Maintaining Distribution Preferences (Desktop)

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Distribution Preferences allow users to control system settings for Distribution projects created in PensionPro. Before a Distribution project can be launched, these preferences must be established. Here, users customize applicable Distribution Fees, visible and required fields for various Distribution reasons, Distribution emails, and create business rules to apply certain Distribution templates based on the reason selected for the Distribution.  

 

Tier Availability: Premium and Business 

Add-On Availability: Distributions  

Security Rights Required: Maintenance 

 

Menu:

 

Distribution Preferences are accessed from the Application Menu by clicking Maintenance > Preferences > Distribution. Distribution Preferences are separated into General, Field Names, Field Setup, and Association Rules tabs. 

To Edit Preferences: 

  1. Select a tab from the Distribution Preferences 
  2. Click once on a preference to highlight it and click the Edit button.  
  3. Once the Edit Slider opens, the user can make changes to any of the preferences in that slider.  
  4. Click Save to confirm edits. 

 

General Tab 

The General tab allows the user to edit the values for various distribution preferences. These preferences are important because they control various defaults and data security for Distributions initiated through PensionPro. Preferences the user can find in the General tab are:  

  • Plan Fee Schedules: This Yes/No option will need set to Yes if the user has set up Active Fee Schedules for Plans in PensionPro. If this preference is set to “Yes” and active Fee Schedules have not been set up for each plan, the system will default to the Fee Schedule chosen in the “Default Fee Schedule Template” preference. 
  • Lock Completed Distribution: This Yes/No option allows the user to set it to Yes to Lock the distribution when it’s completed. Once a Distribution is completed, the information in the Distribution > Information sub-tab of the project cannot be edited. 
  • Default Fee Schedule Template: This field has a dropdown list with different Fee Schedule Templates to choose from to select as a Default Fee Schedule. The Fee Schedules listed here pull from the Fee Schedules added via the Fee Schedule tab of PensionPro Preferences. 
  • Allow Users to Edit Distribution Append Options: This is a Yes/No option that when it is switched to Yes, allows the user to change the default Investment Provider, Template and Fee Item when launching a Distribution project. 
  • Distribution General Email Plan Contact Role: This is a dropdown menu of Contact Roles where the user can select the Plan Contact Role that the user would like to use to contact Plan Sponsors regarding Distribution Request items. This preference is global for all Distributions. 
    • If a plan does not have the selected plan contact role for this preference, the user will get a "No contacts have been assigned to Plan role "[General Email Plan Contact Role Selection Here]" error message until the selected plan contact role is set up for the plan.

  • Distribution General Email CC Plan Contact Role: This is a dropdown menu of Contact Roles where the user can select the Plan Contact Role that the user would like to use to CC Plan Sponsors regarding Distribution Request items. This preference is global for all Distributions.

    • If a plan does not have the selected plan contact role for this preference, the user will get a "No contacts have been assigned to Plan role" error message until the selected plan contact role is set up for the plan.
  • Distribution Email Subject: This is a text field where the user can enter the default subject line for the Distribution Emails sent using PensionPro. This wording will be used as the default for any new emails generated from the Distribution tab.  
  • Distribution General Email Body: This is a text field where the user can enter the default body text for the Distribution Emails sent using PensionPro. This wording will be used as the default for any new emails generated in the Distribution tab by clicking the Send Email button.  
  • Default 1099 Responsibility: This is a dropdown menu that lets the user choose the Default 1099 Responsibility with the options of Internal, Outside Provider, No Entry, or Third Party Vendor.  

 

Field Names Tab 

Inside this tab are the Field Name, Display Name, and Description of all fields available on the Distribution tab within the Distribution project. PensionPro provides default settings for all the fields displayed. Field names and descriptions can be edited and any changes are immediate and global. 

To Edit Distribution Fields: 

  1. Click the Edit button to the right of the Distribution Field Names grid. An Edit Distribution Field Names slider will appear. 
  2. Edit the desired display name(s) and description(s). 
  3. Click Save to confirm changes.

 

Field Setup Tab 

Field Setup preferences allow users to tailor the fields displayed on the Distribution tab of a Distribution project by the Distribution Reason chosen. Users can control which fields appear in the tab, the order the fields appear, and which fields are required to be completed. For example, if the “Death” reason fields are chosen, the user can make the Date of Death field visible and required. 

To Add a New Field Setup Display Name: 

  1. Click the Add button next to the Display Name dropdown menu. 
  2. Enter a Display Name and Description to Identify the Field Setup. 
  3. Click Save. 

To Edit Field Setup Displays: 

  1. Select the Reason from the Display Name dropdown and then click on the Edit button on the far right of the Distribution Field Setup grid. 
  2. Modify the settings by checking the box of the field.  
    • Fields in the grid appear in the Information subtab of the Distribution tab of a Distribution Project. 
    • Field boxes that are greyed out are required and cannot be edited. 
    • Fields with a check in the box under the Show column will appear in the Distribution Tab for the Field Setup selected. 
    • Fields with a check in the box under the Required column will appear in the Distribution tab for the Field Setup selected. 
    • In the Distribution grid, users can click the blue arrows to reorder the fields. 
  3. Click Save. 

 

Association Rules Tab 

The Association Rules tab enables the user to select defaults for Distribution templates and Fee Item by Distribution Reason with ease when launching Distribution Projects. When a user launches a Distribution project and selects a Distribution Reason, the project template, Fee Name, and Field List are automatically selected. Users even have control over which plan types these association rules apply for.  

Note: A Default Rule must be established to enable Distribution functionalities. 

To Add a New Rule: 

  1. Click the Add button. An Add Association Rules slider will appear. 
  2. Enter a Name for the Rule, select the Default Template Name, and Fee Name. 
  3. Select a Field List that was created in the Field Setup tab. 
  4. Select the Plan Type(s) this Association rule should apply to by placing a check in the box to the left of the Plan Type.  
    • Check the box next to “all” to select all Plan Types. 
  5. Select the Distribution Reason(s) this Association Rule should apply to by placing a check in the box to the left of the reason name.  
    • Check the box next to “all” to select all Reasons.  
    • When launching a Distribution project, the reason selected must be included in the Association Rule Reasons to apply the rule. 
  6. Click Add to create the Association Rule. 

When creating Association Rules, no Association Rule can have the same exact selections for Template Name, Fee Name, and Field List as another Association Rule. At least one of those selections must be different or the user will receive an "another aggregate with the selected choices already exists" error message until a selection is changed.

To Edit an Association Rule:

  1. Single-click on the rule to highlight it.
  2. Click the Edit button. 
  3. Make Changes to the Association Rule and click Done.

To Delete an Association Rule:

  1. Single-click on the rule to highlight it.
  2. Click the Delete button. 
  3. Click "Yes" to confirm the deletion.

Note:

  • Distribution Reasons listed in the Distribution Preferences are currently hard-coded and cannot be deleted nor can new Distribution Reasons be added.  
  • If a template is referenced in an Association Rule, that Distribution Project Template cannot be deleted until the Association Rule no longer references the template. The user must edit or delete the Association Rule before the template can be deleted.

Default Rule: A Default Rule must be established to enable the functionality of the Distribution Module. If an error occurs while working with Distributions, confirm there is a Default Rule in the Association Rules. This will be where the Rule Name, Template, Fee Name, Field List, all Reasons, and all Plan Types the Distribution is associated with are listed.

 

 

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