The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released memo QSO-26-12-NH on July 14, 2026, announcing that payroll-based journal (PBJ) reporting will transition to iQIES beginning with Fiscal Quarter 4 reporting. Nursing homes must continue to submit Fiscal Quarter 3 reports through QIES before the August 14 deadline. After August 14 at 11:59pm ET, QIES will no longer accept PBJ records and all reporting will be completed through iQIES beginning August 17. CMS notes that due to this transition, Fiscal Quarter 4 submissions will not be accepted in either system – QIES or iQIES – between July 1, 2026 and August 16, 2026.

To submit records through iQIES, providers must request access through their HCQIS Access Roles and Profile System (HARP) account. Note that third-party vendors submitting PBJ data on behalf of providers must request access through HARP for each individual nursing home they represent. Once registered for iQIES, users should log in regularly, as accounts that are not accessed for 60 days will be determined inactive and the user will lose access to iQIES.

Following the transition from QIES to iQIES, PBJ reports in the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) application will be decommissioned and transitioned to iQIES. Providers will be able to access only two PBJ reports for Fiscal Quarter 3 through CASPER: the system-generated final validation reports and the user-requested PBJ Submitter Final Validation Report. These reports will be available for Fiscal Quarter 3 reporting for a limited time only. Beginning August 17, users will use iQIES to access and run PBJ reports previously accessed through CASPER. CMS provides a crosswalk in memo QSO-26-12-NH to help providers identify the legacy CASPER reports in the new iQIES system, including the names of the reports in each system and any differences of which users should be aware. CMS will additionally be importing ten years’ worth of data into iQIES to allow users to run reports on data previously submitted through QIES.

CMS will be posting training materials, user guides, and technical guidance on the QIES Technical Support Office (QTSO) website prior to the August 17 transition to assist providers.