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Which Financial Details Do I Have to Include on my Year-End Census?

DWC 01/19/21
Facts Last week, you explained some the demographic data points that get reported on the annual census. Now, I’ve got some questions on the financial information I’ve been asked to provide to my TPA. Some of it seems obvious until I start to dig into it.
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Overtime Is Up and Bonuses Are Down: Will This Year's Irregular Compensation Impact our Retirement Plan?

DWC 12/1/20
Facts We sponsor a 401(k) plan for our employees and provide a company matching contribution to those who defer. Our plan specifies that in calculating that match, we only consider employee base pay and exclude “irregular” forms of pay (specifically bonuses and overtime). This allows us to be more precise when we are building the expected cost of ...
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Your Definition of Compensation Isn't in the ERISA Dictionary? We've Got a Fix for That.

DWC 08/27/20
Getting creative with the plan’s definition of compensation can be an effective way to target benefits, budget your benefit dollars, and maintain consistent benefit levels from year to year. However, with that creativity comes added layers of testing and compliance to concern yourself with. And, if you sponsor a safe harbor plan, those rules can ...
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Just Can't Get Enough...Savings from your 401(k) Plan

DWC 07/23/20
Now that we know the basics, we can apply our knowledge to (almost) real life scenarios. We will follow our fictitious company: Robert Smith, Inc., an S-corporation with no employees other than the owner. Robert is an accomplished song writer who is currently living off royalties from his hits. Robert sponsored a SEP for many years, then at the ...
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Do We Have to Consider Pay Before a Participant is Eligible When Calculating Matching Contributions?

DWC 06/9/20
Facts Each year, after our last payroll in December, I submit my census information to the TPA for our 401(k) plan. Even though I’ve looked at each participant’s total deferrals for the year to determine the matching contributions, the TPA almost always has true-up contributions for me to make. Taking a closer look, it seems like these true-ups ...
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Should We Include Government-Mandated Coronavirus PTO When Calculating Company Contributions?

DWC 04/21/20
Facts We have several employees who have had to take time off from work either because of a loss of childcare or to care for affected family members due to the coronavirus. As a result of recent legislation, they qualify to receive compensation during their leave from work.
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Which Comes First: The Contribution or the K-1?

DWC 06/25/19
Facts As a self-employed individual, I run a successful business and have set up a retirement plan to provide for tax-sheltered savings. When its time to determine the contribution amount each year, it feels more complicated than running the business. My CPA seems to be waiting on our TPA, and the TPA waiting on the CPA – and amidst it all, I’m ...
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Which Compensation Do You Use When Your Company Fiscal Year is Different Than Your Plan Year?

DWC 05/21/19
Facts When we set up our 401(k) plan, our partnership operated on a fiscal year that ran from July 1st to June 30th. We set the 401(k) plan year to line up with our company’s fiscal year. We recently changed our company’s fiscal year to follow the calendar year and didn’t think to notify our TPA to discuss the impact to the Plan. Now, they are ...
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What Common Compliance Issues Should We Be Watching For?

DWC 03/19/19
Facts Our company sponsors a 401(k) plan, and we want to make sure we do everything correctly. We have a great staff and have put processes in place to help ensure we operate the plan in a compliant manner. With all the moving parts, however, there is still a concern that we might miss something.
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Can A Departing Employee Make 401(k) Contributions From Severance Pay?

DWC 07/10/18
Facts When certain employees terminate employment with our company, we agree to continue severance payments for a period of time after they leave. Some of these employees have asked us to continue withholding 401(k) contributions from their severance pay.
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The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of any other person or organization. All content is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be tax or legal advice.