The ENTITY Case Management System includes the following functionality:

ICS provides necessary information to ENTITY via extracts on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. ENTITY shares DIAL information with the Automated Lien System (ALS). The extracts are provided within the time frames noted:

ENTITY data cannot be accessed in stand-alone mode. The computer must be connected to the Local Area Network (LAN) to access the ENTITY application. This can be accomplished in the office, or via Enterprise Remote Access Project (ERAP) off site.

Visit the ENTITY web site at: http://sbse.web.irs.gov/en to obtain access instructions.

The ENTITY system displays inventory, module, time, activity and employee management information.

Information is available on ENTITY to assist group managers in group operations. Group managers can use ENTITY to analyze inventory using a broad range of criteria.

ENTITY displays all the inventory assigned to the group.

ENTITY displays the case codes and subcodes that are assigned in ICS. These codes must be reviewed upon receipt of case, monitored periodically, and updated by the revenue officer on ICS when necessary.

ENTITY, in addition to the above, can be used to:

The ENTITY Queue consists of all cases in status 24 (TSIGN 7000) with:

Queue research capabilities are available at the group level and above. This system's capabilities are as follows:

Each field group generates monthly reports in ENTITY.

The data from the groups can be compiled at the Territory, Area, and National levels.

Time and open inventory reports are available in ENTITY at the group, territory, area, and national levels. The query feature on ENTITY can also be used to pull specific data at all levels.

The GM Case Assignment feature is the method collection group managers use to assign inventory to the revenue officer. Complete documentation for the GM Case Assignment feature can be found on the ENTITY web site at: http://sbse.web.irs.gov/en .

Under the GM Case Assignment feature, cases are received in the group queue for assignment by the group manager. Only the following types of cases will be sent directly to the managers hold file:

Under normal circumstances, accelerated cases aligned with a specific RO should be selected and assigned first. If the need arises such as finding developmental work for a trainee, group managers may assign non-accelerated inventory using the custom assignment feature.

The manager can assign cases that do not appear in the group managers Queue such as notice status and related/cross-referenced cases in the following manner:

After completion of these actions, IDRS will assign the case to the revenue officer on the following weekend. Please refer to the following table for cases requiring immediate assignment to the revenue officer:

The case code and subcode are three digit numbers. ICS reflects this on the Case Summary Screen as Case/Sub CD: xxx/xxx:

The case code and/or subcode must be changed on ICS as the nature of the case changes. The revenue officer has the ultimate responsibility to update the subcode as necessary. For example, a corporation initially may be coded 201 as an in-business corporation. If the RO learns that the corporation is out of business, the case code must be changed to 202. Case code changes are made on ICS. ICS then extracts this information to ENTITY.

The Case codes are established and defined by Headquarters. The definitions can only be changed at the national level.

The ICS/ENTITY case codes are as follows:

Subcodes are set and defined by Headquarters or the local area office.

Time tracking for non-IDRS cases and some specific programs are controlled by subcodes, such as:

These subcodes match the time codes on the Form 4872 (Collection Activity Report). Time charged to cases with one of these subcodes is added to the appropriate time code.

All subcodes 500 and below are standard or reserved. Additionally, all subcodes over 500, whose second and third digits fall between 00–19, are reserved for use by Headquarters (see sub code list for examples).

Subcodes over 500, that are not reserved or defined, may be used by the Area office to track cases of local interest.

Revenue officers are required to report and finalize time (End of Day-EOD) on ICS daily. All time entries are input as fractions of an hour, for example, .25, .50, .75 and 1 hour.

Revenue officers will report Direct time (time spent on assigned cases) in quarter hour increments. Direct case time of 30 minutes or more must be charged to the assigned taxpayer case. Revenue officers in general program working 15 minutes or less on a case have the option of recording that time to the case or 809 miscellaneous time. Overhead time will be reported in increments of 15 minutes.

Time is charged to each taxpayer case (TIN-based time).

Non-Case Direct Time will be reported on ICS using the following codes.

The Miscellaneous Direct (809) time code is available for case actions on closed cases or for actions taking 15 minutes or less on open cases.

The Assisting another RO (810) time code is to be used to report time spent working on a case assigned to another RO.

Non-Direct Time will be reported as follows:

Time spent on Overhead Activities will be reported as follows:

Break time will be recorded under the Administrative time code, 611.

Other hours will be reported as follows:

Travel time for field work is charged to specific cases. Time will be charged as follows:

Field time must be charged to the actual cases. In addition cumulative field time for the day must be reported using time code 621. Time code 621 is an information code and is required to be input.

Revenue officers are required to record flexiplace time for the day using time code 622. Time code 622 is an information code and is required to be input.

Revenue officers must not project time to be expended on taxpayer cases.

Scheduled leave, training time, and detail out time will be input prior to the employee's absence. Revenue officers, group secretaries and managers will utilize the End of Day (EOD) function on ICS prior to departure.

Revenue officers and other Collection Field function ICS users will EOD (finalize their time on ICS) at the close of business each day, but no later than the next business day except at the end of the Time Reporting Period. On the last Friday of the ENTITY Time Reporting Period, revenue officers must either connect to the Local Area Network (LAN) via ERAP, or come into the office to upload their time by close of business.

If an employee is unexpectedly absent when the month end time report is due or is having difficulty connecting to the LAN, the employee will make every effort to get the time information to the group secretary or manager via telephone or fax no later than COB on the last Friday of the reporting period.

Only the group manager, acting group manager or the group secretary can edit time that has been EOD. Therefore, all time entries should be carefully reviewed for accuracy prior to completing the EOD process.

A realignment takes place when an entire group or territory is created, collapsed or moved. Movement of individual employees between groups or territories is not considered a realignment. The instructions in this section only pertain to the procedures for the Integrated Collection System (ICS) and the Entity Case Management System (ENTITY) portion of realignments. Complete instructions for realignments can be found in the SB/SE Collection Guide to Organization Changes. Copies of realignment documents can be found on the ENTITY web site: http://sbse.web.irs.gov/EN/ .

There are five main types of Collection realignments:

Realignments generally will be completed on a quarterly basis to coincide with the beginning of each fiscal quarter. The realignments will be implemented on the first week of the fiscal quarter.

The following table outlines the type of realignment and time frames:

All approved requests for Collection realignments must be submitted to the Headquarters ENTITY program analyst at least 45 days prior to the desired action date. The desired action date must fall on the first Monday of a reporting period. The approved request must be submitted on an SBSE - Collection Realignment Request form [see Exhibit 5.3.1-1], with the approved SBSE-Request for Organizational Change (SROC) control number.

The following information for all group and individual realignments will be forwarded to the Collection Automation Coordinator (CAC) at least 45 days prior to implementation.

All Area offices will provide the name and telephone number of a realignment coordinator from within the area director's staff. This person will be responsible for ensuring all necessary information (request forms, spreadsheets, list of affected personnel, etc.) are provided to the CAC who will communicate and coordinate with the area, headquarters, ICS & ENTITY analysts, as well as the MITS staff.

Employees moving from one group to another is not considered a formal realignment. However, there are procedures that need to be followed when performing these actions.

The following actions should be followed when moving an employee:

Group secretaries will be responsible for the following tasks:

The revenue officer will review case codes and subcodes for correctness. Any necessary changes will be made in ICS to update codes.

Revenue officers will accurately report and EOD their time at the conclusion of each business day, but no later than the next business day per IRM 5.2.1.8.1. The Time Reporting application on ICS is used to report time. The EOD function on ICS is used to finalize time for the day.

All revenue officers, including those on flexiplace, working in stand-alone mode, or off-line, will perform the EOD function at the conclusion of each business day but no later than the next business day. The only exception to this requirement is on the last Friday of the ENTITY time reporting period. On the last Friday of the reporting period, revenue officers must EOD their time by close of business that day. Revenue officers must either connect to the LAN via ERAP, or come into the office to upload their time.

The revenue officer must review the time report for errors and correct them before the EOD process is complete. A manager, acting manager and the group secretary are the only personnel who can correct a time report once it has been EOD.

Revenue officers can use ENTITY to build queries or to run pre-programmed queries. These queries can be used to research the revenue officer's casework by taxpayer, module, activity, and closed case information.

Managers should use the full range of available options within ENTITY to identify trends within their group and analyze case work such as:

The group manager is responsible and accountable for accurate and timely End of Month (EOM) Reports for their group. Running End of Month reports or making necessary time corrections is timely if it occurs on Monday or the first business day following the last Friday of the reporting period. The group manager is responsible for reviewing the reports, and ensuring the accuracy of the reports. Once the group manager verifies the accuracy of the EOM reports, the group manager will approve/finalize the group's EOM. Finalizing the EOM is accomplished by selecting "Approve EOM" under Month End on ENTITY. The approve EOM action in ENTITY will constitute the group manager's electronic signature that the End of Month reports are accurate and completed.

Managers should review the use of case codes periodically to:

When the manager needs assistance regarding problems with the use of ENTITY, the manager should seek help from the following sources:

The territory managers responsibilities are to:

The territory manager is responsible for notifying the area office and the CAC prior to any requested group changes which affect the ENTITY system. The territory manager should remember to allow sufficient time for the CAC to notify and coordinate any changes with headquarters, ICS, and the ENTITY support staff. The following changes require notification:

The area office has the following responsibilities:

The area office is responsible for notifying the CAC of any requested collection realignments that involve collapsing groups or territories, creating new groups or territories, or moving groups from one territory to a new territory. ENTITY must receive notification of any changes as soon as they are approved. Failure to timely notify ENTITY program analysts of collection group changes may prevent or delay the implementation of the requested changes and may result in inaccurate data.

The area office will ensure all request forms for group changes (see Exhibit 5.3.1–1 for example of request form) are received in headquarters in a timely manner. The area director or designee will be the approving authority for any changes which affect the ENTITY system.

Realignments generally will take place the first week of the new quarter, please refer to IRM 5.3.1.2.5 for further explanation and instructions.

The CAC should have a working knowledge of ENTITY and the related computing systems.

In general the CAC will perform the following ENTITY related duties:

Upon receipt of an approved SROC the CAC is responsible for coordinating any changes to ENTITY with the ENTITY support staff, headquarters, and ICS, before any changes are made. Failure to notify ICS and ENTITY of any changes may result in the loss of MIS, a loss of time reports, case assignment problems, and lien filing problems.

The CAC coordinates with the area office, local System Administrators, and ICS/ENTITY Quality Analysts to complete the realignment request forms (see Exhibit 5.3.1-1 for example of request form). The completed request forms must be supplied to headquarters 45 days prior to the desired realignment date.

The ICS/ENTITY Quality Analyst (IQA) is a position which encompasses functional support of ENTITY, ICS, and the Collection Time Reporting System (CTRS).

The IQA is the resident analyst for the ENTITY system, ICS and the Collection Time Reporting System. The IQA serves as the area focal point and quality assurance specialist for the resolution of software and systems problems. The IQA assists with the reorganization of collection groups within the area, provides liaison and analytical services, and identifies and resolves related systemic and procedural errors.

The IQA has the following responsibilities:

The Area Collection policy analyst is a position on the Area Director’s staff. The Collection policy analyst in Planning and Analysis provides support to each SB/SE Area as well as headquarters.

The Collection policy analyst utilizes ENTITY reports and queries to evaluate the effectiveness of workflow and identify trends on a monthly and cumulative basis.