__________________________________________________ 

 

National Finance Center (NFC) 

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment 

Clearinghouse Project 

__________________________________________________

 

Version 3.1 

Approved By: 

_____________________________________ ____________

Anthony Priola, Associate Director 

Government Insurance and Collections Directorate 

 

 Date 

 

____________________________________________ ____________ 

Eric Figg, Healthcare and Insurance, OPM Date 

OPM Federal Employees Health 

Benefits Centralized Enrollment 

Clearinghouse (CLER) 

Payroll Office 

Enrollment File Layout 
Note: This document has been revised to include the following:

 The new requirement (on page 2 of this document) for payroll offices to transmit a 

Payroll Office Enrollment File to CLER no later than 7 business days after the pay 

period end date (also known as the As of Date) for each completed pay period

 Updated CLER contact information on page 2 of this document

 A change to the definition for the AS_OF_DATE field in Section 1.1 (Header 

Record Layout)

 A change to the definition and the field specifications, from required to optional, 

for the RECONCILIATION_YEAR field in Section 1.1 (Header Record Layout)

 A change to the definition and the field specifications, from required to optional, 

for the RECONCILIATION_QUARTER field in Section 1.1 (Header Record

Layout)

 The addition of a field named “PAY_CYCLE” in Section 1.1 (Header Record 

Layout)

 The reduction of the FILLER field in Section 1.1 (Header Record Layout) 

from 204 bytes to 203 bytes

 The addition of a field named “EMPLOYEE/ANNUITANT_IND” in Section 1.3 

(Enrollment Record Layout File)

 The reduction of the SUBMITTER_USE_1 field in Section 1.3 (Enrollment 

Record Layout File) from 20 bytes to 19 bytes

The revised text in this document is in bold italics.
Table of Contents 

1 PAYROLL OFFICE ENROLLMENT FILE 

 ..............................................................................................................................................2 

1.1 Header Record Layout - Payroll Office ...................................................................4 

1.2 Footer Record Layout - Payroll Office .....................................................................9 

1.3 Enrollment Record Layout File - Payroll Office ....................................................10 
Office of Personnel Management 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Enrollment File Layout 

May 2, 2013 

Page 2 

1 PAYROLL OFFICE ENROLLMENT FILE

The National Finance Center (NFC) will accept electronic input data as a text file from 

each payroll office. Payroll offices must transmit a Payroll Office Enrollment 

File to CLER no later than 7 business days after the pay period end date 

(also known as the As of Date) for each completed pay period. This 

document describes the layout for the respective transmission files.

Each transmission file will include a header record, detail record(s), and a footer record. 

These files must be in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text 

format with no other embedded data types or delimiters. 

Those payroll offices that expect to send data files from their mainframe to NFC’s 

mainframe will require a different transmission file format. If you have questions 

about this document, or technical questions about the file format and 

details about connecting to NFC, please contact CLER Operations at 504-

426-6410 or via e-mail at NFC.CLER@nfc.usda.gov.

 
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 3 

The following table describes the format for the record layouts in this section of the 

design document:

COLUMN HEADING COLUMN CONTENT

# Field number

TYPE/SIZE The data must be in ASCII format. This will specify whether the values 

are alpha, numeric, or alphanumeric and the length of the field.

COBOL COBOL data type and size

REQUIRED Field is Required or Optional

VALUE, FORMAT NOTES Value = indicates permissible field values

Format = indicated justification, padding, etc.

Note = special field considerations, examples, or miscellaneous 
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 4 

1.1 Header Record Layout - Payroll Office

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

1 RECORD_TYPE Text, 4 X(4) 1 thru 4 Value = literal “HEAD” Required Defines whether the record will be at the top of the file 

(header), bottom of the file (footer), or just one of the 

individual enrollment records.

2 PAYROLL_OFFICE_ID Number, 8 X(8) 5 thru 12 Value = Payroll Office 

Identification

Format = Left justify, pad 

with trailing spaces

Required The number assigned by Treasury and OPM to the 

organization that is responsible for coordinating the enrollee’s 

FEHB coverage and premium collection.

3 SUBMISSION_DATE Date, 8 X(8) 13 thru 20 Value = submission date 

in YYYYMMDD format

Required Date that the file was sent to NFC by the Payroll Office.

4 AS_OF_DATE Date, 8 X(8) 21 thru 28 Value = As-of date in 

YYYYMMDD format

Required Populate this field with the end date 

of the pay period for the 

enrollment/payment data that is being 

reported.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 5 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

5 RECONCILIATION_

YEAR

Number, 4 X(4) 29 thru 32 Value = Four digit year of 

data extraction date

Format = YYYY

Optional The reconciliation year should be the 

same year that is in the AS_OF_DATE 

field. However, if the AS_OF_DATE 

falls within the January 1 thru 

February 28 (or 29) timeframe, then 

the reconciliation year should be the 

previous year. Note: The 

RECONCILIATION YEAR field is an 

optional field; however, CLER will 

automatically generate the year in the 

RECONCILIATION YEAR field even 

when the field is already populated. 

When this occurs, the data that 

already populates the 

RECONCILIATION YEAR field will be 

disregarded.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 6 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

6 RECONCILIATION_

QUARTER

Number, 1 X(1) 33 Value = reconciliation 

quarter 1, 2, 3, or 4 Optional

The reconciliation quarter should 

be “1” when the AS_OF_DATE falls 

within the March 1 thru May 31 

timeframe, “2” when the 

AS_OF_DATE falls within the June 1 

thru August 31 timeframe, “3” when 

the AS_OF_DATE falls within the 

September 1 thru November 30 

timeframe, and “4” when the 

AS_OF_DATE falls within the 

December 1 thru February 28 (or 29) 

timeframe. Note: The 

RECONCILIATION QUARTER field is 

an optional field; however, CLER will 

automatically generate the quarter in 

the RECONCILIATION QUARTER field 

even when the field is already 

populated. When this occurs, the 

data that already populates the 

RECONCILIATION QUARTER field 

will be disregarded.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 7 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

7 PROCESSING_CODE Text, 1 X(1) 34 Values =

I - initial file for the 

quarter 

A - add to existing 

enrollments

R - replace all files and 

records that have been 

previously sent for this 

quarter with this new file

If this is left blank, then it 

will be treated as the 

initial file for the quarter.

Optional

8 PAY_CYCLE

Text, 1 X(1) 35

Values =

“B” for 

Biweekly

“M” for Monthly

“O” for Other

Required Indicates the type of pay cycle

Note: The entire enrollment file will 

be rejected if this field is left blank or 

is populated with a value other than 

“B”, “M”, or “O”.

9 FILE_SOURCE Text, 2 X(2) 36 thru 37 Value = padded with 

spaces unless otherwise 

instructed. Reserved for 

NFC use.

Optional Reserved
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 8 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

10 FILLER Text, 

203

X(203)

38 thru 240 Value = Pad with spaces. Required Filler, pad to 240 characters.

TOTAL 240 Bytes 240

Columns
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 9 

1.2 Footer Record Layout - Payroll Office

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

1 RECORD_TYPE Text, 4 X(4) 1 thru 4 Value = Literal “FOOT” Required Defines whether the record will be at the top of the file (header), 

bottom of the file (footer), or just one of the individual enrollment 

records.

2 PAYROLL_OFFICE_ID Number, 

8

X(8) 5 thru 12 Value = Payroll Office 

Identification

Format = Left justify, pad 

with trailing spaces

Required The number assigned by Treasury and OPM to the organization 

that is responsible for coordinating the enrollee’s FEHB 

coverage and premium collection.

3 RECORD_COUNT Number, 

10

9(10) 13 thru 22 Value = Record Count, 

excluding Header and 

Footer records

Format = Right justify, 

pad with leading zeros. 

Example:

0000000490 (490)

Required The total number of enrollment records included in the file. Do 

not include the header or footer records in this count.

4 TOTAL_AMOUNT Number, 

12

9(12) 23 thru 34 Format = 9(10)V9(2), 

pad with leading zeros

Example: $42,146.39 

would be formatted as:

000004214639 (no 

embedded decimal point 

or comma)

Required This is the sum of the withholding/premium of all of the 

enrollment records included in this file. It is used to verify that 

the file that NFC is processing is the same as the one that was 

originally sent by the payroll office.

5 FILLER Text, 206 X(206) 35 thru 240 Value = Pad with spaces. Required Filler, pad to 240 characters.

TOTAL 240 Bytes 240 

Columns
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 10

1.3 Enrollment Record Layout File - Payroll Office

In order for a payroll office record to be matched to a carrier record, the payroll office record absolutely must have a value in at least 

one of the following fields:

Field 2: Enrollee_SSN

Field 12: Deceased_Annuitant_SSN

Field 13: Pseudo_SSN

Field 14: Other_Payroll_Office_Enrollee_ID

If the enrollee is an annuitant and you do not have an SSN, then matching could still be accomplished as long as the record has a value 

in the Other_Payroll_Office_Enrollee_ID. Examples of Other_Payroll_Office_Enrollee_ID include:

 Civil Service Annuitant (CSA) number 

 Civil Service Final (CSF) number

 Office of Workers’ Compensation Program (OWCP) identification number
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 11

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

1 PAYROLL_OFFICE_ID Number, 8 X(8) 1 thru 8 Value = Payroll Office 

Identification

Required The number assigned by Treasury and 

OPM to the organization that is 

responsible for coordinating the 

enrollee’s FEHB coverage and premium 

collections.

2 ENROLLEE_SSN Number, 9 X(9) 9 thru 17 Value = Enrollee Social

Security Number

Optional The social security number (SSN) of the 

person who is signed up for FEHB.

Although this is listed as optional, most 

payroll offices will have the SSN of the 

enrollee. If you have it, provide it to 

CLER, unless the person has asked that 

the SSN not be provided and/or he or 

she did not provide an SSN on the 

enrollment form. It is listed as optional 

because agencies may not have an SSN 

for each enrollee (e.g., non-citizen 

enrollees).

3 FILLER Text, 3 X(3) 18 thru 20 Value = Pad with 

spaces 

Note: Reserved for 

future use

Required

4 ENROLLMENT_CODE Text, 3 X(3) 21 thru 23 Value = positions 1 

and 2 equal the plan; 

3

rd position is plan 

option

Required This code defines the plan and option of 

the enrollee.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 12 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

5 AMOUNT Number, 6 9(6) 24 thru 29 Format = 9(4)V9(2) 

pad with leading zeros

Example = $105.39

would be entered as:

010539 (no embedded 

decimal point or 

comma)

Required The withholding/premium for this 

enrollment record. This amount is the

sum of the enrollee’s payment and the 

agency’s contribution.

(This is used in calculating the 

TOTAL_AMOUNT field of the footer 

record.)

6 LAST_NAME Text, 50 X(50) 30 thru 79 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Required This is the surname of the enrollee. An 

enrollee must always have a last name. 

If there is a case of an enrollee having 

only one name (e.g., Cher), then that one 

name must be placed in the last name 

field.

If the first name, middle name, and last 

name are stored as separate fields, 

provide them to CLER as separate fields. 

For agencies that have the first name, 

middle name, and last name in a single 

field, then send that field as the last 

name. The format for the last name field 

for these payroll offices must be: last 

name, first name, middle name. These 

payroll offices will pad the FIRST_NAME,

and MIDDLE_NAME fields below with 

spaces.

7 FIRST_NAME Text, 12 X(12) 80 thru 91 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Optional First name of the enrollee. If the agency 

has the first name of the enrollee stored 

separately, then provide the first name 

for enhanced matching. The exception 

would be in the rare circumstance that 

the individual does not have a first name 

(e.g., Cher).
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 13 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

8 MIDDLE_NAME Text, 12 X(12) 92 thru 103 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Optional Middle name (or initial) of the enrollee. 

In some cases, enrollees do not have a 

middle name. If the agency has the 

middle name of enrollee stored 

separately, then provide it for enhanced 

matching.

9 AGENCY_ID Text, 4 X(4) 104 thru 107 Value = 4-position 

Agency identifier

Required Required if available. 

The agency and, where applicable, the 

administrative subdivision (i.e., 

subelement) in which a person is 

employed. The first and second 

positions of the code indicate the 

agency. The third and fourth positions 

indicate the administrative subdivision 

(i.e., subelement). If no subelements are 

assigned to an agency, the third and 

fourth positions are zeros (xx00).

To find out more about this field, go to 

the following Internet address: 

http://www.opm.gov/feddata/html/datasta

n.htm

For example, NFC’s Payroll Personnel 

System is payroll office number 

12400001 but its agency code is AG90.

This is required for all enrollees who are 

currently on an agency’s rolls. Retirees 

and former employees who maintain 

coverage are not required to have 

Agency and POI, and in those cases, 

pad this field with spaces.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 14 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

10 PERSONNEL_OFFICE_ID

(POI) 

Text, 4 X(4) 108 thru 111 Value = 4-position 

Personnel Office 

identifier

Required Required if available.

The identification of the Federal civilian 

personnel office authorized to appoint 

and separate an employee, and to the 

extent such functions have been 

delegated, prepare personnel actions, 

maintain official personnel records, and 

administer programs for staff 

compensation, training and 

development, benefits and awards, and 

employee and labor relations.

The personnel office names and codes 

can be found in the Personnel Office 

Identifier (POI) Listing (produced by the 

Office of Workforce Information, Office of 

Personnel Management). The Listing 

contains the agency/subelement code, 

the personnel office code, the name and 

mailing address of the personnel office, 

and the name, title and telephone 

number of the personnel office contact.

To find out more about this field go the 

following Internet address:

http://www.opm.gov/feddata/html/datasta

n.htm

For example, the NFC is AG90, POI 

5317. This was formerly known as the 

submitting office number.

This is required for all enrollees who are 

currently on an agency’s rolls. Retirees 

and former employees who maintain 

coverage are not required to have 

Agency and POI, and in those cases, 

pad this field with spaces.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 15 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

11 ENROLLMENT_ EFFECTIVE_DATE Date, 8 X(8) 112 thru 119 Value = Date of current 

enrollment

Format = YYYYMMDD

Optional If provided, this should be the original 

date the enrollee was covered under 

his/her current enrollment code.

It is not the date of a change of premium 

or the date the enrollee transferred in 

from a different payroll office.

12 DECEASED_ANNUITANT_SSN Number, 9 X(9) 120 thru 128 Value = Annuitant 

Alternate SSN

Optional This field is available to record the 

annuitant’s SSN if the coverage has 

been transferred from a deceased 

annuitant to his/her survivor. This field is 

optional and can be populated if both the 

annuitant SSN and survivor SSN are 

known.

If your system has only one SSN for an 

enrollee, then put that SSN in the 

Enrollee_SSN field - do not put anything 

in this field.

(NOTE: It is understood that some 

systems have both the survivor’s SSN 

and the original annuitant’s SSN but 

don’t know which field is which. In that 

case, populate both the Enrollee SSN 

field and the Deceased Annuitant SSN 

field as best you can.)
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 16 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

13 PSEUDO_SSN Number, 9 X(9) 129 thru 137 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Optional Some enrollees do not want to reveal 

their SSN for privacy reasons.

This field contains a made-up number 

that the enrollee has given to the payroll 

office to be used in place of their real 

SSN. This field is optional and can be 

populated if both the enrollee SSN and 

pseudo SSN are known.

If your system has only one SSN for an 

enrollee and you don’t know whether that 

SSN is real or a pseudo, then put that 

SSN in the Enrollee SSN field - do not 

put anything in this field.

14 OTHER_PAYROLL_

OFFICE_ENROLLEE_ ID

Text, 15 X(15) 138 thru 152 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Optional This is an identifier used by the payroll 

office to uniquely identify an enrollee. 

For example, OPM has a CSA or CSF 

number.

If you have this number, then you should 

provide it to CLER. In the case where 

the enrollment record has no 

Enrollee_SSN, 

Deceased_Annuitant_SSN, or 

Pseudo_SSN, then CLER can only 

match successfully when there is a value 

in the Other_Payroll_Office_Enrollee_ID 

field.

15 OTHER_CARRIER_

ENROLLEE_ID

Text, 15 X(15) 153 thru 167 Format = Left justify, 

pad with trailing spaces

Optional This is an identifier used by the carrier to 

uniquely identify an enrollee. For 

example, some carriers assign their 

enrollees a unique membership number.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 17 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

16

EMPLOYEE/ANNUITANT

_IND

Text, 1 X(1) 168

Values =

“R” for 

Regular

“I” for Interim 

Pay

“S” for 

Suspended

Optional

Default

Indicates the 

Employee/Annuitant 

indicator

Note: This field defaults 

to “R” if it is left blank or 

is populated with a value 

other than “R”, “I”, or 

“S”.

17 SUBMITTER_USE_1 Text, 

19

X(19)

169 thru 187 This is a free-form field 

for use by the 

organization creating 

the enrollment file. 

Optional There are no restrictions or requirements 

regarding the contents of this field.

18 SUBMITTER_USE_2 Text, 20 X(20) 188 thru 207 This is a free-form field 

for use by the 

organization creating 

the enrollment file. 

Optional There are no restrictions or requirements 

regarding the contents of this field.

19 SUBMITTER_USE_3 Text, 20 X(20) 208 thru 227 This is a free-form field 

for use by the 

organization creating 

the enrollment file.

Optional There are no restrictions or requirements 

regarding the contents of this field.
Office of Personnel Management Enrollment File Layout 

FEHB Centralized Enrollment May 2, 2013 

Clearinghouse Project (CLER) 

Page 18 

# NAME TYPE/

SIZE

COBOL POSITIONS VALUE, FORMAT, 

NOTES

REQUIRED DEFINITION

20 DEB_CRED_IND Text, 01 X(01)

228

Value = ‘C’ when the 

AMOUNT field is 

negative. Otherwise, 

this field should 

contain a space.

Conditional

This is an indicator to identify the 

AMOUNT in Field 5 as a negative or 

positive number. 

If the number in the AMOUNT field is 

negative, populate the DEB_CRED_IND 

field with a ‘C’. Subtract this negative 

amount when calculating the 

TOTAL_AMOUNT in the FOOTER 

record.

21 FILLER Text, 12 X(12)

229 thru 240 Value = Pad with 

spaces

Note: Reserved for 

future use

Required

TOTAL 240 Bytes 240

Columns