Plan Year End Testing and Form 5500 Reporting

Plan Year End Testing and
Form 5500 Reporting
Completing and Transmitting the
Plan and Employee Census Packages
Compliance Testing and Reporting Services
MassMutual Plan Year End (PYE) testing and Form 5500 census review. Agenda
Items needed to complete your Plan and Employee Census
Accessing the Plan Year End files and reference materials
The Plan Census and Employee Census
Review information needed to complete the census
We will review various items that you will need in order to complete the Plan and Employee Census. We will highlight how to access the census files, and how to load data to them. Plan and Employee Census
Items needed to complete the Plan and Employee Census
Plan Provisions - listed on the Total Retirement Center (TRC)
located under Consulting Services/Plan Design
Payroll Records for the previous testing year (to determine HCEs)
Payroll Records for the testing year
Last Payroll Contribution Information
Some of the items needed to complete the plan and employee census are, your payroll records from the previous year and current testing year, and your plan provisions. The plan provisions can be obtained from the Total Retirement Center (TRC) located on the Consulting Services tab under Plan Design.
Plan and Employee Census
Plan Provisions can be obtained on the TRC
(located on the TRC under Consulting Services/Plan Design)
Before you start inputting information into the Plan and Employee census files, it is recommended you review and verify the Plan eligibility provisions located on the Total Retirement Center, known as the TRC. To find this data, go to the TRC Home Page, click on “Site Map”. Under Consulting Services, choose the “Plan Design Option”. This information states parameters for which MassMutual will use to prepare your testing. If any information is incorrect, please contact your Account Manager to correct the data. You will need your payroll records for the previous plan year to determine the Highly Compensated Employees (HCE). We will touch on the HCE requirements later in this session. The definition of an HCE may also be found in the Plan Year End Instruction Guide, located on the PYE home page. You may want to save a copy of this document to your computer, or print a copy for reference.
Also needed are your payroll records for the plan year for the purpose of populating the Employee Census as well as to determine the eligibility counts. In an Excel format, you should have a line item for each person employed by your company during the plan year if they were paid through W‐2. This total group of employees will be your starting point for
determining the testing counts. Plan and Employee Census
Plan Provisions can be obtained on the TRC
(located on the TRC under Consulting Services/Plan Design)
Also needed is the date and amount of the final contribution remitted to the Plan for the plan year. Please note that is it common for the last contributions attributed to the plan year to be remitted in the following year. We need to confirm that the effective date associated with this contribution shows a date within the plan year. If the effective date on the last contribution file is outside of the plan year, MassMutual will have to stop testing, and make an adjustment to the contribution file. Please note that any contribution adjustments may delay the completion of your testing and there may be a fee associated with adjustments based on your services agreement. If your plan year is on a calendar year basis, the completed Plan and Employee census files need to be uploaded to MassMutual by February 3rd. If your plan qualifies as an EACA plan, your deadline is March 1st. If your plan year is off‐calendar, your deadline is 30 days after the end of the plan year. Downloading Census Files
Log onto the Total Retirement Center (TRC) using your ID # and password.
The Plan Year End Section can be accessed in the following two ways…
At the home page, click on At
the home page, click on
“Complete Plan Year End
Services” under Plan Action
•Click “Site Map” on the left side
of the screen to access “Plan
Year End” under Plan
Management
To start the process of downloading the Plan Year End Census files, you will need to log into the TRC. At the home page there are two ways to navigate to your plan year end files. The first is on the TRC home page for the Plan, you should see a line item under the Plan Actions column titled “Complete Plan Year End Services”. Please click on this link. If you do not see this line item, you should click on the Site Map link on the left side of the screen. On the next screen you will find “Plan Year End” under the Plan Management section of the site map. Please choose this option. Both of these options will bring you to the Plan Year End section of the TRC. On this page you will see three PDF files. The first document, Important Information for the Plan Year End Process, contains items such as legislative changes that impact the plan year, information on adjusting your computer settings to ensure that the census files may be viewed properly on your computer, as well as definitions of compensation, HCE and Key employees. Please take a few minutes and review this document before proceeding with the census. The next two documents are the Instruction Guide and the PYE Glossary. Both of these documents are very important and are utilized through out the process. We recommend that you save a copy to your computer and/or print a copy for reference. Below these three documents you will see the HCE Flyer. Please review this document as well.
On the lower part of this page you will see links to download and upload the census files. When you are ready to begin the process, please click on the download link. At the end of this presentation we will revisit this screen to upload the completed plan and employee census files.
Plan Year End Information
Important Information
Information concerning regulatory
changes
Plan Year End Instruction Guide
Instructions on completing the
plan and employee census
Plan Year End Glossary
Common terms used in the
plan year end package
On this page you will see three PDF files. The first document, Important Information for the Plan Year End Process, contains items such as legislative changes that impact the plan year, information on adjusting your computer settings to ensure that the census files may be viewed properly on your computer, as well as definitions of compensation, HCE and Key employees. The next two documents are the Instruction Guide and the PYE Glossary. Both of these documents are very important and are utilized through out the process. We recommend that you save a copy to your computer and/or print a copy for reference. Plan Year End Information
Highly Compensated Employee Flyer
HCE Tax Information
PYE Download Census Files
Used to download the census files
to your computer for completion
PYE Upload Census Files
Used to transmit completed files
back to MassMutual
Below the first three documents you will see the HCE Flyer. Please review this document as well.
On the lower part of this page you will see links to download and upload the census files. When you are ready to begin the process, please click on the download link. At the end of this presentation we will revisit this screen to upload the completed plan and employee census files.
Download Plan and Employee Census
Plan and Employee Census are separate
files
An excel file will be listed for each census
that is required to be completed for your plan
Save each file to your computer using the
“Save Target As” option
Do not change the name of the file
Once all of the files are saved you can begin
completing the census
Close all other excel files when working on
the census
On the next page you will see the links for both the Plan and Employee census. Please click on the Plan Census link. Below this link you should then see your Plan Census Excel file. Next, click on the Employee Census link to show the employee census file or files if you have more than one. Placing your curser over the first file, please right click on your mouse. On the drop‐down list please choose the option titled “Save Target As”,. Then you should be given an option as to where to save the file to your computer. Please note that it is very important that you do not change the name of the file because it is used to identify your specific plan. If you do not have this option, open the file and save it to your computer. Once completed, please save each additional file on this page to your computer.
It is important to note that you should not have any other Excel files open when working on the Plan Census. This is a macro driven file that may be compromised if other Excel files are open.
Plan Census – About Your Plan
Confirm
Plan Administrator Employer
Identification Number (EIN)
Plan Sponsor EIN
Plan ID Number
Complete
Determination Letter
Self-Employed Individuals
Loss due to Fraud
Non-exempt transaction by a
Party- in- Interest
Face Value of Fidelity Bond
Now let us begin looking at the Plan Census. On the first page of the Plan Census you will see your contract number in the lower right corner of the page as well as the pre‐populated plan data that is stored in our record keeping system. Please verify that this information is accurate.
The first part of this page asks you to populate and or verify the Plan Sponsor, Plan Administrator as well as the Employer Identification Number (EIN) for both line items.
Other questions on this page that you will need to answer are, . . Do you have, or have applied for an IRS determination letter for your plan. For those plans that have adopted the MassMutual proto‐type document, there is no determination letter associated with the document, and therefore should be answered with a “NO”. Plans that have adopted the volume submitter or individually designed document require a determination letter. You will need to answer either “yes”, or “applied for”.
We also ask if your plan covers any Self‐Employed individuals.
Next we ask if the plan incurred any losses due to fraud or dishonesty. If the answer is “YES”, you are required to provide the amount in the box next to the question. Additionally, it is asked if the plan has engaged in any nonexempt transactions with any party‐in‐interest. Please reference the “party‐in‐interest” section of the glossary for an in‐depth explanation. If the answer is “YES”, there is a box to report the amount in question.
The last question on this page asks what was the face amount was of the Fidelity Bond held by the Plan Sponsor. In general, all qualified defined contribution plans are required to have a Fidelity bond of at least 10% of plan assets, with a maximum face value of $500,000.00. If you do not know the bond amount you may want to contact your company’s insurance agent. Plan Census – About Your Plan
Were any contributions or loan
payments remitted to the plan late? What
was the total dollar amount?
What method will be used to report the
late contributions or loan payments?
Late contribution detail
A. Transactions not corrected
B. Transactions outside the VFCP
C. Pending Correction amount
D. Contributions already corrected
Did the plan have a blackout period
during the Plan Year
This page has three questions pertaining to late remittances of contributions and or loan repayments. If you know that contributions and or loan payments were remitted late, or not at all to the plan, at the time you complete the plan census, please check “yes” under the appropriate question.
If you answered “yes” to either of the first two questions regarding late contributions, you will be required to choose one of two options on how you want to report the delinquent contribution and or loan payments on the Form 5500.
The first option allows you to report the total amount as one lump sum. The second option will require you to report the late loan payments by individual participant. For plans that require an audit, please discuss this option with your auditor as they may need to document this in their audit report. Based on your answer you will need to complete boxes A through D.
It is also , was asked if there was a Black Out period during the plan year. If answered “Yes”, there is a follow up question asking if the notice was provided in the proper timeframe.
Plan Census – Money Purchase Plan
Money Purchase Plan Information
Required Contribution Amount
Actuarial Services
Amendment filed after the plan year end
Waiver of Minimum Funding Standard Information
If your plan is a Money Purchase Plan and or has this contribution source in the plan, this page will appear on your Plan Census. Please enter the required contribution amount for the plan year. We also ask if you have an actuary working on the plan and if any amendments were filed during the plan year.
Plan Census – Service Provider Information
Form 5500 requires information
regarding Plan Service Providers
Pages can be added to the plan census
for additional Service Providers by using
the “Add Provider” button
Complete all of the information
requested for each provider
Once all information is complete, use the
“Next” button to continue to the next page
The Form 5500 requires detailed information about service providers associated with your Plan. A service provider is any person or entity who received compensation directly or indirectly during the plan year for providing plan services. We recommend that you reference the PYE Glossary to review a detailed explanation of who is considered a Service Provider. If you did not pay any service providers for the plan year, please answer the first question “no”, and move to the next page.
This page should only be completed if you answer “yes” to the first question. Please note that it is important to complete each box, Direct Compensation, Indirect Compensation, and Eligible Indirect Compensation on the screen with the appropriate information. This information will be loaded into your Form 5500.
If you have more than one service provider to report, please complete this page, and then click the “Add Provider” button at the bottom of the page. A blank page will appear for you to complete for the next providers. If you need to delete any information, there is a Delete Provider button at the bottom of the page. Once you have completed all service provider pages please click the “next button” to continue to the next page.
Plan Census – Terminated Provider
Complete if you terminated an actuary or accountant during the plan year
Name of service provider
Address of service provider
EIN Number
Reason for termination
If you terminated the services of an accountant or auditor during the plan year, please complete this page. This information is reported on your Form 5500. If you did not terminate an accountant or auditor, you may proceed to the next page.
Plan Census – About Your Business
Business Structure
This is pre-filled with the
information we have on file
QSLOB
Number of QSLOB’s
Plan Entity
If you are a multiemployer,
number of employers obligated
to the plan
Six digit business code
Plan maintained pursuant to a
Collective Bargaining Agreement
The About Your Business page pertains to your business structure, such as if your company is a corporation, an LLC or some other business entity. You may notice that some boxes have been prefilled based on the data in MassMutual’s system. If you indicated that your business entity is a Qualified Separate Line of Business, also known as a QSLOB, you are required to enter the number of employers associated with the QSLOB in the box provided.
If your plan entity is labeled as a Multiemployer, you are required to enter the number of employers obligated to contribute to the plan in the box provided.
Please make sure all of the boxes that pertain to your business structure are checked. Also confirm the six digit business code. This code may be prefilled based on information you provided last year. If you do not know what your six digit business code should be, please reference the IRS business codes on www. IRS.gov.
Lastly, indicate if the Plan is maintained pursuant to a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Plan Census – Minimum Coverage
The first four questions
concerning Minimum Coverage
refer to Related Employer Group
Number of eligible employees not
participating in the plan who are
not listed on the MassMutual
View Tab
Number of non-participating eligible
employees employed on the last
day of the plan year end
This page pertains to the testing of your plan. The first question asks if your plan is aggregated with any other plan to satisfy the minimum coverage requirements. If the answer is “Yes”, we provide a box for you to type in the name of the related company.
Next, we ask if any leased employees worked at your company during the plan year. Also, is your business part of a related employer group, and if so does either business entity sponsor more than one defined contribution plan. If there is more than one plan, we ask if the other plan or plans are record kept at MassMutual. The last question is were there any eligible employees during the plan, year that did not contribute, AND were not listed on the employee census file. There is a box for you to type in the number. In our example we show that there were 45 employees who were eligible, but are not listed on the MassMutual View Tab of the employee census. Additionally, we state for discussion sake that 20 of the 45 employees were still employed at the end of the plan year.
Plan Census – Coverage
This information is critical in order to complete testing
Complete all applicable
columns for 401(k) Plans
401(k) - Employee Deferrals
401(m) - Employer Match
Non-Elective Contribution
Profit Sharing
QNEC
Safe Harbor Non-Elective
CBE’s 401(k) – Collective
Bargaining Employees UNION
This page is the most important page of the plan census file. On this page we ask that you complete all of the boxes for any active money source in your plan. For employee pre‐tax deferrals as well as Roth 401(k) Contributions, the “401(k)” column should be completed. If your plan has a matching source (fixed, discretionary or Safe Harbor allocations), you are required to complete the “401(M)” column. If your company has or will fund a non‐elective contribution, sometimes referred to as a Profit Share or QNEC, you are required to complete the column titled “Non‐Elective”. Finally, if your plan allowed Collectively Bargaining Employees, sometime referred to as Union Employees, to participate in the plan, the “CBE’s 401(k)” column should be completed to show totals for only this group of employees.
Plan Census – Coverage
This information is critical in order to complete testing
Complete the following
columns for 403(b) Plans
401(m) Employer Match
Non-Elective
Contribution
If your employer sponsors a 403b plan you are only required to complete the 401(m) and Non‐Elective columns (if applicable).
Plan Census – Coverage
1.Total Workforce for the Plan Year
A & B refer to Collective Bargained Employees (CBE)
2. Total number of Collective Bargained Employees (CBE)
Now let’s take a look at the individual questions on the Coverage and Testing Information page. The first question is how many people worked at your company during the plan year. This will include all full, part‐time, leased, union and non‐union employees. Our example indicates 250 for the total workforce.
The next two questions are yes/no First, does the number of employees entered in the box for question 1 consist only of Collectively Bargained Employees (also known as CBE). Next does the number entered in question 1 consist of both CBEs and non‐CBEs. In our example we chose “yes” for question 1B and then entered 50 for the number of CBEs.
Plan Census – Coverage
3. Workforce count will automatically populate based on previous answers
4. Employees not meeting the plan eligibility requirements (age 18 – 3
months of service)
5. Will automatically populate based on previous answers
The next set of questions pertain directly to the ADP/ACP tests as well as the minimum coverage test. It is very important that you complete each column based on each active money source in your plan (employee 401K deferrals, Employer (401M) Match, Employer Non‐Elective or Profit Sharing contributions). The last column, titled CBEs 401(K), will be used to classify only union affiliated employees. This group’s totals should be kept separate from the first three columns. Failure to complete all of the columns that apply to your sources, may delay the completion of your testing. If any of these contribution sources were not active in the Plan Year, you may skip the column. Now we will focus on the individual questions.
3. This number represents the total number of employees who worked in your company. If you have Collectively Bargained employees and Non‐Collectively Bargained employees in your work force, the worksheet will separate the total work force based on the numbers entered in questions 1 and 2. Our example shows 200 in the 401(k), 401(m) and Non‐Elective columns. The CBE 401(k) column shows 50, as this was the figure entered in question 2.
4. Is the number of employees who did not meet your plan’s eligibility requirements in the plan year. For plans that have duel eligibility, this number may be different on the 401K line as compared to the 401(m) Employer Match and or the Non‐Elective line. Some plans have different age and service eligibility requirements for their employer contribution sources. In our example we state, there were 5 Non‐
Collectively Bargained Employees who did not meet the plan’s 401(k) eligibility, and 8 who did not meet the 401(m) and Non‐elective requirements. 5. This question will automatically populate based on the numbers entered into lines 3 and 4. It shows the total non‐excludable employees.
Plan Census – Coverage
6.
Highly Compensated Employees
More than a 5% owner
Family Attribution
Eligible employee earning over
$115,000 in the prior year
7.
Will automatically populate based
on the previous answers
8.
Total number of employees
benefiting for each source
(sources may have different
eligibility)
9.
Total number of HCEs benefiting
for each source
10. Will automatically populate based
on previous answers
6. Asks how many people qualified as a Highly Compensated Employee, otherwise known as HCE. As an example: The definition of an HCE for Plan Year 2012 is anyone who earned in excess of $110,000.00 in PY 2011. Additionally, anyone who was a more than 5% owner of the company (or directly related to a more than 5% owner) would be considered an HCE as well, regardless of their 2011 compensation. If you are unsure of how to determine an HCE, please refer to the PYE Glossary for a more in‐depth description of the HCE as well as family attribution rules. In our example we show 10 people as qualifying HCEs.
7. How many eligible Non‐Highly Compensated Employees (NHCE) were in the plan during the plan year. This line item will automatically calculate the number based on the answers on lines 5 and 6.
Plan Census – Coverage
6.
Highly Compensated Employees
More than a 5% owner
Family Attribution
Eligible employee earning over
$115,000 in the prior year
7.
Will automatically populate based
on the previous answers
8.
Total number of employees
benefiting for each source
(sources may have different
eligibility)
9.
Total number of HCEs benefiting
for each source
10. Will automatically populate based
on previous answers
8. How many people from the total non‐excludable number from question 5 were eligible to participate in each money source. For the 401(k) column, this number should equal the total from question 5. Remember, it is possible that if the plan has different eligibility requirements for the employer contribution sources, such as a 1000 hour and or last day requirement, this number may be different than the 401(k) column. Additionally, some plans exclude certain classifications of workers from being eligible for employer sources. In our example we show 195 eligible and benefiting for 401(k) and 192 eligible and benefiting for the 401(m) and Non‐Elective sources.
9. This question asks how many HCEs were eligible and benefiting from the number in question 8. In many cases this number will equal the total from question 6. However, it is possible that someone could be classified as HCE in question 6, but have not met their eligibility to enter the plan. An example of this would be a son or daughter of an owner who may not have met an age or service requirement. Additionally, if a plan has different eligibility requirements for their employer sources, such as a longer service requirement, a 1000 hours worked in the plan year, and or a last day rule, the total number would be lower than the 401(k) box for this question. Our example did not exclude any HCEs for any of these reasons.
10. How many people from question 8 were plan‐eligible or benefiting from the total number in question 8. This question will automatically be calculated based one the numbers entered in questions 8 and 9. Statutory Excludable Employees
11. If your plan’s eligibility allows employees to participate in the plan prior to
age 21 or 1 year of service, would you like MassMutual to use Otherwise
Excludable counts in performing testing?
This could change the test results
12. Number of HCE’s under age 21 or 1 year of service
13. Number of NHCE’s under age 21 or 1 year of service
Please note: Employees should only be counted once, do not count
any employee already excluded in question # 4
11. Asks if your plan allows people to enter the plan prior to age 21 and or 1 year of service, would you want MassMutual to prepare the ADP/ACP test excluding this group of eligible participants. This may help a failed ADP/ACP test. The Department of Labor (DOL) states that a plan sponsor may choose to exclude any NHCE who are under age 21 and or had less than 1 year of service. Should you have any questions pertaining to this issue please contact your account manager for a more in‐depth explanation of this provision.
12. How many HCEs were under age 21 and or had less than 1 year of service with your company. This should only be completed if question 11 was answered “yes”.
13. How many NHCEs were under age 21 and or had less than 1 year of service with your company. Please note that employees should only be counted once. Do not count any employees who were previously excluded in question 4. This should only be completed if question 11 was answered “yes”.
Plan Census – Match Formula
Complete this page if you have/or will allocate an Employer Match for
the plan year
Discretionary Match Formula
50% of deferrals up
to 6% of compensation
Example
Example With A Dollar Cap
50% of deferrals up to 6% of
compensation with a maximum
amount of $3,000
Fixed Formula Match
Notify us of any change in match
Will you be making a match
contribution
This page asks questions about employer match contributions. If your plan has a discretionary match provision, we ask that you fill in the first box to state your matching formula. An example would be “50% of deferrals up to 6% of compensation. If your plan has a discretionary match it is critical to fill in this box. Failure to do so may delay the completion of your testing. If your plan has a fixed match formula, we ask if the formula has changed for the current plan year. If you check “no”, you can move to the next page. If there was a change to your formula please enter it into the box provided. Some plans do not allocate a match to all divisions in their plan. If your plan has such a practice, please enter the name and location number in the box provided. If every group or division in your plan receives a match, you can skip this question.
The last question on this page asks if your plan parameters impose a match formula dollar limit. If so, please enter that amount in the box provided. An example of this is a plan that matches 50% of deferrals up to 6% of compensation, with a maximum amount of $3,000.00. You would enter $3,000.00 in the box provided.
Plan Census – Testing Information
Questions pertaining to Highly Compensated
Employees
Are HCEs eligible for more than one plan sponsored by
your organization?
Does your plan have deferral limits on HCEs?
PYE Contact Information
If your company sponsors more than one defined contribution plan, we ask if any of the HCEs participate in both plans. Next we ask if you have a different deferral limit for your HCEs. If you have a specific deferral limit for the HCE group, please choose “yes” and enter the percentage or amount in the box provided. Plan Census – Testing Information
The Following questions only appear if they pertain to your plan
Does your plan use “Top 20
Paid Group” for determining
HCEs. If so, is the Top 20 Paid
Group larger than your number
of HCEs?
Top Paid Group is based on
your prior year Workforce
Did your plan satisfy Safe
Harbor requirements?
Did your plan satisfy Eligible
Automatic Contribution
Arrangement (EACA)?
Regarding the Top 20% paid group, if your plan does not have this option, you may skip this question. For those who have this option, please follow the Top Paid Group section of the instruction guide to determine your Top Paid Group count. Please remember that this calculation is based on your prior year workforce. If you have a Safe Harbor contribution provision in your plan we ask if the plan satisfied the requirements for all eligible employees during the plan year. Does your plan have an Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement (EACA). Plans with an EACA provision automatically enroll employees in the plan once the employee meets the eligibility and plan entry dates, the same as an Automatic Contribution Arrangement (ACA) plan. Please refer to the PYE Glossary for the requirements to satisfy this arrangement. All plans with an eligible automatic contribution arrangement are required to provide a notice to all eligible employees that should explain the following:
1) The amount or percentage of the deferral election if the employee does not respond
2) The employee’s right to elect not to have elective deferral contributions automatically deducted or the right to change the percentage of the automatic contribution deduction
3) The investment options used if the participant does not make an investment election
4) The employee’s right to withdraw contributions and the process of making such a withdrawal. If the plan also has a Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA), please reference the QDIA definition in the PYE Glossary the for applicable notice requirements. l If an automatic enrollment plan meets the EACA requirements, they may utilize the 90 Unwind Provision and take advantage of the 6 month testing extension without the employer being subject to the 10% excise tax. Plan Census – Plan Summary
Contributions
Have you submitted the final
contribution for the plan year?
Dollar amount and pay period of the
final contribution
Have you made any make up
contributions to account for anyone
serving in the military?
Differential Pay for the Heroes Earning
Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008
(HEART)
Did you have any changes to your
workforce
Were the final contributions for the plan year remitted to MassMutual, and if so, what was the payroll effective and submission date for the contribution file. This is important because we need to confirm that the last contribution of the year is included in the testing data in MassMutual’s system. Please note that while it is common for a final December payroll file to be remitted in January, it must have an effective date of in the year of being tested.
Additionally, if the incorrect effective date was submitted on your contribution file, this will delay testing as MassMutual will need to perform an adjustment and may result in an adjustment fee. Our example on this page shows a contribution total of $8,000.00 It was remitted to MassMutual on 1/10/2013 and had a payroll effective date of 12/31/2012.
Additional questions on this page are:
Did your company make up contributions to account for people in the military service under the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA)?
Did your company pay differential wages to individuals in the military as a result of the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008, also known as HEART? If so, did the Plan elect to exclude this compensation from the definition of eligible plan compensation? For more information on USERRA and HEART, please reference the PYE Glossary and or the PYE Instruction Guide.
Plan Census – Plan Summary
Non-Elective Contributions
Will you be making a Non-elective
Contribution for the plan year?
The dollar amount and date the
contribution will be sent.
If MassMutual does not perform
your year end testing, indicate if
they are performed in-house or by
another vendor
Will your company be making a non‐elective (or profit sharing) contribution during the year. If yes please tell us the approximate amount and date that the contribution will be made. If the contribution is made at a later date, MassMutual will need to revise your testing.
Finally, if MassMutual does not perform your annual discrimination testing. please check yes to indicate if another vendor or someone at your company will perform them.
Web Client Access for the Form 5500
Name and e-mail address of
individual signing the Form 5500 as
Plan Administrator
Name and e-mail address of
individual signing the Form 5500 as
Plan Sponsor
Contacts given access to the 5500
on WebClient
Plan Administrator
Plan Sponsor
Auditor
Please Do Not put “Same As” on
any line or leave items blank
In order to prepare the Form 5500, we ask that you provide the name and e‐mail address of the person or persons who will be signing the annual Form 5500 as Plan Administrator and Plan Sponsor. The same person may be listed on both line items. If this is the case, please enter their information on both lines. Please do not put “ Same as above” or leave one of the line items blank. In addition to the two names listed as Plan Administrator and Plan Sponsor, you may choose to list up to 5 more people that you want to grant access to view and or edit the Form 5500 on WebClient. This may be someone in your HR or payroll office, or the plan’s auditor. Additionally, you will be able to choose the access level that MassMutual will set up for these people. You can choose to allow them to have “view only” access or “View, Edit and E‐File” access.
Form 5558 Extension Request
A Form 5500 extension (Form 5558) and Form 8955-SSA extension
(Form 5558) will automatically be filed on behalf of your plan unless you
Indicate otherwise by checking the appropriate boxes.
All plans have a deadline of the end of the seventh month following the end of a plan year to file their Form 5500. By filing for an extension, you would be granted an additional two and a half months to file your Form 5500. For calendar year plans, your normal filing deadline is July 31st. With an extension, the filing deadline would be October 15th. Failure to meet your Form 5500 filing deadline may result in severe penalties levied by the IRS and the DOL.
MassMutual will automatically prepare and file an extension (Form 5558) with the IRS for your plan’s Form 5500 and Form 8955/SSA, unless you indicate that an extension is not needed. An extension is not needed if you will be filing within the deadline, preparing an extension request yourself or are relying on an automatic extension. Please refer to the PYE Instruction Guide for the conditions which need to be met in order to rely on an automatic extension. Plan Census – Auditor Information
Non-Qualified Asset
Information
Small Plan Audit Waiver
Auditor information
Audit Firm name
Auditor EIN
Address
Contact Person
E-mail Address
Phone Number
5500 Audit information
Type of Audit
Date of is scheduled
The first two questions concern non‐qualified plan assets. . If your plan had non‐qualified plan assets, you will need to review these questions to determine if they apply. For more information on enhanced bond requirements, please reference the Auditor Information in the PYE Instruction Guide.
Some Plans may be eligible for the small plan audit waiver. If a Form 5500 Schedule I was filed last year and the plan covered fewer than 121 participants as of the beginning of this plan year, the plan is eligible for the small plan waiver. Small plans are eligible to claim a waiver of the annual examination and report of an independent qualified public accountant if certain conditions are met. For additional information, please refer to Small Plan Filer in the PYE Glossary. Plan Census – Auditor Information
Non-Qualified Asset
Information
Small Plan Audit Waiver
Auditor information
Audit Firm name
Auditor EIN
Address
Contact Person
E-mail Address
Phone Number
5500 Audit information
Type of Audit
Date of is scheduled
Were 100% of the plan assets invested in certain secure investments with a readily determinable fair value. These investments would be mutual fund shares, investment contracts with insurance companies and banks valued at least annually, publicly traded securities, held by a registered broker dealer, cash and cash equivalents, and plan loans to participants. Additionally, did the plan hold any Employer securities at any time during the Plan Year. Finally, if you are a large plan filer your plan requires that an independent audit opinion accompany the Form 5500. We ask that you provide the Firm Name, Contact Name, Address, phone number and e‐mail address, so that a special Form 5500 package can be sent to your auditor. This package will include the plan year financial reports (on a cash basis), as well as the form 5500 and associated schedules. We recommend that you schedule your audit so you and your auditor have ample time to review all of the Form 5500 reports and schedules before your filing deadline.
Now that you have completed the Plan Census, you will need to save it to your computer. By clicking on the “Save” button, the document will ask if you want to save your changes.
Please click “yes”. You will then see a question asking if you want to print the document. We recommend that you print a copy of the Plan Census in the event the data is lost. Once you click either “yes” or “no”, the document will close. Download Employee Census
Download the Employee Census
the same way as the Plan Census
Save the file to your computer
Close all Excel files when working
on the census
Do not back up the original file if
you have saved the census to
Your computer
Enable Macros
Now that you have completed the Plan Census, we will turn our attention to the Employee Census on your computer. Find your employee census file, or files, and open one. Please note that it is important that you do not have any other Excel files open at the time you open an employee census. When you first open an Employee Census file, you will be asked if you want to back up the original file to your c:\windows\temp directory. If you have already saved the file to your computer, there is no need to save it again. You can click “no” here. Please note that you should not change the name of the file as the naming convention is specific to your plan. If you change the name of the file, it may not be accepted when you upload it to the TRC. Also, you will be asked if you want to enable or disable the macros. You want to choose “enable macros”.
Employee Census
Welcome Screen
Tab
MassMutual View
Employees Listed on Tab
List of all eligible employees on record
Active employees
Terminated employees
Eligible in the next plan year
On the “Welcome” page you will see a message referencing general information pertaining to compensation and hours. Please read this important information when you open the file. Next, at the bottom of the file you will see several tabs. Single click on the one titled “MassMutual View”. Based on your plans eligibility requirements you will see a listing of those employees who are eligible for the plan year. Additionally, you will see people who will become eligible to participate in the next plan year, if they have been enrolled in our system.
Employee Census – MassMutual View
Columns with a red tab have
hovers definitions with
additional information
Verify Pre-filled Columns
Complete Status Date with
termination date for employees
terminated before the plan
year end
Terminated employees must
also be terminated on the TRC
At this point let’s take a look at the column headers for the various data items that we will need you to populate. Some of these column headers have built in hover definitions. You will see that we have pre‐populated information such as names, social security numbers, dates of hire, status codes, and other participant data. If there is incorrect information in one of these fields, please contact your account manager to have the data changed in MassMutual’s system. Updating any information on this Excel file will not overlay participant account information in our record keeping system. However, in the Status column, we ask that you properly code their status based on the codes found in the Instruction Guide. Please note that any employee who has terminated or retired and is still listed with an active status will need to be permanently updated on our recordkeeping system. You can accomplish this by going to the TRC to update. Employee Census – Compensation
W-2 Box 1 Wages - Not Gross Wages
Excludes All pre-tax deductions
Includes Bonus, Overtime, Commissions, Other wages, Compensation
paid prior to participation in the plan
All Pre-tax Deductions
Deferrals, 403(b), Code 125 Cafeteria Plan (health & medical benefits) Refer to the
Instruction Guide for other pre-tax deductions
The remaining compensation columns should be populated only if your plan excludes
the category of wages in the definition of compensation (refer to the plan document)
In the various compensation columns, amounts entered should be rounded to the second decimal place. When copying and pasting be sure that no formulas are brought in to the file.
The W‐2, Box 1 column should only contain taxable wages shown on the participant’s actual W‐2, box 1. The amount entered should not include any pre‐tax deductions. If your plan elected to add the Roth contribution source, the Roth contributions are included in W‐2, Box 1 Wages because they are made with after‐tax dollars. Please note this column is not Gross Wages.
The next column, All Pre‐Tax Deductions, should be populated with any and all pre‐tax deductions. In this column enter the total of all pre‐tax deferrals to your plans. They would include 401(k), 403(b), and Code Section 125 Cafeteria (health & medical benefits) deductions. Please refer to the PYE Information Guide for a complete listing. An example of a Pre‐Tax column entry would be: $5,000.00 in 401(k) contributions, and $1,000.00 in health benefits. Enter the amount of $6,000.00 in this column.
The next nine columns, Taxable Fringe Benefits, Bonus, Overtime, Commissions, Other Compensation and the four Compensation Paid Prior columns should only be populated if your plan excludes one or more of these items from the definition of compensation. Please reference your plan’s definition of compensation in the ERISA Advisory, Plan Design section of the TRC to confirm any exclusion from compensation. If your plan excludes any of these items, you are required to provide the specific amounts that pertain to each participant. MassMutual’s record keeping system will use this data, along with the W‐2, Box one and All Pre‐
tax column amounts to calculate the eligible compensation for testing purposes. If you have questions pertaining to these fields please reference the instruction guide, or contact your account manager.
Employee Census – HCE / Key
All Employees in each column require an answer of a “Y or N”
Key Employee
More than a 5% owner
Family Attribution – spouse, parent, grandparent or child of 5% owner
More than a 1% owner with compensation over $ 150,000 in 2013
Company Officer with compensation of $ 165,000 in 2013
Highly Compensated Employee (HCE)
More than a 5% owner
Family Attribution
Eligible employee earning over $ 115,000 in the prior year
Next you will see columns asking if people were Key employees, Highly Compensated Employees (HCE), a partner and or a more than 5% owner. These columns should be populated with either a “Y” or “N” depending on if each person qualifies or not based on the definitions found in the instruction guide. Please do not put “yes” or “no” as our system will not recognize this data. A participant would be considered an HCE for plan year 2013 if they earned in excess of $115,000.00 in plan year 2012, was a more than 5% owner, or was related to a more than 5% owner through the Family Attribution rules.
Employee Census – Status
Collectively Bargained
”Y” if Union Employee
Worked LESS than 1000 Hours
Updates vesting
May affect forfeiture allocations
May affect employee contributions
Under 21 and/or 1 Year of Service
No longer needed can be left blank
The hours worked column is empty and will need to be populated with either a “Y” or “N”
based on if a participant has worked less than 1000 hours in the plan year. You should indicate that an employee had worked less than 1,000 hours by entering a Y in this column, otherwise enter an N. This column can not be left blank. This information will affect contribution or forfeiture allocations and vesting. Please note that his column will not appear if your plan has elapsed time vesting.
Next we have a column titled under age 21 and or less than one year of service. This column can be ignored for this year as we no longer require you to report this information to us.
Employee Census –Insurance
Life Insurance Columns
Complete only if your plan has a Life Insurance Option
Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART)
Complete if excluding (HEART) pay from compensation
The four life insurance columns only appear if applicable to your plan. If your plan allows the purchase of life insurance policies on behalf of participants, enter the amount of the cash surrender value of the policy as of your plan year‐end date.
The USERRA and HEART Contribution column should be populated if one of the following situations occurred. The first is if a participant contributed make‐up contributions for the current year or prior years due to qualified military service. The second is if the employer chose to pay people in the military the HEART differential compensation. If either situation is applicable to any participant, you should enter a Y in this column.
Employee Census – Salary Continuation
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
Complete if make-up contributions are made into the plan due to
military service
Post Termination Leave Cash-Outs
Post Termination Deferred Compensation
Military Service Salary Continuation Payments
Total Disability Salary Continuation Payments
Post Termination Adjustments
Finally, we come to the post termination compensation columns. The IRS has excluded severance pay from the definition of compensation for the purposes of §415 limits. At the same time, post‐termination regular pay is now required to be included, if the payments are paid by the later of 2 ½ months following separation of employment or the end of the plan or limitation year which includes the date of termination.
If your plan excludes any of these payments and they are included in the W‐2 Box 1 Wages column, please enter the amount in the appropriate field. For more information about the different post termination compensation columns, please reference the Plan Year End Glossary. Entering Data into the Employee Census
You have 3 Options when you transfer data to the MassMutual View Screen
Entering data directly into the MassMutual View screen
Entering data line by line
Copy and paste information from another worksheet
Copy and paste each column into the MassMutual View
Import data using a Text File
Do not alter or delete columns on
the MassMutual View worksheet
Now that we have reviewed each data column, let’s discuss how to load the data into the work sheet. There are three options that are acceptable. The first would be to type the information into each participant’s line. For small plans, this may be a preferred option; however, this may be a bit time consuming. Another way would be to copy and paste the data into the worksheet. Entering Data into the Employee Census
Import data using a Text File
Your file cannot contain the following
Dashes or spaces in the Social Security Number column
Dollar signs
Commas
Formulas
Yes or No only “Y or N”
Any comment columns
Any extra columns
Column Totals
Do not alter or delete columns on
the MassMutual View worksheet
If your plan has too many people to reasonably type or copy and paste the data into the worksheet, you can load the information through a Text File import. Please note your file should not contain dashes and or spaces in the Social Security numbers, and your compensation figures should not contain dollar signs, commas, formulas, or sum totals. Also, please do not delete or alter the columns on the MassMutual View worksheet as this may corrupt the file.
On your data file, we recommend that you have similar column headings as what is shown on the MassMutual View worksheet. When you save your data file, you should save it as a text file. Please make sure to do this when the MassMutual Employee Census file is closed
On your data file, we recommend that you have similar column headings as what is shown on the MassMutual View worksheet. When you save your data file, you should save it as a text file. Please make sure to do this when the MassMutual Employee Census file is closed. Entering Data into the Employee Census
Import data using a Text File
Use similar column headings
Save your data as a Text File
Begin by opening the Employee
Census
On the Welcome screen click
the “Here To Begin” box
Once you have your data file ready to load, please open the MassMutual Employee Census File. You will see a “click here to begin” box on the Welcome page. Click this box. Entering Data into the Employee Census
Import data using a Text File
On the Overview screen click the method you will be
using to transmit your data to MassMutual View
We will be using the “Text File Import”
On the next screen you will see a box titled “Text File Import”. Click on this box.
Entering Data into the Employee Census
Import data using a Text File
You will need to locate your text file
containing your payroll information
Open your text file by clicking on your file
name and clicking the “Open” button
A box will appear – click the appropriate
Option (column headings)
On the next screen, choose “Start Text Import”. A window will open. You need to find your text file with employee data, single click on the file name and the click the open button. The next thing you will see is a box asking you to format your data. You will be able to click the finish button right away. After that you will be asked to choose a box that states “contains column headings”, if you have column headings. Entering Data into the Employee Census
Import data using a Text File
If your text file has column headings, they
will appear on the left hand side of the box
under “Your Data”
Associate each column from your text file
with the corresponding MassMutual column
Once you have mapped all of the
columns the “Done” button will activate
the transfer of information
The next screen shows your data column headings on the left side, and the MassMutual Employee Census column headings on the right . You will need to match up your columns with the MassMutual column names by clicking on the first heading on the left side, and then the same or similar heading on the right. When you have matched up all of the columns the “done” button on the lower left of the screen will become enabled. By clicking this button you will load your data to the employee census file.
Entering Data into the Employee Census
Once you have transferred your data
To the census, go into the
MassMutual View screen to make
sure the transfer was successful
The next step is to go to the “Thank
You” tab and “Validate” your data
Check any rows that are highlighted in
green, you may be missing information
You may get a box stating you are
missing compensation, make sure
compensation is completed for all
participants who deferred in the
plan year, then click “OK” and this
will closed the file.
Save your file
If the file loading works correctly you will see your data on the MassMutual View worksheet. You may see that some participant’s line items will be highlighted in green. This is because they do not have any information in the W‐2, Box one column. If they did not have any wages, or maybe terminated prior to the beginning of the plan year, then it is OK to leave their line item green. If all of the participants are highlighted in green, the data load did not work properly. You can try again by clicking on the Welcome tab of the file. One important thing that many client fail to report are the people who are eligible for the plan, but did not participate. If you have employees who are eligible for the plan, but did not participate and are not listed on the MassMutual View worksheet, we ask that you add them to the Eligible Non‐Participating tab. Please do not add them to the MassMutual View worksheet as their data will not load to our system. It is important to provide MassMutual with a list of eligible but not participating employees if the plan has a non‐elective or profit share allocation, if they use a QNEC to satisfy a failed ADP test, or if the Plan reallocates Non‐Elective Forfeiture money. Once you have loaded all of the participant data, either through file load, copy and paste or typing the data, please click on the “Thank You” tab. On this page you will see a box titled “Validate”. Please click this box. Next you will see a box that tells you all information has been saved as well as a reminder to make sure that you have identified all of your HCEs, Keys, and to confirm that you have labeled everyone in the hours worked column. Click the “OK” button. The next box you see will ask if you have completed entering all of the data into the file. Choose “Yes”. Next, a box will appear if you have missing data. By clicking “OK”, the file will close. Please open the file again, click on the MassMutual view tab, and make sure that your data has been saved. Uploading Files to MassMutual
From the TRC home page select “Complete Plan Year End Service” or
access through the Site Map link under Plan Management – Plan Year End
On the PYE home page select PYE Upload Census Files
The Plan Census and Employee Census are uploaded by file type
Now that you have successfully completed the Plan and Employee Census files, it is time to upload them to the TRC. Go ahead and log back into the TRC. At the home page there are two ways to navigate back to the plan year end area. The first is on the TRC home page. You should see a line item under the Plan Actions column titled “Complete Plan Year End Services”. Please click on this link. If you do not see this line item, you should click on the Site Map on the left side of the screen. On the next page you will find “Plan Year End” under the Plan Management section of the site map. Please choose this link. On the Plan Year‐End home page you will see the PYE Upload Census Files link. Please click on it. On the next screen you will see a link for the Plan Census and another for the Employee Census. Please click on the Plan Census link.
Uploading Files to MassMutual
Select Plan or Employee Census
A “browse file” box will appear
Select the completed file and click open
The file name will appear in the box
Click “Send File” button
The file will be listed under “Uploaded File”
Once all of the Plan and Employee Census are
uploaded the “Submit” button will become
enabled
Click the “Submit” button and you are done with
the Census Files
On the next screen you will be asked to click on the “Browse” button, and then find your completed Plan Census file on your computer. Once the file name has been selected, click “Open”. The name of the file will show in the box on the screen. Next, click on the “Send File Button”. Once you have done this, you will see a message that tells you that the file upload has been successful and you should be able to see the file name at the bottom of the page. Next you will need to upload your completed Employee Census file or files if you have more than one employee census. You should follow the same process as uploading the Plan census. Click on the Employee Census link, then on the “Browse” button, locate your file, click “Open”, and then click on the “Send File Button”. Once you have done this, you will see a message that tells you that the file upload has been successful. When you have uploaded both the completed Plan and Employee census files, you will see a large “submit” button on the lower left side of the screen. You must click this button to confirm the uploading process. You will see a message that indicates the files were uploaded and successfully submitted. Once this has been done, MassMutual’s recordkeeping system will notify the assigned tester that they can begin the testing process. If you are unsure that the data was received by the tester, please contact your account manager, who will be able to provide you with a status update. Plan Year End
If your plan year is on a calendar basis, the completed Plan and Employee
Census package must be returned before February 3 in order to
guarantee the return of excesses before the March 14 deadline.
Please Note: The Plan and Employee Census must be returned complete
and accurate to guarantee the return of excesses before the March 14
deadline.
If you have any plan specific questions, please contact your designated
Account Manager.
If you are having technical difficulty with the Plan or Employee Census,
please contact the Compliance Testing and Reporting Services (CTRS)
Bulletin Board at [email protected]
If your plan year is on a calendar year basis, the completed Plan and Employee census files will need to be uploaded to MassMutual by February 3, 2014. If your plan qualifies as an EACA plan, your deadline is March 1st, 2014. If your plan year is off‐calendar, your deadline is 30 days after the end of the plan year. Should you have any plan specific questions please contact your assigned account manager. If you experience any technical problems with the census files, please contact the CTRS Bulletin Board at: [email protected].
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