Updated September 2026: the cutover is complete. August 14 was the final QIES submission deadline; since August 17, new PBJ submissions have gone through iQIES. Legacy QIES became read-only on August 17 and is scheduled to retire on September 15. The first all-iQIES quarterly deadline is November 14.
If your facility has not yet moved its Payroll-Based Journal process to iQIES, the old submission workflow no longer accepts new files.
CMS moved PBJ submissions from legacy QIES to iQIES on August 17, 2026. QIES is now read-only for this transition and is scheduled to retire on September 15, 2026.
Teams should now confirm that every submitter can access the new system, has the correct role, and can produce the current file format. Here is the transition record and a checklist to run well before the first all-iQIES deadline.
The transition timeline
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| April 1, 2026 | PBJ Data Specifications v4.10.0 enforced — older XML versions are rejected |
| August 14, 2026 | Final QIES submission deadline (Q3: April 1 – June 30 data) |
| August 17, 2026 | iQIES becomes the submission system; QIES becomes read-only |
| September 15, 2026 | Legacy QIES is scheduled to retire |
| November 14, 2026 | First deadline submitted entirely through iQIES (Q4: July 1 – September 30 data) |
Note what that last row means: the quarter you are working right now — July, August, September — is the first quarter that must go through iQIES. The hours your contract therapists and agency nurses are logging this week will be reported through a system many facilities haven't opened yet.
During the cutover window from July 1 through August 16, Q4 submissions were not accepted in either QIES or iQIES. Teams that normally submit early should now verify their Q4 workflow directly in iQIES.
What changed in the v4.10.0 data specifications
The new specification isn't just a version bump. Two changes are actively rejecting submissions that used to sail through:
Old XML versions are rejected outright. Any file submitted with a spec version other than 4.10.0 bounces. If your PBJ vendor or in-house export hasn't been updated, you'll find out at the worst possible time — the submission deadline.
The 22.5-hour daily cap has two validations. Version 4.10.0 enforces the cap per Employee ID through fatal edit -4025. Since August 17, iQIES also enforces the cap across linked Employee IDs under one System Employee ID through system error -1025. A duplicate invoice line or a shift keyed to the wrong date can therefore cause a submission problem.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: confirm that your export uses the current specification and review the latest CMS validation information before submission.
Your iQIES readiness checklist
Use this post-cutover checklist now so access, role, and export problems surface well before the November 14 deadline:
- Confirm HARP credentials. iQIES access runs through HARP (HCQIS Access Roles and Profile). Every person who touches PBJ submissions needs their own account — shared logins don't carry over.
- Request the right iQIES roles. Your facility’s Provider Security Official (PSO) must approve PBJ submitter access. If you do not know your PSO, identify that person before a deadline approaches.
- Verify your export produces v4.10.0 XML. Ask your vendor directly, or check the version attribute in your last export file.
- Audit for impossible days. Query your source data for any person whose linked employee IDs total more than 22.5 hours in a day, and resolve duplicates or date errors before submission.
- Submit real data early in the quarter. Don't let November 14 be the first time your team touches the new workflow.
The data problem underneath the system problem
Here's the uncomfortable truth the migration exposes: the submission system was never the hard part. The hard part is the data — specifically, the contract and agency hours that live in invoices, sign-in sheets, and someone's memory rather than in your payroll system.
We covered the full mechanics in our practical guide to PBJ reporting, but the short version: many contract providers already pass through your front desk. When check-in captures who they are, what role they're working, and when they arrived and left, your team has a structured, timestamped source record to review for PBJ.
That's how ArrivSure's healthcare module supports the workflow. A completed provider visit can create a draft work entry with the configured CMS job code. The provider can sign off on the recorded hours, and authorized staff review reportability and pre-export checks before downloading a file formatted to the configured supported CMS schema.
The export workflow ties reported hours to check-in records and runs schema checks before the file downloads.
The transition is a useful reason to test access, validate the current export format, and clean the underlying source data before the deadline.
Sources and current guidance
Last reviewed September 2, 2026.
- CMS PBJ data-submission page
- QTSO transition notice for PBJ in iQIES
- QTSO confirmation that PBJ functionality is available in iQIES
- QTSO corrected onboarding notice for HARP, roles, and PSO approval
Confirm current specifications and deadlines directly with CMS and your compliance advisor. ArrivSure supports collection, review, and file preparation; it does not determine reportability or guarantee CMS acceptance.
Want to see how the workflow would fit your next PBJ quarter? Request a demo and we’ll map it to your facility’s process.