PBJ Reporting Deadlines: The Complete Guide for Nursing Homes
Payroll-Based Journal data feeds directly into your Five-Star staffing rating — and unlike most compliance deadlines, missing it does not just risk a citation. It can drop your public staffing score automatically, on a fixed quarterly clock.
Quick answer
PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) staffing data is due within 45 days of the end of each federal fiscal quarter — mid-February, mid-May, mid-August, and mid-November. It is required under 42 CFR §483.70(q) and must be based on auditable payroll data, broken out by job category and by employee vs. contract staff. Facilities that miss the deadline, or submit incomplete data, can be assigned an automatic one-star staffing rating regardless of actual staffing levels.
The four deadlines, by fiscal quarter
PBJ runs on CMS's federal fiscal year, not the calendar year — a detail that catches facilities that plan around calendar quarters instead. Use the free PBJ Deadline Calculator to get every deadline for a given fiscal year computed automatically.
| Reporting period | Quarter | Submission due |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 – Dec 31 | Fiscal Q1 | On or before Feb 14 |
| Jan 1 – Mar 31 | Fiscal Q2 | On or before May 15 |
| Apr 1 – Jun 30 | Fiscal Q3 | On or before Aug 14 |
| Jul 1 – Sep 30 | Fiscal Q4 | On or before Nov 14 |
What has to be in the submission
PBJ data has to be traceable to payroll records, not estimated. Each submission needs direct care staff hours broken out by job category — RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and other direct care roles — with employee hours reported separately from contract or agency hours, alongside daily resident census for the quarter. CMS can and does audit submissions against underlying payroll records.
Why this deadline is different from others
Most compliance deadlines create citation risk if missed. A missed or incomplete PBJ submission is different: CMS can assign the facility an automatic one-star staffing rating on Care Compare's public Five-Star system regardless of how the facility would otherwise score. That rating is visible to families, referral sources, and — for chain operators — flows into how every facility in a portfolio gets compared side by side.
PoC360's Training Records & PBJ Tracking
PBJ quarterly submissions are pre-populated from your staffing data and tracked to the CMS 45-day deadline, alongside required CMS and OSHA training records with expiry alerts — so the deadline is never the thing that slips.
See Training & PBJ Tracking →Frequently Asked Questions
What is PBJ reporting?+
Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) is the system nursing homes use to submit direct care staffing and resident census data to CMS, required under 42 CFR §483.70(q). It uses payroll and other auditable data, not self-reported estimates.
When is PBJ data due each quarter?+
Within 45 days of the end of each fiscal quarter. CMS uses federal fiscal quarters: October–December, January–March, April–June, and July–September — not calendar quarters — so the four annual deadlines fall in mid-February, mid-May, mid-August, and mid-November.
What happens if a facility misses the PBJ deadline?+
CMS can assign an automatic one-star staffing rating to facilities that do not submit PBJ data, or submit data CMS determines is incomplete or unauditable — regardless of how the facility would otherwise score on staffing.
What data does a PBJ submission actually need to include?+
Direct care staff hours broken out by job category — RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and others — with employee hours reported separately from contract or agency hours, plus daily resident census for the quarter.