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March/April 2026
GEARS Payment Run Information
We are very happy to report that GEARS has successfully generated payments for January 2, February 2, and March 2, 2026. The associated reimbursement and payment reports were promptly reviewed and posted. The processing dates for the GEARS runs are 2025-12-19 for January 2, 2026-01-21 for February 2, and 2026-02-19 for March 2 payments. Please refer to these dates when accessing the GEARS -603 and/or -620 reports.
You will occasionally see off-cycle run dates within the listing of Expense Processing Dates. Only those agencies included in the off-cycle runs will be able to generate reports related to those runs. Those affected agencies are notified of the appropriate Expense Processing Date of the reports.
There is only one regularly scheduled monthly GEARS Expense Processing job. The GEARS Processing Schedule is found at GEARS Processing and Payment Schedule | Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Each month’s Expense Processing Date is listed as soon as the GEARS run is reviewed and accepted. Please refer to this schedule to identify the regular GEARS Expense Processing Dates.
So Long, Calendar Year 2025
The majority of contracts on GEARS are calendar year contracts. The DHS accounting personnel and program area staff are now working on funding reconciliation and closeout finalization of 2025 calendar year contracts. Please ensure all the final expenses for the CY 2025 State and County Contracts are submitted by March 25, 2026.
We are taking extra precautions to ensure a seamless and precise closeout for the calendar year 2025, and to prevent any interruptions to other 2026 payments. Some things you can do to help with this process:
- Reconcile your accounting records to the GEARS Expenditure reports submitted. Ideally, agencies have been doing this on a monthly basis or quarterly basis, as required in the grant agreements.
- Verify expenditures reported were properly processed and paid by reviewing your agency’s GEARS-603 and/or -620 reports.
- Submit any necessary final expenditures or adjustments to previously reported expenditures, increases or decreases, on your final GEARS Expenditure report form. Final report due dates are established in your agency’s grant agreement. Grant close-out periods by profile are listed on the Listing of CARS/GEARS Profile Close Out Dates which is available from a link near the bottom of the GEARS home page, Grant Enrollment, Application and Reporting System (GEARS) | Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Final reports are due no later than the last day of the grant close-out period.
- If you have questions or concerns, contact the GEARS team promptly at DHS600RCARS@dhs.wisconsin.gov using the subject line Agency #-Agency Type-Contract Year-FINAL-Report Month & Year-Agency Name.
We ask for your patience as the GEARS Team’s response may take a little longer than you may be used to due to the increased number of expenditure reports and questions received during the calendar year close-out period.
Hello, Calendar Year 2026
Sign Your Contracts
Contracts are activated in GEARS only after they are fully executed, meaning signed by both the grantee and DHS. Any costs incurred without a fully executed contract will remain the responsibility of the local agency.
Only fully executed contracts will show amounts on the GEARS reports and are reimbursed costs. Contracts amounts in pending status are not shown on your GEARS reimbursement reports (the GEARS-603 and -620 reports).
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Reporting Expenses
Please remember to download the Expenditure Reporting Form from the GEARS website to ensure you have the most recent version.
Agencies may report costs to DHS once they know their GEARS agency number and type, the profile(s) where costs should be reported, and the contract year. Expenditures reported against contract amounts in pending status are shown on the GEARS-603 and -620 reports, but they will not be reimbursed until the contract is fully executed. GEARS staff will send an e-mail to notify agencies if a profile on an expense report does not have an active contract in the system. This email is a reminder that payments will not be issued until:
- an active contract is in the system, and;
- the reported expenditure report falls within the timeframe of that active contract.
If you receive that email and think that the agency already has a fully executed contract for the expenditures reported, please double check the data on the expense report. Make sure that there were no errors on agency type, contract year, report period, or profile ID.
Where to find helpful GEARS information and how to contact us
Please visit the GEARS website at Grant Enrollment, Application and Reporting System (GEARS) | Wisconsin Department of Health Services to access the GEARS Payment Processing Schedule, CARS/GEARS Reports including the 603, 610, 620, GEARS Payment Report, as well as the GEARS Profile List, Expenditure Reporting information and instructions, program funding sources listing and profile closeout dates, the CARS/GEARS Manual, and much, much more!
You can find our contact information on the GEARS home page in the left menu as well. By using the listed contact addresses on that page as well as formatting your subject line as suggested, you help us respond to you more quickly.
You can also sign up to receive GEARS Newsletters by clicking on the “Join our email list” link on the GEARS website.
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