What must a PCA timesheet include in Minnesota?

Under Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 12(c), a PCA timesheet must include the PCA's full name and individual provider number; the agency's name and telephone numbers; the recipient's full name and Medical Assistance ID or date of birth; consecutive dates with arrival and departure times marked a.m. or p.m.; the signature of the recipient or responsible party; the PCA's personal signature; any shared care; a federal false-claims statement; dates and locations of hospital, facility, or incarceration stays; and any travel time with start and stop times and sites.

What does a CFSS time sheet have to contain?

Minn. Stat. § 256B.85, subd. 15(c) lists ten elements for a CFSS time sheet: the support worker's full name and individual provider number; the agency-provider's name and telephone numbers; the participant's full name; the pay period dates with arrival and departure times marked a.m. or p.m.; the covered services provided on each date; the participant's or representative's signature with a statement that it verifies accuracy; the worker's signature; any shared care; the federal false-claims statement; and dates and locations of hospital, care facility, or incarceration stays.

Can PCA and CFSS timesheets be electronic?

Yes. § 256B.0659, subd. 12(a) states that PCA documentation may be web-based, electronic, or paper, and § 256B.85, subd. 15(a) states that CFSS time sheets may be created, submitted, and maintained electronically. DHS confirms that providers may use electronic visit verification (EVV) or the DHS-6893C template to record time and activity. An electronic time sheet still has to carry every statutory element, including the participant's and worker's signatures, which is why EVV apps capture a client signature at clock-out.

Does EVV replace the PCA or CFSS timesheet?

EVV can be the time sheet, but it does not remove any requirement. An EVV visit record that captures the date, arrival and departure times, the worker, the participant, the tasks performed, and both signatures satisfies § 256B.0659, subd. 12 or § 256B.85, subd. 15 for that visit. Since January 1, 2026 every provider must be enrolled with HHAeXchange and submit all visits, and since July 1, 2026 at least 80 percent of billed visits must be EVV compliant; a manually entered visit is noncompliant and still needs full documentation.

How long must PCA and CFSS timesheets be kept?

At least five years. Minn. R. 9505.2190, subp. 1 requires a Minnesota Health Care Programs vendor to retain all health service and financial records related to a billed service for at least five years after the initial date of billing, and it allows electronic storage. For the CFSS budget model, § 256B.85, subd. 13a separately requires the FMS provider to keep support worker time records for at least five years from the claim date and make them available for audit.

Who has to sign a PCA or CFSS timesheet?

Two people. For PCA, § 256B.0659, subd. 12(c) requires the signature of the recipient or the responsible party and the personal signature of the personal care assistant. For CFSS, § 256B.85, subd. 15(c) requires the signature of the participant or the participant's representative, with a statement that the signature verifies the time sheet's accuracy, and the signature of the support worker. A CFSS participant's representative must review and sign time sheets after services are provided under subd. 14a(g).

PCA timesheet requirements and CFSS visit documentation in Minnesota

Short answer

PCA timesheet requirements in Minnesota come from Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 12, and the matching CFSS rule is § 256B.85, subd. 15. Each worker must document services daily on a time sheet that records the worker's name and provider number, the agency's name and phone numbers, the participant's name, each date with arrival and departure times marked a.m. or p.m., the services performed, any shared care, hospital or facility stays, and the signatures of both the participant or representative and the worker. Time sheets may be electronic, must be submitted at least monthly, must match the care plan or service delivery plan, and must be kept for at least five years after the first billing date under Minn. R. 9505.2190.

At a glance

PCA rule: Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 12: daily documentation on a commissioner-approved time sheet with ten required elements
CFSS rule: Minn. Stat. § 256B.85, subd. 15: daily documentation on a time sheet with ten required elements, submitted at least monthly
Times: Arrival and departure times for each date, with a.m. or p.m. notations
Signatures: Participant (or responsible party or representative) and the worker; the CFSS form must state that the participant's signature verifies accuracy
Format: Paper, web-based, or electronic; EVV or the DHS-6893C template
Must match: The PCA care plan (reviewed by the qualified professional) or the assessed needs in the CFSS service delivery plan
EVV threshold: 80 percent of billed visits EVV compliant as of July 1, 2026; manual entries count as noncompliant
Retention: At least five years after the initial billing date (Minn. R. 9505.2190, subp. 1)

Key takeaways

§ 256B.0659, subd. 12 (PCA) and § 256B.85, subd. 15 (CFSS) each require daily documentation by the worker on a time sheet with ten listed elements, including arrival and departure times with a.m. or p.m. notations and the signatures of the participant or representative and the worker.
Both statutes allow electronic time sheets; DHS states that providers may document time and activity through EVV or on the DHS-6893C template, and the agency or FMS provider decides the method.
The activity documentation must correspond to the PCA care plan (reviewed by the qualified professional) or to the participant's assessed needs in the CFSS service delivery plan, and its accuracy must be verified by the agency-provider.
EVV does not remove the documentation duty: as of July 1, 2026 at least 80 percent of billed visits must be EVV compliant, and manually entered or edited visits count as noncompliant.
Minn. R. 9505.2190, subp. 1 requires all health service and financial records behind a claim to be kept for at least five years after the initial billing date; § 256B.85, subd. 13a sets the same five years from the claim date for FMS time records.
PCA and CFSS are on the DHS pre-payment review list, so the time sheet, the plan, and the authorization for a claim may be requested before the claim is paid.

PCA timesheet requirements in Minnesota are written into statute, and so are the matching rules for Community First Services and Supports (CFSS). Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 12 requires every Personal Care Assistance (PCA) service to be documented daily by the personal care assistant on a time sheet with ten required elements, and § 256B.85, subd. 15 requires the same of every CFSS support worker. The elements are nearly identical: who worked, for whom, on what dates, from what time to what time, doing what, with the signatures of both the worker and the person served.

Electronic visit verification (EVV) has changed how most agencies capture that record, but not what it must contain. An EVV visit is a time sheet in a different container.

This guide covers the required fields, EVV, matching tasks to the plan, signatures, retention, pre-payment review, common failures, and a template outline, as of September 2026.

What the PCA and CFSS statutes require on a time sheet

The two statutes are laid side by side below. Where the CFSS clause differs, the difference is in bold.

Element	PCA: § 256B.0659, subd. 12(c)	CFSS: § 256B.85, subd. 15(c)
Worker	Full name and individual provider number	Full name and individual provider number
Agency	Provider name and telephone numbers	Agency-provider's name and telephone numbers, when responsible for the service delivery plan
Person served	Full name and either the MA identification number or date of birth	Full name
Dates and times	Consecutive dates with month, day, and year, and arrival and departure times with a.m. or p.m. notations	Dates within the pay period with month, day, and year, and arrival and departure times with a.m. or p.m. notations
Services	Activity documentation that corresponds to the PCA care plan (subd. 12(b))	The covered services provided on each date of service
Person's signature	Signature of the recipient or the responsible party	Signature of the participant or representative and a statement that the signature verifies the time sheet's accuracy
Worker's signature	Personal signature of the PCA	Signature of the support worker
Shared care	Any shared care provided, if applicable	Any shared care provided, if applicable
False-claims statement	Statement that it is a federal crime to provide false information on PCA billings for MA payments	Same statement for CFSS billings
Absences	Dates and location of stays in a hospital, care facility, or incarceration	Same, occurring within the pay period
Travel	Any travel time, with start and stop times (a.m. or p.m.), origination site, and destination site	Travel documentation under subd. 12c: start and stop times (a.m. or p.m.), origination site, and destination site

Under PCA subd. 12(a), the time sheet is on a commissioner-approved form, is submitted monthly to the provider, and is kept in the recipient's health record; under subd. 12(b) the qualified professional reviews it against the care plan. Under CFSS subd. 15(a) and (b), the worker submits the time sheet at least once per month to the agency-provider, which keeps a record, gives a copy to the participant, and verifies its accuracy against the participant's assessed needs. In the budget model the participant and the FMS provider receive and verify it instead.

How EVV and the paper time sheet fit together

Both statutes allow electronic records. PCA subd. 12(a) says documentation "may be web-based, electronic, or paper," and CFSS subd. 15(a) says time sheets "may be created, submitted, and maintained electronically." DHS's time and activity documentation page adds that providers may use EVV or the DHS template, CFSS Worker Time and Activity Documentation (DHS-6893C), and that the agency or FMS provider decides the method.

EVV then adds its own compliance layer, described in the Minnesota EVV requirements guide. Since January 1, 2026, every provider must be enrolled with HHAeXchange regardless of the EVV system it uses and must submit data for all visits, including noncompliant ones. At least 50 percent of visits billed after January 1, 2026 and at least 80 percent of visits billed after July 1, 2026 must be EVV compliant. Manually entered or missed visits count as noncompliant, and DHS can escalate from corrective action notices to recoupment and payment suspension.

An EVV visit record should therefore carry every statutory element so that no second document is needed. When a visit must be entered or corrected by hand, the EVV visit corrections and reason codes guide explains how to do it without losing the audit trail; the corrected visit still needs both signatures.

Documenting tasks against the plan

The field that most often separates a paid claim from a recouped one is the services column. PCA subd. 12(b) requires the activity documentation to "correspond to the personal care assistance care plan." CFSS subd. 15(b) requires it to "correspond to the participant's assessed needs within the scope of CFSS covered services," which are the needs and methods written into the CFSS service delivery plan under § 256B.85, subd. 6(c)(4).

A checkbox list of the participant's own plan tasks, filled in per visit, does this. A generic list of every possible ADL does not, because it lets a worker mark tasks the participant was never assessed for. Reviewers also read tasks against times: a two-hour visit whose only documented task is "medication reminder" invites a question about the other 110 minutes.

Audit tip: units are computed from the arrival and departure times, not from the schedule. If a shift was scheduled for four hours and the time sheet shows 1:05 p.m. to 4:20 p.m., the claim is for 13 units, not 16. Let the system compute units from the recorded times so the time sheet and the claim can never disagree.

Signature rules, including electronic signatures

Both statutes require two signatures on every time sheet: the person served (or the responsible party for PCA, or the participant's representative for CFSS) and the worker. The CFSS form must also state that the participant's signature verifies the accuracy of the time sheet. Under § 256B.85, subd. 14a(g), a CFSS participant's representative agrees in writing to "review and sign support worker time sheets after services are provided to verify the provision of services," so a representative who signs a blank sheet at the start of the month is not doing what the agreement requires.

Because the statutes allow electronic time sheets, an electronic signature is acceptable when it identifies the signer, is attached to the specific visit record, and cannot be altered without a trace. A signature captured in the app at clock-out, stored with the visit's times, and locked in an append-only record meets that standard. A typed name added by office staff during billing does not.

Retention: five years

Minn. R. 9505.2190, subp. 1 requires a Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) vendor to "retain all health service and financial records related to a health service for which payment under a program was received or billed for at least five years after the initial date of billing," and it permits electronic storage. For the CFSS budget model, § 256B.85, subd. 13a requires the FMS provider to keep support worker time records for at least five years from the claim date and make them available for audit. Retention includes the signatures and the audit trail.

What a pre-payment reviewer asks for

PCA and CFSS are among the 14 high-risk services on the DHS pre-payment review list as of September 2026. The CFSS billing guide lists what the MHCP and IMCare CFSS manuals expect an agency to have before it submits any claim. For each held claim, expect to produce the signed time and activity documentation for every worker on the claimed dates; the service delivery plan (or PCA care plan) and lead agency addendum; the service authorization letter; the assessment copy; the worker's training, enrollment, and competency records; and the participant agreement, any responsible party or representative form, and the shared services agreement (DHS-6893E) if shared care was billed.

Common documentation failures that cause recoupment

Failure	Why it fails	Fix
Missing a.m. or p.m. notation, or a duration instead of clock times	Subd. 12(c)(4) and subd. 15(c)(4) require arrival and departure times with a.m. or p.m.	Capture clock times automatically
Participant signature missing, pre-signed, or signed by the worker	Both statutes require the person's own signature verifying the visit	Signature at clock-out, per visit
Tasks not in the care plan or service delivery plan	Subd. 12(b) and subd. 15(b) require correspondence to the plan or assessed needs	Task list generated from the plan
Overlapping visits for the same worker	A worker cannot serve two participants at once unless shared care is documented	Block overlapping clock-ins; require the DHS-6893E agreement
Visits on dates the participant was in a hospital or facility	Both statutes require those dates to be listed, and PCA and CFSS are not covered there	Record admissions and discharges in the participant file
Travel billed without start and stop times and sites	Subd. 12(c)(10) and § 256B.85, subd. 12c	Separate travel entry with origin and destination
Manually entered EVV visits with no reason code or signature	Counted as noncompliant and unsupported	Reason codes, signatures, and the monthly HHAeXchange report
Records unavailable after a vendor change	Five-year retention under Minn. R. 9505.2190	Export and archive visit detail

The DHS audit preparation checklist explains how to sample your own time sheets against claims before a reviewer does.

A time sheet template outline

A PCA or CFSS time sheet that satisfies both statutes has five sections. Header: agency name and telephone numbers, worker's full name and provider number (UMPI or NPI), participant's full name (and, for PCA, MA ID or date of birth), and the pay period. Daily rows: date, arrival and departure times with a.m. or p.m., location or GPS confirmation, shared care indicator, and tasks selected from the participant's plan. Exceptions: hospital, care facility, or incarceration dates and locations, and travel entries with times, origination, and destination. Attestations: the federal false-claims statement, the participant's or representative's signature with the accuracy statement, the worker's signature, and both dates. Agency block: the qualified professional review (PCA) or accuracy verification (CFSS), signed and dated, and units computed from the times.

How Trustora helps

Trustora's caregiver app on iOS and Android records each PCA or CFSS visit as a time sheet that carries every element in § 256B.0659, subd. 12 and § 256B.85, subd. 15: the worker's identity and provider number, the participant, GPS clock-in and clock-out times, tasks selected from the participant's care plan or service delivery plan, shared care, and the participant's signature captured at clock-out with the accuracy statement. Visits are sent to the HHAeXchange aggregator, and manual entries require a reason code and are flagged against the EVV compliance rate.

Units are computed from the recorded times, the pre-claim gate holds any T1019 line whose visit lacks a signature or falls outside the authorization, and every record is stored in an append-only audit log with seven-year retention, beyond the five years Minn. R. 9505.2190 requires. The one-click DHS audit binder assembles time sheets, plans, and authorizations for any participant and date range. See the platform overview for the EVV and claims workflow.

Frequently asked questions

What must a PCA timesheet include in Minnesota?: Under Minn. Stat. § 256B.0659, subd. 12(c), a PCA timesheet must include the PCA's full name and individual provider number; the agency's name and telephone numbers; the recipient's full name and Medical Assistance ID or date of birth; consecutive dates with arrival and departure times marked a.m. or p.m.; the signature of the recipient or responsible party; the PCA's personal signature; any shared care; a federal false-claims statement; dates and locations of hospital, facility, or incarceration stays; and any travel time with start and stop times and sites.
What does a CFSS time sheet have to contain?: Minn. Stat. § 256B.85, subd. 15(c) lists ten elements for a CFSS time sheet: the support worker's full name and individual provider number; the agency-provider's name and telephone numbers; the participant's full name; the pay period dates with arrival and departure times marked a.m. or p.m.; the covered services provided on each date; the participant's or representative's signature with a statement that it verifies accuracy; the worker's signature; any shared care; the federal false-claims statement; and dates and locations of hospital, care facility, or incarceration stays.
Can PCA and CFSS timesheets be electronic?: Yes. § 256B.0659, subd. 12(a) states that PCA documentation may be web-based, electronic, or paper, and § 256B.85, subd. 15(a) states that CFSS time sheets may be created, submitted, and maintained electronically. DHS confirms that providers may use electronic visit verification (EVV) or the DHS-6893C template to record time and activity. An electronic time sheet still has to carry every statutory element, including the participant's and worker's signatures, which is why EVV apps capture a client signature at clock-out.
Does EVV replace the PCA or CFSS timesheet?: EVV can be the time sheet, but it does not remove any requirement. An EVV visit record that captures the date, arrival and departure times, the worker, the participant, the tasks performed, and both signatures satisfies § 256B.0659, subd. 12 or § 256B.85, subd. 15 for that visit. Since January 1, 2026 every provider must be enrolled with HHAeXchange and submit all visits, and since July 1, 2026 at least 80 percent of billed visits must be EVV compliant; a manually entered visit is noncompliant and still needs full documentation.
How long must PCA and CFSS timesheets be kept?: At least five years. Minn. R. 9505.2190, subp. 1 requires a Minnesota Health Care Programs vendor to retain all health service and financial records related to a billed service for at least five years after the initial date of billing, and it allows electronic storage. For the CFSS budget model, § 256B.85, subd. 13a separately requires the FMS provider to keep support worker time records for at least five years from the claim date and make them available for audit.
Who has to sign a PCA or CFSS timesheet?: Two people. For PCA, § 256B.0659, subd. 12(c) requires the signature of the recipient or the responsible party and the personal signature of the personal care assistant. For CFSS, § 256B.85, subd. 15(c) requires the signature of the participant or the participant's representative, with a statement that the signature verifies the time sheet's accuracy, and the signature of the support worker. A CFSS participant's representative must review and sign time sheets after services are provided under subd. 14a(g).

Sources and further reading

Cite this article

Trustora Editorial Team. (2026, September 12). PCA timesheet requirements and CFSS visit documentation in Minnesota. Trustora. https://trustora.com/blog/pca-cfss-timesheet-and-visit-documentation-requirements

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This article is general information for Minnesota agencies, not legal, clinical, or billing advice. Minnesota DHS policy changes often. Confirm current requirements in the MHCP Provider Manual, the Minnesota Statutes, and DHS provider notices before acting on anything here.