Verify first.
Document everything.
Protect every dollar.

This handbook contains the policies that govern the Finance Department at Abilities, LLC. It applies to:

• The Finance Director
• The Quality Assurance Professional, jointly supervised by the Director of Residential Operations and the Finance Director
• The Payroll Administrator — this role lives within the Finance Department and reports to the Finance Director
• Any other staff with delegated financial responsibilities

This handbook works alongside the Abilities, LLC Employee Handbook. The Employee Handbook covers universal policies that apply to all staff. This handbook provides Finance-specific operational standards.

Finance Department staff operate under heightened fiduciary and compliance obligations. Every financial transaction, record, and decision must meet the standards set by SSA, DMH, MMAC, and MO HealthNet. Errors in individual financial management or Medicaid billing are not simply administrative problems — they carry regulatory, legal, and reputational consequences for the agency and for the individuals we serve.

Missouri DMH's Tiered Supports framework shapes how the Finance Department serves every individual. Universal protection is the foundation. Targeted support is added when the situation calls for it. Intensive coordination is reserved for the most complex cases.

Finance Department work is primarily desk-based, with extended periods at a computer and on the phone. The physical demands are real even when the work looks quiet.

• Sitting: extended periods at a desk, typically 6 or more hours per day
• Standing and walking: movement between office spaces, mail and filing areas, and the bank
• Lifting: up to 25 pounds, including boxes of records, supplies, and office equipment
• Vision: sustained computer screen use, reading detailed financial records and handwritten receipts
• Hearing: phone calls with guardians, vendors, banks, and government agencies
• Fine motor: typing, writing, signing checks, and handling paperwork throughout the day

Reasonable accommodations are available through Human Resources. See the Universal Employee Handbook for the full accommodation process.

Abilities, LLC manages individual finances using three distinct account types. They differ in ownership, purpose, and governing rules, and must never be combined or co-mingled.

• Every individual receiving residential services has a PSA — it is required
• Every individual receiving residential services has an R&B account — it is required
• Individuals for whom Abilities serves as SSA Organizational Representative Payee also have a Payee Account

• The right to access their personal funds when requested, within reasonable logistical constraints
• The right to spend PSA funds on any legal items of their choosing — no staff approval is required for individual spending decisions
• The right to receive an accurate accounting of their account balance upon request
• The right to have their funds kept separate from agency funds and from any other individual's funds
• The right to receive all required staff assistance in accessing or using their funds, without undue delay or restriction

Before entering a deposit in any ledger, the person making the entry must:

• Open the actual bank statement or current bank account view
• Locate the specific transaction
• Confirm the amount on the bank matches the amount being entered
• Confirm the date the transaction posted matches the date being entered
• Confirm the source matches expectations (SSA, SSI, employer, guardian, or other)
• Only then enter the deposit in SetWorks

• SSA and SSI deposits do not always arrive on the same day; amounts change due to cost-of-living adjustments, benefit recalculations, overpayment recoveries, and back-pay events; deposits are occasionally reversed and reposted
• Without verification at the moment of entry, the ledger drifts away from the bank and the month-end reconciliation breaks
• Verifying at the moment of entry takes less than a minute. Tracking down a reconciliation error a month later takes hours and creates an audit trail of corrections that auditors notice

The PSA holds the individual's personal discretionary spending money. It belongs to the individual, always. PSA is disbursed to the individual on the 1st of every month.

Every individual chooses how they receive their PSA:

• Cash — picked up at the office by the individual and/or their management team
• Check — written directly from the Payee Account, payable to the individual or their guardian
• PEX card — loads automatically on the 1st in the approved PSA amount. PEX is only offered to individuals who want it and can use it; it is not automatic for everyone with payee services

• The Quality Assurance Professional screenshots each monthly PEX load on the 1st
• The screenshot serves as the receipt for the load
• It is uploaded to the corresponding PSA expense entry in the Payee Ledger in SetWorks

• PSA is issued as cash (picked up at the office) or loaded on the individual's PEX card
• ISL Management safeguards PSA funds, retains all receipts, and enters PSA transactions in the SetWorks ledger
• The Finance Director does not enter PSA transactions — Finance reviews PSA ledgers only for audit or investigation
• RPMs review PSA ledgers monthly

The R&B invoice to the guardian lists R&B and PSA as two separate line items. The guardian sends one combined payment into the business checking account; the R&B portion is entered as a deposit in the R&B ledger and the PSA portion is reconciled against the PSA already disbursed.

R&B funds are held by Abilities in trust for the individual and may only be used for rent, utilities, groceries, and household items.

Each ISL has a designated House PEX card holding the pooled grocery and household allocation drawn from each resident's R&B funds. It is an operational mechanism, not a separate account type. The House Manager is custodian; funds on the card belong to the individuals they were allocated from. See F3.1 for funding cycle and permanence rules.

• A Room and Board invoice is required for every individual every month
• Invoices are generated in QuickBooks — never handwritten or rolled forward from a prior month
• Standard format: R&B and PSA combined. Detailed format (e.g., Johnson County Public Administrator): itemized line entries
• For payee individuals, the invoice is uploaded as the receipt in the Payee Ledger expense entry in SetWorks
• The R&B invoice deadline is 5:00 PM on the 3rd of the month (see F3.1)

• Rent: every individual must have a monthly rent deduction matching the approved ISL budget; the merchant on the ledger entry is always "Abilities, LLC"
• Utilities: divided evenly among housemates unless an alternative allocation is approved; bills labeled with house name and per-person amount; per-person allocations must equal the full bill; uploaded once per individual
• Groceries & shared items: receipts must list all individuals sharing the expense, costs evenly allocated, each individual gets a separate ledger entry for their share

Every dollar received on behalf of an individual whose payee is Abilities, LLC must be recorded as a deposit in the appropriate ledger before any of that money goes back out. This includes, without exception:

• Social Security (SSA) benefits
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits
• Cash gifts from family or others
• Tax refunds
• Any other external income source received at the agency on behalf of the individual

Some household items cannot be reasonably divided among multiple individuals — hard items. Examples: vacuums, microwaves, small appliances, bedding and linens, furniture, electronics, and durable household equipment.

• Every hard item must be owned by one individual — shared ownership is not permitted
• The owning individual must be clearly identifiable in SetWorks
• Receipts for hard items may not be split or allocated across multiple individuals
• Hard items must be purchased on a stand-alone receipt, or on a receipt that includes only items for that individual
• The full cost is charged to the owning individual's R&B ledger and entered into their Inventory Record in SetWorks
• No reimbursement or buy-out arrangements are permitted among individuals

• Checks: issued in the individual's name and Abilities, LLC's name as organizational payee
• Debit card: issued in the individual's name and Abilities, LLC
• Bank: Central Bank of Missouri
• Separation: fully separated from agency operating accounts

Payee funds may be used for any expense that benefits the individual: food and dining out, clothing, entertainment/tickets/community activities, personal items, room and board (as an authorized deduction), and medical/dental not covered by insurance.

Purchases must be made directly from the individual's Payee Account whenever possible, using the payee debit card or check. Reimbursement to Abilities is a last resort, not a standard practice.

• Reimbursement is only permitted when a direct purchase was not available or feasible
• Reimbursement must be exact — the expense and reimbursement amounts must match precisely. No batching, rounding, or delay
• May be made by check or Central Bank transfer (a transfer requires a memo note explaining the purpose)
• Must be approved by the Finance Director

• All payee receipts are labeled with the individual's name and the word "Payee"; the QAP uploads them to the Payee Ledger in SetWorks
• The authorized R&B amount may be deducted monthly but must not exceed SSA-allowable limits
• The R&B deduction may not reduce personal spending below the approved PSA amount
• R&B is documented as a housing cost in the Payee Ledger, not a service fee
• The agency may not charge the individual separately for services already covered by Medicaid waiver funding

For payee individuals, R&B is paid from the individual's payee account to the Abilities business checking account by the 10th of every month.

• Do not skip the payment
• Do not partial-pay without documentation
• Do not roll the unpaid balance into next month's invoice
• Notify the Executive Director the same day

The Executive Director and Finance Director determine the action, documented in writing in the payee ledger and retained for audit. Acceptable actions: partial payment with a documented note, holding the invoice with documented authorization, or other actions consistent with SSA payee rules.

• Residential Program Manager: sends the individual's PSA Ledger for the previous month to the guardian by the last day of the current month
• Finance Director: answers specific questions and handles problems or issues that arise from the report

• Determines which individuals require a personal tax filing based on income, benefits, or SSA/IRS requirements
• Prepares and submits individual tax filings on or before annual IRS deadlines
• Files the Missouri Renters Rebate by April 1 each year for all payee individuals
• Maintains organized tax records (filed returns, IRS/state correspondence, proof of submission)
• Deposits approved tax refunds into the individual's PSA, provided it will not push them over SSA resource limits
• Assists individuals in planning how to use refunds, consistent with their preferences and SSA compliance

• By the first week of November, the Finance Director verifies available funds for each individual
• For individuals with a guardian or external payee, the Finance Director contacts that party to request holiday funds by a specified date
• The individual's SSA Payee account, savings, or personal discretionary funds are always the first source
• Every individual receives at least $150 toward Christmas gifts. If available funds are less than $150, the agency tops up the difference to reach $150

• Shopping is done by the individual's team — staff who know the individual well
• All purchase receipts go to the Office Manager to confirm each item was purchased, received, and gifted
• All purchases completed by December 1. Every individual receives Christmas gifts, without exception

• Completes and submits all required SSA annual payee reports by SSA deadlines
• Ensures each report covers payee account income and how it was spent during the reporting year
• Retains all submitted reports and supporting documentation for a minimum of seven years
• Responds promptly to any SSA follow-up inquiries or audit requests

• The individual moves out of an Abilities, LLC ISL
• The individual regains the capacity to manage their own funds
• A legal guardian or other party assumes financial management responsibility
• The individual passes away — SSA must be notified immediately, and any benefits received after the date of death must be returned

Every individual's PSA must be available on the 1st (PEX, cash, or check, per their choice). Checks are written from the individual's payee account, payable to the individual, and never pass through any Abilities business account.

On the 1st by 8:00 AM, the Finance Director transfers the full monthly allocation to the House Manager's household PEX card.

• Every R&B invoice is generated in QuickBooks and sent to the guardian/external payee no later than 5:00 PM on the 3rd, for every individual receiving residential services regardless of whether Abilities is payee
• For payee individuals, the invoice still generates and is retained internally as the source document for the R&B payment
• For payee individuals, the Finance Director prints, signs, and deposits the R&B check from the payee account into agency checking no later than the 10th (full procedure in F2.2)

• All payee funds are held in accounts designated for individual use, fully separate from agency operating accounts
• Each individual has a dedicated SetWorks ledger and a corresponding QuickBooks tracking record maintained by the Finance Director
• Physical cash at an ISL is stored in a secure, locked location accessible only to authorized staff
• SSA Payee client debit cards are stored with the Office Manager; individuals check out their card and return it with a receipt, turned in to the QAP
• The QAP maintains payee and R&B ledgers; ISL Management makes PSA ledger entries

• Payee and R&B ledger entries are made in real time, not reconstructed from memory or receipts at month end
• PSA ledger entries follow the deadline in F5.2
• Financial records cannot be deleted — errors are corrected by editing the existing entry
• If a ledger entry contains an error and must be zeroed out, that entry may be updated and reused for a future transaction

• Date of transaction
• Vendor name
• Amount and updated running balance
• Purpose or description
• Name of the staff member processing or documenting the transaction
• Receipt reference, uploaded to SetWorks

• The Finance Director maintains active PEX cards for all individuals authorized to use agency-supported spending accounts
• PEX cards are issued when an individual elects the PEX option and is able to use it
• Balances are kept sufficient each month to cover groceries, personal items, community outings, clothing, and other authorized expenses
• The Finance Director reviews PEX activity regularly to ensure purchases reflect the individual's needs and preferences
• PEX transactions are reconciled monthly and aligned with R&B ledgers, SSA Payee accounts, and personal spending records
• Supporting documentation (receipts, notes, balance and top-up records) is uploaded to SetWorks by the QAP
• PEX cards are terminated promptly when services end, a card is lost or compromised, or continued use is no longer appropriate

• Compare all ledger entries for the month to supporting documentation — receipts, deposit records, and bank statements
• Verify the closing balance matches the running ledger and the associated bank account balance
• Confirm the individual's full PSA was disbursed each month and was not reduced by R&B deductions or other charges
• Confirm that room and board deductions are accurate and within authorized limits

Anyone who identifies a discrepancy documents it and notifies the Finance Director the same day. If the Finance Director is the subject of the discrepancy, notification goes to the Executive Director instead.

• The Finance Director investigates, documents findings, and corrects the record with a transparent notation
• Same-day notification to the QAP or other staff involved
• Same-week correction in SetWorks — edit the existing entry; never delete
• Material discrepancies (including any involving SSA-restricted funds, and any the Finance Director determines material) require same-day notification to the Executive Director
• Any discrepancy that cannot be explained and reconciled is escalated to the Executive Director for determination

• Process routine payments and reconcile accounts
• Manage financial records and enforce receipt and documentation standards
• Manage vendor relationships
• Sign checks within authorized limits

• Any check payment exceeding $10,000.00
• Use of reserve funds or changes to reserve strategy
• Material changes to budget assumptions or projections
• New debt or refinancing
• Significant deviations from approved departmental budgets
• Changes affecting payroll, benefits, insurance coverage, or agency solvency
• Responses to audits, investigations, or regulatory actions with potential agency impact

Final financial decision-making authority rests with the Executive Director. The Finance Director's role is to advise, implement, and execute within those decisions.

• Works individually with each Department Head to build their annual spending plan
• Consolidates departmental budgets into the agency-wide budget
• Identifies areas where cost containment or reallocation may be needed
• Finalizes the approved annual budget prior to the start of the new fiscal year

• Balance Sheet with asset and liability detail
• Profit and Loss statement for the current month and year-to-date comparison
• Cash-flow projections forecasting 30, 60, and 90 days
• Budget vs. Actual summaries for key cost areas

The Finance Director notifies the Executive Director immediately if there is any projected inability to meet payroll or priority obligations.

• The Finance Director maintains a designated reserve fund with a long-term target of $1,000,000.00
• Balance is tracked monthly and reported during financial reviews with the Executive Director
• Reserve accounts are protected from routine operational spending, unapproved projects, and non-emergency uses without Executive Director approval
• When reserves are accessed, the Finance Director develops a documented replenishment plan
• All reserve withdrawals are documented with date, amount, purpose, and replenishment plan

The Executive Director completes the DMH-required ISL Variance form for all newly implemented or modified ISL service authorizations.

• Under-served variance is reported via the MMAC/DD Waiver Variance Calculation Worksheet
• Over-served variance is reported via REDCap
• Variances must be submitted within 30 days of the end of the plan year

• Monitors DMH service authorizations for all individuals and reviews UR approvals against current service levels
• Updates SetWorks authorizations promptly to reflect current service codes, authorized units, and start/end dates
• Confirms documentation and authorized units before billing; all monthly billing completed by DMH deadlines
• Pulls the Provider Billing Activity report from CIMOR 24 hours after each submission to confirm billing
• Pulls Remittance Advice statements from CIMOR to confirm payment amounts
• Notifies the Executive Director immediately when units are reduced or denials occur

For Children's Division contract billing, the Finance Director generates the invoice in QuickBooks for the prior month and sends it to the designated Children's Division billing email address by 5:00 PM on the 1st of each month.

• Agency cards are issued only to authorized personnel; cardholder documentation (limits, permitted uses) is maintained by the Finance Director
• Receipts for all agency card purchases (fuel, Walmart, and other agency cards) are turned in to the Finance Director monthly; persistent non-compliance is reported to the DRO and may escalate to HR
• QuickBooks bank reconciliations are completed monthly for all agency accounts
• W-9 forms are collected and retained for all vendors and contractors
• No single employee has both authorization authority and disbursement authority for the same transaction
• The Finance Director maintains awareness of outstanding floating checks and the agency's actual available balance
• Payroll funds must be stored separately from other business funds
• The Finance Director holds a finance account on the agency's WEX Fleet profile and ensures the WEX balance is paid every 30 days

• All records must be accurate, complete, and entered at the time of the transaction, not reconstructed from memory
• No Finance document may be altered after submission without a documented correction process recording the reason, the person, and the date
• Financial records cannot be deleted in SetWorks — errors are corrected by editing the existing entry
• Deletion or destruction of records outside the authorized retention schedule is prohibited
• Documents submitted to government agencies (SSA, DMH, MMAC, MO HealthNet) must be accurate representations of actual transactions and balances

• Access is limited to authorized Finance Department staff and the Executive Director
• Individual financial records are subject to the same confidentiality protections as other personal information under HIPAA and agency policy

• All documentation is filed in the correct system using the correct naming convention
• No backlog of unfiled receipts, unreconciled accounts, or incomplete ledger entries exists
• QuickBooks is fully current and reconciled monthly
• All monthly reconciliations and financial reports are current and approved
• Any requested record can be produced for DMH, SSA, MMAC, or internal review within two business days

For every individual financial account, the Finance Director confirms:

• Every payee account has been reconciled to the bank statement
• Every deposit in every ledger matches a posted bank transaction
• Every disbursement has a matching receipt or invoice
• Every R&B invoice was generated in QuickBooks by 5:00 PM on the 3rd
• Every R&B invoice has a matching deposit equal to the invoice amount
• Every R&B invoice has a matching check or transfer equal to the invoice amount
• Every payee R&B check was printed, signed, and deposited by the 10th
• Every utility bill received was uploaded within seven days of receipt at office
• Every PSA PEX load screenshot is uploaded to the corresponding ledger entry
• Every household PEX transfer occurred on the 1st by 8:00 AM, and every PSA PEX load auto-loaded on the 1st
• Every reimbursement from a payee account to Abilities is exact and documented
• Every error identified during reconciliation has been corrected with an explanatory note
• Every hard item purchased is owned by one identifiable individual in SetWorks
• Every Children's Division invoice was generated and sent by 5:00 PM on the 1st

Records that have met their minimum retention period may be disposed of under an authorized disposition schedule approved by the Executive Director. Destruction must be documented — shred physical records and use secure deletion for electronic records.

Sub-leases are sent out by December 1 of each year for January 1 renewal.

• Issues Room and Board invoices to guardians for each individual each month
• Issues rent payments to property owners on behalf of Abilities, LLC
• Abilities holds the original lease with each landlord or property owner; individual sub-leases flow from that master agreement
• Abilities carries insurance on all ISL properties

Abilities processes payroll weekly through BambooHR. Pay periods run Sunday 12:00 a.m. through Saturday 11:59 p.m. Payday is Friday. The Payroll Administrator executes payroll; the Finance Director wires funds and prints paper checks. BambooHR handles all tax withholding, tax remittance, payroll tax filings, direct deposit ACH, and W-2 issuance.

Before submitting payroll, the Payroll Administrator must:

• Pull SetWorks Activity Records as the definitive source of payable hours for residential, behavioral, and community employees
• Verify all paid hours are supported by submitted Activity Records and accurate attendance data
• Confirm overnight documentation is properly split when shifts cross pay periods
• Compare documented hours against WhenToWork schedules for completeness and alignment
• Identify missing, deleted, incomplete, or inconsistent documentation and follow the exception steps
• Document reconciliation steps and decisions in payroll processing notes

• Pay periods, paydays, overtime, and timekeeping — Universal Employee Handbook, Policy 3.2
• Holiday pay rates and eligibility — Universal Employee Handbook, Policy 2.2, with department-specific rates in each department handbook
• Sleep shift pay and every-weekend pay — Residential Services Department Handbook
• Mileage reimbursement — Universal Employee Handbook, Policy 3.1
• Wage bands and certification bumps — Universal Employee Handbook, Policy 3.5

• Add approved PTO based on recorded approvals in BambooHR
• Manually add PTO where required by policy or written authorization (last-minute requests, hours needed to reach 40, other approved adjustments)
• Deduct PTO for call-ins per Attendance and Time Off policies
• Reflect PTO usage clearly on pay stubs; escalate discrepancies between recorded usage and expected balances

• Attendance bonuses: HR tracks/calculates perfect attendance monthly and quarterly and notifies the Payroll Administrator via payroll@abilitiesllc.com; processed in the next payroll cycle
• Shift-pickup bonuses: the Payroll Administrator pulls these directly from WhenToWork
• Non-payable taxable wages (gift cards, prizes, cash awards, fringe benefits): processed only after written authorization from the Finance Director or Executive Director, per the Fringe Benefits Policy in the Universal Employee Handbook

Employees submit mileage to payroll@abilitiesllc.com by 10:00 AM Monday for inclusion in that week's payroll. The Payroll Administrator verifies submissions include all required information and processes approved reimbursements at the IRS standard rate set in Universal Employee Handbook Policy 3.1. Mileage documentation is maintained in payroll records.

• The Finance Director prints and signs paper checks each pay period
• The Finance Director delivers printed checks to the Office Manager
• The Office Manager disburses checks to employees
• Employees pick up paper checks at the office — checks are not mailed and not delivered to the ISL

• The Finance Director submits monthly payroll numbers to the Workers' Compensation carrier for premium calculation
• The Executive Director completes the annual Workers' Compensation audit

• Agency-caused error: corrected and paid immediately — the Finance Director issues a manual check or off-cycle payment to make the employee whole the same day the error is confirmed
• Employee-caused error (missed time entry, late submission, employee-side error): corrected on the next regular payroll cycle

• Employee-facing issues (attendance disputes, PTO approval questions, direct deposit changes, employee-side errors): the Payroll Administrator redirects to Human Resources
• Material payroll errors (potential wage violations, suspected wage theft, data breaches, audit-related risks): the Payroll Administrator escalates immediately to the Executive Director

• Tax withholding and payroll tax remittance
• Quarterly tax filings (Form 941, state unemployment)
• Annual filings (Form 940, W-2, W-3)
• Direct deposit ACH

The Payroll Administrator verifies BambooHR processed each cycle correctly. The Finance Director is responsible for any discrepancies between BambooHR's tax processing and agency records.

Vitable Health handles year-end ICHRA reporting (Form 1095-C and related employer reporting). The Finance Director coordinates with Vitable Health to confirm reporting is complete by IRS deadlines.

Garnishments include child support, tax levies, defaulted student loans, and court-ordered withholdings.

• Garnishments are processed by Human Resources and paid via BambooHR, which pulls the funds from payroll and transmits them to the creditor
• The Payroll Administrator does not handle garnishment processing directly
• Any garnishment notice received by the Payroll Administrator is forwarded to HR immediately

• The Payroll Administrator maintains strict confidentiality of employee compensation and payroll data
• Payroll records, including payroll-related emails, are retained for a minimum of 7 years
• Payroll inbox emails may not be deleted
• The Payroll Administrator produces requested payroll documentation within 2 business days

After submission, the Payroll Administrator compiles each cycle's documentation into a single PDF: payroll notes and reconciliation records, time and attendance reports, PTO records, bonus and taxable wage calculations, and mileage documentation.

• File name format: MM.DD.YYYY Payroll (example: 2.6.2026 Payroll)
• Storage: Google Drive > Shared Drive > Finances > Payroll > [Year] — access restricted to Finance staff and the Executive Director
• Monthly internal reporting: the Payroll Administrator enters monthly overtime and bonus data into the agency Google Sheet by the 15th of the month for the prior month