Fluctuating Income

If income is ongoing, but the amounts fluctuate, it is best to anticipate income by averaging income from past pay periods. When using this method:

Verify at least two pay amounts in the time period beginning 45 days before the file date through the interview date (or the date the EDG is being processed if an interview is not required).

Continue to enter amounts for all pay periods in the required budget months, using either year-to-date (YTD) amounts or the average amount of received payments for any unverified pay dates.

If the household states the payments are representative of current income, use YTD amounts, if available, for missing pay periods and use the average amount of verified payments for other unverified pay periods in all budget months. Use more than two pay amounts if they are available, but do not pend to require more than two pay amounts when a person says the pay amounts are representative of current income and the statement is not questionable.

Exception: For Children's Medicaid, see policy in A-1371 , Verification Sources.

Use a different method to anticipate income when someone has a new job, seasonal fluctuations occur, or expected changes (such as changes in work hours or rate of pay) cause too many past amounts to be unrepresentative of current income.

Different methods of anticipating future income are:

asking the employer for an estimate;

using less than the required number of pay periods when they are not all available;

multiplying anticipated hours by the rate of pay; or

other methods.

Document the reason and calculations for the method used.

Example: When an applicant has paychecks, use the YTD amounts to find any missing pay amounts, if possible. In this situation, the gross pay on the checks is representative of current income.

Pay Date Gross Pay Amount YTD 05/11 (missing paycheck) (missing paycheck) 05/25 $265.50 $4,675.93 06/09 (missing paycheck) (missing paycheck) 06/23 $262.84 $5,199.18

You must have the checks before and after the missing paycheck. Take the YTD gross amount of the check prior to the missing paycheck and subtract it from the check received directly after the missing paycheck.

$5,199.18 YTD of check dated 06/23 - $4,675.93 YTD of check dated 05/25 = $523.25 Difference of the YTD amounts

Then subtract the gross pay amount of the paycheck received after the missing paycheck from the difference of the YTD amounts.

$523.25 Difference of the YTD amounts - $262.84 Gross pay amount of check dated 06/23 = $260.41 Gross pay amount of check dated 06/09

Then add the three amounts together and divide by three to determine the average for the other missing pay period.

$265.50 Gross amount of 05/25 + $260.41 Gross amount of 06/09 + $262.84 Gross amount of 06/23 = $788.75 ÷ 3 Total of three checks then divide by three = $262.92 Average to use for check dated 05/11