additional requirements of the document.

The need to complete the time input documents accurately, legibly, and timely cannot be overemphasized. Managers must review and approve the time sheets by close of business (COB) at the end of the cycle so corrections can be input prior to SETTS transmission.

Managers will ensure that time reports are prepared for employees unavailable to input their own time (employees on leave, unexpected absences, LWOP, etc.) for as long as the employee is unavailable.

Employees must account for their time by each return or non-return activity they perform on a daily basis. The time for all technical employees is required to be input into ERCS or IMS each reporting cycle. It is strongly recommended the time be input weekly to avoid unexpected delays at the end of the cycle. At a minimum, the time must be input by the following:

Managers and/or administrative support employees in each group should run the ERCS Check Employees with Uncharged Time Report periodically within each cycle to ensure all the time for their employees has been entered into ERCS. This report lists each employee in the group with incomplete time for the reporting cycle and the last time charge date for the employee. It is an excellent tool to monitor each employee's time input. This report is also available at the territory level.

If an employee is listed on the report with an ILOH error, it means the employee was not scheduled to work on the holiday and the employee does not have time charged on the alternate date the program expected the holiday time to be charged. For example: If a holiday falls on a Tuesday, but it is the employee's scheduled day off, the program expects the employee to charge holiday time for Monday. If the employee does not charge holiday time on the Monday, an ILOH error will appear on the report. These errors should be researched and corrected.

It is the manager's responsibility to ensure all time for each employee in his or her group has been input into ERCS and is correct by the end of the cycle.

After the IMS time is input, synchronized to the IMS server, and transmitted to the ERCS server, additional changes to the time on IMS must also be updated on the ERCS server. These time changes should be given to the administrative staff in the group to manually correct on ERCS by COB on the last day of the cycle.

Corrections to time data on ERCS after the data has been extracted for SETTS does not go forward to SETTS. If corrections need to be made on the day the SETTS data is transmitted, the ERCS user must alert the AIMS/ERCS staff that corrections need to be made. All corrections must be made by noon local time.

It only takes one day of unreported time or one validation error, either on ERCS or at MCC, to exclude all of the employee's time charges for the cycle. Validation errors should be corrected as soon as possible. The AIMS/ERCS staff responsible for extracting the SETTS data from ERCS should ensure there are no validation errors from the MCC validation. If there are, the data should be corrected, re-validated on ERCS, and re-transmitted to MCC before the 7:44 PM Eastern Standard Time/Eastern Daylight Time validation.

If there is an issue or an error that cannot be resolved by the final MCC validation, it is possible to append the employee's time to the following cycle's SETTS file. There is one exception: Time from a prior fiscal year cannot be appended. Refer to the SETTS chapter of the ERCS TRM for information about appending an employee's time charges from a prior cycle to the SETTS file.

An employee must complete two time input documents if he or she transfers or is detailed to a new group during the cycle, one for each group. Two input documents are also required when a detail ends during the cycle. The employee's total time for both groups should not exceed the total time for the cycle. If an employee is on detail for the entire cycle, he or she should only complete one time input document.

If an employee transfers or is detailed to another group or function within the same area or within the same LB&I practice area, only one time report is included in the SETTS data. It will contain all of the employee's time for the cycle and the employee's AAC, position code, etc. from the employee's last assignment.

If an employee transfers or is detailed to another group or function outside the area or practice area, two time reports are included in the SETTS data. Each time report will contain the employee's time while assigned to the area or to LB&I. The employee's total time for both assignments should not exceed the total time for the cycle. Two time reports are required for SETTS if an employee transfers or is detailed during a cycle:

When an employee is on detail from one exam group to another exam group and the employee's position code remains the same during the detail, an ERCS detail record should be created. If an employee is on detail within ERCS control and the employee's position code changes during the detail, the employee's AAC, position code, grade, etc. should be changed on the ERCS employee record. See IRM 4.7.5.6.2, Employee Details, for more information.

If an employee is on detail outside of ERCS control, the ERCS employee record should not be changed. All the employee's time spent working for another BOD should be applied to the appropriate "details out of division or area" activity code. Any time spent working for the home group should be charged to the appropriate activity codes or returns. Only one time report is included in the SETTS data for these employees. The time is reported for SETTS under the employee's home group.

On the day of SETTS transmission, the AIMS/ERCS staff in each area responsible for extracting and transmitting the SETTS data must run the ERCS Check Employees with Uncharged Time Report to ensure time has been input for all employees through the end of the cycle. Once it is determined all time has been charged and the groups have been given sufficient time to make any corrections, the following steps are run:

Refer to the following sites for additional information for the AIMS/ERCS staff in running SETTS:

Once the SETTS data is received at MCC, it is validated. The MCC validation times and the times when the validation results are sent back to the ERCS server are in the table below. Four time zones are listed:

The results file must be checked by the AIMS/ERCS staff by running the option Display/Print Most Recent Validation Results to verify there are no errors. If errors are present, they should be corrected using the Edit Forms option from the ERCS National Office SETTS Menu. Once the errors are corrected, the options Validate Forms and Transmit Valid SETTS File must be re-run.

An unusual error or an increase in errors during the validation process should be reported to an HQ SETTS or an HQ ERCS analyst by the AIMS/ERCS staff responsible for SETTS processing. Refer to the AIMS, ERCS, SETTS, SSIVL, and Tableau Headquarters Contact Listing for contact information.