As governments and other eligible entities prepare to manage their response to COVID-19, they should begin tracking costs by setting up cost centers in their accounting systems to capture disaster-related charges such as labor costs, supplies, and equipment.

1. Track spending separately: Identify and keep funds and expenditures separate by creating an independent disaster account for this “incident” to enable clear tracking of disaster-related expenditures, including employee timekeeping.
2. Properly procure everything: Get three quotes for everything, even if you’re working under the emergency procurement procedures: We know it can be challenging, but even documenting phone calls with vendors will help out tremendously when you later have to justify your costs and following of procurement rules.
3. Compile and keep documents to support cost claims: Document control/scan all supporting information and keeping them in a centralized (electronic) file system that is backed up somewhere.
4. Assign a point of contact: The point of contact will be the point person for communicating with state and federal agencies.
5. Track with detailed records on every dollar spent related to response and recover: Track and document equipment use during the response phase (what, who, how, and duration of use), and be as specific as possible. If there is overtime for Force Account Labor: ensure it is in a spreadsheet and then can be converted to the appropriate FEMA forms. For any contracted staff, anything that is performed related to wipe-downs/emergency protective measures should be tracked separately so it can get reimbursed, and that time needs a description that is as detailed as possible.
6. Secure the ability to cash flow the response/recovery expenses effectively: If you need to (if there are no emergency reserves), you may need to start talking to financial institutions about getting a line of credit to pay the unbudgeted emergency expenses until they can be (partially) reimbursed.  Private businesses/your vendors are most likely facing their own cash flow issues with this disaster, so they will need to be paid in a timely fashion per your contract with them.
7. Start tracking your losses (not just your costs): Depending on the parameters of forthcoming legislation, there may be some financial relief for financial losses in revenue or income caused directly from this disaster.
8. If you need extra/outside disaster management staff: Depending upon the circumstances of your entity, emergency procurement may be an option (we recommend consulting your state emergency management office to discuss your particular circumstances). See links below on emergency procurement.  However, an entity can always issue a request for proposal (RFP) that meets federal procurement requirements to bring on additional specialized resources to help manage the emergency expenses and requests for reimbursement from the anticipated multiple federal agencies that will be offering support. (Federal guidelines for procurement can be found here.

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Navigating the FEMA reimbursement process, documentation preparation, compilation, and preservation are crucial to obtaining FEMA funding.  Eligible hospitals everywhere need to take the following key actions at this time in order to optimize their opportunities for FEMA reimbursement:

• Establish a Separate Cost Center for Accounting Purposes to Capture all COVID-19 Related Emergency Preparedness Expenses-Having the ability to capture all emergency preparedness related expenses allows for a more accurate accounting of incurred costs and allows hospitals to more quickly assess the financial impact incurred.
• Establish a Formal Practice for Electronically Capturing & Cataloguing; Retain all COVID-19 Related Expense Documentation-FEMA eligible expenses are only reimbursed if sufficient documentation exists and can be made available:

• Vendor Contracts
• Purchase Orders
• Invoices
• Proof of Payment Documentation

• Take Photos of any Temporary Facilities Established to Test, Treat and Isolate COVID-19 Patients-Document through photos the establishment of temporary facilities for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and isolation.
• Have Formal Written & Executed Mutual Aid Agreements in Place with Red Cross and Area Shelters-Red Cross & local health departments will commonly not have sufficient resources to respond to an emergency; therefore, they may request assistance from area hospitals: the Establishment of a Mutual Aid Agreement may assist with obtaining FEMA reimbursement for such costs.

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