Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

The purpose of this report is to obtain the gross earnings (Medicare taxable earnings) for a 

sample of employees. This information is required for computation of the financial 

interchange between the railroad retirement and the social security systems. This report is 

required by law under Section 7(b)(6) of the Railroad Retirement Act. The information is 

authorized for collection under OMB control number 3220-0132. This report is due at the 

Railroad Retirement Board by no later than the last day of February following the report 

year. Failure to report or the making of a false or fraudulent report can result in criminal 

prosecution or civil penalties, or both..

We estimate the electronic versions of this form transmitted by a File Transfer Protocol 

(FTP) takes an average of 5 hours per response to complete, including time for reviewing 

the instructions, getting the needed data, and reviewing the completed form. We estimate 

the secure e-mail version of this form takes an average of 30 minutes to complete, including 

time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed data, and reviewing the completed 

form. Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to 

respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. If you wish, 

send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimate or any other aspect of this form, 

including suggestions for reducing completion time, to

Associate Chief Information Officer for Policy and Compliance

Railroad Retirement Board

844 North Rush Street

Chicago, IL 60611-1275.

NOTE: Reports submitted on CD ROM, secure email, or FTP must be accompanied by 

Form G-440, "Report Specifications Sheet". In the remarks block, please indicate the type 

of report and specify the format used (i.e. "Gross Earnings Annual Report of Monthly 

Earnings, 20XX", "Gross Earnings Annual Report of Quarterly Earnings, 20XX" or "Gross 

Earnings Annual Report of Annual Earnings, 20XX." All records are 120 characters in 

length, unblocked.

This exhibit shows format for submission of gross earnings reports on CD ROM, secure email, FTP, or via upload on ERSNet. For information about the data to be entered, refer to 

Part V, Chapter 7.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

NOTE: Two 120 position records must be keyed whether or not both records have earnings. 

(Where one record does not contain money fields, positions 1-55 must have data.)

Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

Record No. 1 - January through June

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

2 1-2 "28"

4 3-6 Year being reported (CCYY).

4 7-10 Four-digit employer BA number assigned by the Railroad 

Retirement Board.

9 11-19

Employee's social security account number.

NOTE: Report only those employees whose social security 

number ends with the digits “30”. 

20 20-39

First twenty (20) characters of the employee's surname. 

Spaces in such names as O Grady or De La Cross are 

acceptable.

15 40-54 First fifteen (15) characters of the employee's first name.

1 55 Employee’s middle initial.

9 56-64

January Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by 

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for January, 

leave positions 56-64 blank or zero-fill.

9 65-73

February Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by 

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for February, 

leave positions 65-73 blank or zero-fill.

9 74-82

March Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by 

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for March, leave 

positions 74-82 blank or zero-fill.

9 83-91

April Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for April, leave 

positions 83-91 blank or zero-fill.

9 92-100

May Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for May, leave positions 

92-100 blank or zero-fill.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

9 101-109

June Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for June, leave positions 

101-109 blank or zero-fill.

11 110-120 Leave blank or zero-fill.

Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

Record No. 2 - July through December 

Field 

Length

Record 

Position Data and Instructions

2 1-2 "29"

4 3-4 Year being reported (CCYY).

4 5-8 Four-digit employer BA number assigned by the Railroad 

Retirement Board.

9 9-17

Employee's social security account number.

NOTE: Report only those employees whose social security 

number ends with the digits “30”. 

20 18-22

First twenty (20) characters of the employee's surname. 

Spaces in such names as O Grady or De La Cross are 

acceptable.

15 23-24 First fifteen (15) characters of the employee's first name.

1 55 Employee’s middle initial.

9 56-64

January Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for January, 

leave positions 56-64 blank or zero-fill.

9 65-73

February Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by 

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for February, 

leave positions 65-73 blank or zero-fill.

9 74-82

March Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by 

zero(s) if necessary. If there are no earnings for March, leave 

positions 74-82 blank or zero-fill.
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Appendix I: Electronic File Format

 Form BA-11, Report of Gross Earnings (Monthly Earnings)

9 83-91

April Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for April, leave 

positions 83-91 blank or zero-fill.

9 92-100

May Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for May, leave positions 

92-100 blank or zero-fill.

9 101-109

June Amount - 9 positions ($$$$$$$¢¢), preceded by zero(s) 

if necessary. If there are no earnings for June, leave positions 

101-109 blank or zero-fill.

11 110-120 Leave blank or zero-fill.

NOTE: The file should be saved as a text (*.txt) file with the record format listed above.