Dont Leave FCC Repack Money on the Table
Don’t Leave FCC Repack Money on the Table: How to Get Reimbursed for All Internal Labor 4/16/2020
FCC Factoids What we know about the Reimbursement process: • The reviewers are from EY—so they are like us! • Everyone has a Randall! If you have questions or wish to reply to this email, it is recommended that you address your email to: Randall Taylor at randall. taylor@fcc. gov • The reviewers meet every Thursday to discuss specific reimbursement issues. • Stations have been hiring their attorneys to work through some of these reimbursement issues with the FCC team; and why not---repack legal expense is reimbursable! • Theoretically you have until 2023 to claim/receive reimbursement; however if your engineer marks that the project is complete…. . who knows (in other words, don’t wait that long to get the money!!) 4/16/2020
Budgets- 399 Form Put your budget and explanation in ‘Other Professional Services Expenses’ not Listed in the Outside Professional Services Applicant Services. I also used the same section for the Travel to the Transmitter School. See the new budget line items with both the budget and the estimated costs. It is essential that you enter the estimated costs- which could be more or less than the budget. 4/16/2020
Budgets- 399 Form- Our Favorite This additional expense was due to costs and the decommissioning work of our old transmitter. This expense was nowhere on our original 399. We put in a line item and an estimate, and was ultimately reimbursed. 4/16/2020
General Hygiene About Invoices 1. Call Sign and/or Facility ID #. 2. Cover letter. 3. A detailed/itemized description. 4. Add Component / Meta Data information must exactly match the invoice. 5. All Sales Orders must be a single multi-page document. 6. All component upgrades require cover letters detailing the costs of the comparable and upgraded components. 7. If a payment request is less than the invoice total, a cover letter is required to explain the difference. 4/16/2020
Notes to keep in mind when submitting requests for payment All requests for payments require the following backup: • The Invoice • The Quote • The Purchase Order • The Cover Letter The Invoice and the Quote are non-negotiable items. We have created purchase orders after the fact to complete the package. The Cover Letter explains the purchase. 4/16/2020 Do not use jargon in your Cover Letter. Spell out all abbreviations. Remember who your audience is. Assume zero-base of knowledge. Multiple reviewers are examining your submissions. There should be no expectation of a learning curve.
Assume No Knowledge 4/16/2020
Favorite Rejection Letters 4/16/2020
The Beginning of our Quest for Internal Labor Reimbursements 4/16/2020
Reimbursement Request Package- Internal Labor SAMPLE COVER LETTER For a Cover Letter: Reference the invoice # and detailed explanation of the contents of the reimbursement package. 4/16/2020
REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST PACKAGE- INTERNAL LABOR For an Internal Invoice: SAMPLE INVOICE Do NOT use jargon. Format for Internal Labor (IL) Invoice number: IL-MM-DD-YYYY-WXXX (MM-DD-YYYY is the date of the last day of the month in which the internal labor was paid) Round DOWN when computing total cost. In the document header , reference the Station Name & Facility ID and the Invoice Number/Date/ Due Date Invoice must have : ü Employee (s) Name; ü Date and Task Description; ü Hours Worked; Rate/Hour; Total Paid; Payroll End Date; Pay Date. ü Individual Employee Totals; 4/16/2020 FCC can always change their mind on the invoice numbering system
REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST PACKAGE- INTERNAL LABOR PAYROLL BACK-UP For the Payroll Backup: In the document header , reference the Station Name & Facility ID and the Invoice Number/Date/ Due Date. Highlight only the Internal Labor Employee Details. Highlight the Period Start/End Date on the Payroll Register. Include Employee Pay rate substantiation 4/16/2020
FAVORITE REJECTION LETTERSINTERNAL LABOR 4/16/2020
OTHER INTERNAL LABOR THAT CAN BE CHARGED Internal Labor which is used to develop and produce announcements of upcoming channel change: Web Content Producers Social Media Producers Voice-over artists Producers Editors Videographers Yes, the business office can be a profit center. Then create a budget, justification and estimate in the 399; Assemble the Internal Labor Packages. 4/16/2020
RFAS File Number: 0000027901 Re: Invoice Reimbursement IL-07 -31 -2019 -WMHT In regards to the above invoice, the invoice lists all the WMHT internal labor for July 2019 totaling $1, 302. 72. The Engineering portion totals $961. 74 and consists of Matthew Saplin and Cuong Le. Matthew Saplin is exempt and works 1, 950 hours per year. Cuong Le is non-exempt and works 2, 080 hours. Payroll is bi-weekly. Tasks are listed on the invoice. The Finance and Accounting portion of the invoice totals $ 107. 67 and consists of Julie Raskin is exempt and works 1, 950 hours per year. Payroll is bi-weekly. Tasks are listed on the invoice. COVER LETTER 4/16/2020 Three departments worked on the category Develop and Air announcements of upcoming Channel Change. These departments are the following: Traffic, FM and Communications. The expenses for each department are separate but totaled below. Traffic consists of Keva Roberts who is exempt and works 1, 950 hours per year. She is responsible for inserting the interstitials on the log and ultimately on the air. Her task is listed on the invoice. Dave Delaney and Joyce Stah are part of FM and did voice over work for the TV spots. Both of them are non-exempt and work 1, 950 hours per year. Bill Winans also did voice overs and is exempt and works 1, 950 hours per year. We also utilized our Communications team to publicize the repack in social media and our website. Danielle Sanzone and Joseph Landor are both non-exempt and work 1, 950 hours per year. Mary Gribulis is exempt and works 1, 950 hours per year. July 2019 Internal Labor Expenses are found in the FCC Form 399 in the following descriptions/categories: In house project management and time: $961. 74 Finance and Accounting Expense: $107. 67 Develop and Air Announcements of upcoming Channel Change Traffic $23. 58 FM $39. 35 Communications $170. 38 Sub-Total $233. 31 Grand Total IL-07 -31 -2019 -WMHT $1, 302. 72 Julie Raskin VP Finance and Administration
HOURS WORKED June/July 2019 WMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC. FACILITY ID 73263 DATE TASK INVOICE#: IL-07 -31 -2019 -WMHT INVOICE DATE: 07/31/2019 14 -1400177 DUE DATE: 07/31/2019 14 -1400177 HOURS WORKED HOURS PAID RATE PER HOUR TOTAL PAID 2. 5 36. 51 $91. 27 P/E DATE PAY DATE $91. 27 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $127. 78 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $73. 02 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $282. 94 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $127. 78 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $36. 51 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 7/14/2019 7/19/2019 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 MATTHEW SAPLIN 6/21/2019 6/24/2019 Repack Meeting at Capital Region Broadcasters* Repack work on the mezzanine construction for combiner 3. 5 36. 51 $127. 78 Email responses to CBS in New york City about transition and New York 6/26/2019 INVOICE State Broadcasters 2 2 36. 51 $73. 02 Market Engineering Meeting; Internal meeting regarding potential 6/27/2019 delays and other matters related to the repack Email response to to the mezzanine contractor 8 0. 25 7. 5 0. 25 36. 51 $273. 82 $9. 12 Meeting with the mezzanine contrator at the Capital Region 6/28/2019 6/30/2019 Broadcasters* site 3. 5 Replying to repack emails TOTAL FOR MATTHEW SAPLIN 1 3. 5 1 20. 75 20. 25 9 9 36. 51 $127. 78 $36. 51 $739. 30 LE COUNG 7/11/2019 CRB Repack( removed wire racks) 24. 716 $222. 44 TOTAL FOR LE COUNG 9 9 $222. 44 TOTAL ENGINEERING JULIE RASKIN $222. 44 $961. 74 6/19/2019 Write cover memos/ assemble equipment packages for 399 6/27/2019 Call with Dielectric to discuss invoicing concerns; meet with M. Saplin 1 1 61. 53 $61. 53 0. 75 61. 53 $46. 14 $107. 67 TOTAL FOR JULIE RASKIN 2 2 1 1 $107. 67 TOTAL FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING KEVA ROBERTS 6/24/2019 Manually schedule spot for announcement of channel change due to repack- prior to June 30 23. 58 $107. 67 $23. 58 TOTAL FOR KEVA ROBERTS TOTAL PROGRAMMING 1 1 $23. 58
HOURS WORKED June/July 2019 WMHT EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS INC. FACILITY ID 73263 DATE TASK INVOICE#: IL-07 -31 -2019 -WMHT INVOICE DATE: 07/31/2019 14 -1400177 DUE DATE: 07/31/2019 14 -1400177 HOURS WORKED HOURS PAID RATE PER HOUR TOTAL PAID 0. 5 22. 564 $11. 28 0. 50 0. 5 0. 50 P/E DATE PAY DATE $11. 28 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $12. 16 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $15. 91 $39. 35 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 $9. 60 6/30/2019 7/5/2019 DAVE DELANEY 6/18/2019 Voice-over: TV spots regarding repack channel change TOTAL FOR DAVE DELANEY $11. 28 JOYCE STAH 6/18/2019 Voice-over: TV spots regarding repack channel change TOTAL FOR JOYCE STAH 24. 327 $12. 16 BILL WINANS 6/17/2019 Voice-over: TV spots regarding repack channel change TOTAL FOR BILL WINANS 31. 83 $15. 91 TOTAL FM DANIELLE SANZONE 6/21/2019 Posting rescan announcements on social media- facebook, instagram and twitter 0. 25 19. 234 $4. 80 6/27/2019 Brainstorming for social media posts 0. 25 19. 234 $4. 80 TOTAL FOR DANIELLE SANZONE JOSEPH LANDOR 6/25/2019 Built webpages and posted messaging on wmht. org related to the rescan/repack 0. 5 2 2 $9. 60 17. 585 $9. 60 $35. 17 TOTAL FOR JOSEPH LANDOR MARY GRIBULIS 6/19/2019 6/20/2019 6/25/2019 Researched and created graphics and language for the WMHT website and social media accounts 2 2 $35. 17 1 1 35. 89 $35. 89 2 2 35. 89 $71. 78 0. 5 35. 89 $17. 94 $35. 17 $125. 61 TOTAL FOR MARY GRIBULIS 3. 5 TOTAL FOR INVOICE # IL-07 -31 -2019 -WMHT 35. 75 35. 25 TOTAL COMMUNICATIONS $125. 61 $170. 38 $1, 302. 72 *The engineers meet on a monthly basis to discuss the repack schedules and both individual and combined equipment purchases. It is noted on our 399, that WMHT is part of a shared tower (Capital Region Broadcasters LLC also known as the CRB) with 2 other stations also being repacked in Phase 4. WMHT, WTEN and WCWN are the 3 stations that are being repacked at the same time.
INVOICE COMPONENTS FOR 399 - I 4/16/2020
INVOICE COMPONENTS FOR 399 - II 4/16/2020
INVOICE COMPONENTS FOR 399 - III 4/16/2020
INVOICE COMPONENTS FOR 399 - IV 4/16/2020
Q&A 4/16/2020
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