Frequently Asked Questions About CBISA
Question 1: I attempt to log in with my username and password and receive the following message: “Authentication failed. Please try again.”
Answer: One of two situations is likely happening. Either you did not enter your login information correctly or you are entering the correct login information onto the wrong login screen. Please be sure you are logging into https://www.cbisa.com and not your old URL of https://www.cbisaonline.com. After your organization transitioned to the new version of CBISA, your old website to access CBISA became read-only. Contact either your System Administrator or Lyon Software at support@lyonsoftware.com if you are not able to log into the new version of the software.
Question 2: I’ve logged in and I can’t see my top row of module tabs. They are cut off and I only see the sub-menu tabs underneath. Why?
Answer: Your browser is not yet in sync with the current version of CBISA since your last login. Simply hit Ctrl-F5 to refresh the site. If this step does not solve the problem, try logging out and then log back in using a different web browser. If the problem is not present on the second browser, it is likely because your first browser is Internet Explorer version 10 or lower, which is no longer supported by Microsoft as of June 1, 2016. If using Mozilla Firefox, try clicking the “Open Menu” icon in the upper right corner of browser window and adjust the zoom setting from 100% to 90%. If problem persists, please contact Lyon Software support.
Question 3: What is the difference between direct and indirect cost?
Answer: Direct costs are tangible and directly quantifiable costs such as Payroll and Supplies. Indirect Costs are intangible expenses like electricity, overhead, and insurance.
Question 4: What are other direct expenses?
Answer: Any other tangible expense not covered by “Purchased Services” or “Supplies”. It truly just means “Other” and is defined by you. A good example is a Cash Donation.
Question 5: What is the difference between “Staff Hours” on line 3 of the Occurrence form and “Hours” in the Expense Detail section? And, why when I put a number in “Staff Hours” it doesn’t automatically populate the expense hours field?
Answer: “Staff Hours” may be used to capture any type of input hours, i.e., paid or unpaid. Line 3 allows you to capture any and all input hours that are important to your reporting unit for reporting purposes. “Staff” and “Volunteer” may be renamed and a third input counter may be defined in Custom Terms (located in “Edit Defaults”). However, the hours counted in the Expense Detail section are to include only those hours which represent a true cost to the facility. Therefore, these hours are entered and maintained separately.
Question 6: I want to edit my reporting unit information in Org Defaults, but when I highlight my unit name and then click on “edit”, nothing happens. How do I open my reporting unit information page?
Answer: CBISA uses Web Page Dialog boxes in several areas of the program. Web Page Dialog boxes are controlled by “pop-up” blocker on your internet browser toolbar or internet options. “Pop-up” blocker should be turned off for CBISA. The data entry fields that utilize this functionality are: Help Screens, Departments, Categories, Healthy Communities and Topics (in Options/Edit Defaults), Reporting Unit and Users (in Options/Org Defaults), and previewing a report in a new window (in Reports & Listings). For additional information in setting up your workstation for CBISA, Click Here…
Question 7: I added some Occurrences in a new year, and I noticed my Fringe % is Zero. Why?
Answer: When starting a new fiscal year, the defaults for the year must be updated. The System Administrator or Coordinator for the reporting unit must update the start and end dates for the fiscal year, Reporting Unit Wide Average Rate, Fringe Percent, Defined Group Rates (if applicable), Revenues and Expenses, Indirect Cost Factors (all located in Defaults on the Reporting Unit Financial page) and the Average Department Rate (located in Edit Defaults). Remember: If occurrences have been entered PRIOR to updating the Fringe Percent field, you must use the “Apply Fringe Percent” tool to correctly apply the new fringe. For additional information on setting defaults for the new fiscal year, Click Here…
Question 8: I added an Average Reporting Unit-Wide rate in Reporting Unit Defaults, but my department rate still shows zero on my occurrences. How do I fix this?
Answer: The Reporting Unit Wide Average Hourly Pay Rate dollar amount is only used if a sponsoring department is not chosen on the Programs/General page and no department is selected on the Occurrence screen. If a department is selected at the Program level (thus automatically selected at the Occurrence level), then the data record will look to the Department Rate Table (located in Defaults dropdown, then select Department) for the correct average hourly rate.
If you want to use the Reporting Unit-Wide Average Hourly Pay Rate on any Occurrence (even if the Program has a sponsoring Department), simply open the Department rate dropdown and choose “None Apply”. This action “unselects” the sponsoring department and points the occurrence to the Reporting Unit-Wide Average Hourly Pay Rate instead of the Department Average Hourly Pay Rate.
Question 9: I used the ratios tab to calculate patient care cost to charges, but it doesn’t carry over to the other Financial Services tabs where it asks for the ratio. Why?
Answer: Some hospitals and health systems use more than one ratio throughout a fiscal year and may use different ratios for various financial services. Therefore, to allow for accounting flexibility, we do not “force” the calculated ratio into any of the Financial Services screens that allow for a ratio. The Ratio screen gives you the opportunity to create any number of ratios, name them (through the description field) and then save them. If you need to print off the ratio worksheet for any give fiscal time period, go to Reports & Listings, and print Worksheet 2 from the IRS Form 990 Schedule H reporting sub-menu.
Question 10: I get a message that says “The financial defaults used to calculate the expenses on this record are outside the scope of the occurrence date. Do you wish to update to the correct rate defaults?” What does this mean?
Answer: This pop up message occurs when the occurrence date selected is outside of the fiscal year you’re working in. If you wish to update the occurrence financial defaults to the selected fiscal year, click “No”. If you wish to update the occurrence financial defaults to the occurrence date fiscal year, click “Yes”.
Question 11: I get a message that says “There is 1 pending Snapshot” How do I accept/deny this request?
Answer: To access this request, go to Defaults, then select Reporting Unit from the dropdown menu. Scroll down to where you see the green Financial Defaults button. Your snapshot requests should be in a box right above this area.
Question 12: I added an occurrence, but when I click save, it does not appear in the occurrence list. Where did it go?
Answer: If you create an occurrence with a date that is ahead of the selected fiscal year, after you specify which years rates you want to use, the occurrence will appear in that fiscal years selection. To view it, select that fiscal year from the drop down list in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Question 13: When I add a new occurrence my financial defaults are not on the occurrence screen. Where are they?
Answer: If you don’t assign salary defaults for a fiscal year, the rates will not appear on the occurrence screen. So if you want to add salary defaults for a fiscal year, go to Defaults dropdown then select Reporting Unit.
From there, you will see on the left side of the page 6 different salary rates that you can edit. To change these to custom titles, go to the Defaults dropdown menu and select Custom Salary Groups & Metrics. Then highlight the row you want to change and select Edit from the upper right corner. Type your custom term into the Substitution box and click the Save button.