Viewing and Maintaining Data Collection in PensionPro (Desktop)

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As plan sponsors complete their data collection on PlanSponsorLink for Annual Administration projects with web collection, the data that is completed will appear in PensionPro on the Data Collection tab of the Project. Users can view that information to verify information is complete and does not contain any errors. Should users need to resend portions of the data collection back to the plan sponsor to fix or complete on PlanSponsorLink, they can do so from Data Collection tab of the Project. Sample templates can be downloaded at the end of this article.

Tier Availability: Essential, Premium, Business

Add-On Availability: PlanSponsorLink

Security Rights Required: Add/Edit Projects

 

  Note: Some items may not be available in all tiers.

In order for the project to be valid for Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink, the project template must have an Annual Administration Project Type, Annual Project Frequency, and require Data Collection.

The Data Collection tab is separated into 9 different sub-tabs which are listed below. These subtabs contain the data that plan sponsors submit for the General, Company, Principals, Family, Businesses, Contact, Plan, 5500, and Employees tasks on PlanSponsorLink for Annual Administration projects. 

Note: If the Lock Year End Data preference is set to “Yes” users will be locked out of editing Data Collection items after the plan sponsor has started the data collection process on PlanSponsorLink. Users can find more information on how to control this global preference in Creating/Maintaining PensionPro Preferences.

The annual administration with web collection project is linked to PlanSponsorLink.com for data collection and Blast Email for communication. Mail Types used in Blast Email are Census Request and Census Reminders. For more information on using Blast Email for Data Collection communication, please refer to Using Blast Email For Data Collection.

 

Article Overview

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Set Preferences

Before users can begin Data Collection, they must create their PlanSponsorLink and Data Collection Preferences. Users will need to add PlanSponsorLink and Annual Data Collection Preferences, create Web Steps, Field Descriptions and Collection Fields. Users can set up Collection Fields to require an answer and even display which Collection Fields appear based on Plan Type.

Users can find directions on how to create these preferences to enable Data Collection in Creating/Maintaining PensionPro Preferences.

 

Request

The Request tab is where users can verify when the Census Request for Data Collection was sent. Users can manually complete this step by clicking the Lock button. Sending a Census Request Blast Email to a recipient linked to the plan will also complete this step and add the date the Census Request was sent. Users can also mark the Data Collection for deletion on this tab.

Download Report - Clicking this button will allow users to download a report of the Data Collection submissions for each completed step. This is similar to the report plan sponsors have access to on PlanSponsorLink once they complete Data Collection.  In order to view each tab of the report, the user viewing the report must be listed as a Plan Contact on the Plan and have the appropriate website rights. For more information on adding website rights, please review Understanding Website Rights For Contacts.

Edit - Clicking the Edit button will allow users to mark the Data Collection for Deletion.

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

Census Data Population

If census data was entered for the previous plan year, that data will roll forward to the current plan year when the Data Collection is launched. Compensation, Deferral entries, and Employees with a Date of Separation entered are not rolled forward to the current year.

  • Note: When launching a Data Collection project, if the Data Collection's Period Start Date is not 1 day after the prior year Data Collection's Period End Date, users will receive a "No Prior Year data was found to roll forward" message. Any Client Address and Phone Number data will pull forward into the Data Collection portion of the project, however, no other data will be able to be pulled forward. This ensures data collection information will be clean and accurate when plan sponsors complete data collection on PlanSponsorLink.
  • Note: When launching a Data Collection project, if the Data Collection's Period Start Date is 1 day after the prior year Data Collection's Period End Date, any prior year census data from the prior plan year Data Collection will roll forward to the current plan year. If no prior census data was available, users will get a "No Prior Year data was found to roll forward" message. This is only an alert and will not interfere with launching the Data Collection.

General

The General tab contains Address and Phone Number information that is entered and approved on the General task of an Annual Administration project on PlanSponsorLink. Changes made to the General Tab will appear on the Client Details > Address and Number tabs immediately. 

Email - The user can click the Email (Envelope) button to send a preformatted email to the plan contact role selected as the Annual Data Collection Email Role in Preferences > Annual Data Collection. Users can control the email's subject and body by editing the Annual Data Collection Email Subject and Annual Data Collection Email Body Preferences in Preferences > Annual Data Collection. For more information please review Creating/Editing PensionPro Preferences. 

Add – The user can add Addresses or Numbers on the General tab.  

Add an Address: 

  1. Click the Add button to the right of the Addresses grid. 
  2. Click the Add button next to Address to create a new address. 
    • The user can choose an existing address by selecting it from the Address dropdown menu. 
  3. Fill out the Address information and click Save. 
  4. Select an Address Type. 
  5. Click Save. 

Add a Number: 

  1. Click the Add button to the right of the Numbers grid. 
  2. Click the Add button next to Number to create a new number. 
    • The user can choose an existing number by selecting it from the Number dropdown menu. 
  3. Fill out the Number information and click Save. 
  4. Select a Number Type. 
  5. Click Save. 

Edit – Users can edit Address or Number information on the General tab. To edit an address or number, click the Edit button to the right of the address or number record.  

Delete – To Delete an address or number record, click the Delete button to the right of the address or number record. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is un-complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Company

The Company tab displays information about the Company that was either added by the user or by the Client as part of Web data collection.  The Company tab shows company details such as EIN, Entity Type, and NAIC Business Code for the current Plan Year. The system maintains records for each plan year.

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

Edit – Clicking the Edit button allows the user to make changes to company information such as fiscal year, EIN, or Entity Type. The user can make changes to the company information and click Save when complete. Changes made to the Company tab, will appear on the Client Details > Employer Data record for the same period as the Project. 

 

Principals

The Principals tab displays information about the Principals of the company that was either added by the user or by the Client as part of Web data collection. 

Add – The user can add Principals for the company. 

Add a Principal: 

  1. Click on the Add button to the right of the Principal grid. 
  2. Enter the Principal’s information. 
  3. Click Save. 

Edit – The user can edit a Principal’s information by clicking the Edit button to the right of a Principal record. The user can make changes to the record and click Save when complete. 

Delete – Users can click the Delete button located to the right of a Principal record to delete the Principal. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete , users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Family

The Family tab contains information about the Family members of the company that was either added by the user or by the Client as part of Web data collection. 

Add – Users can click the Add button to the right of the Family grid to add family relationships data. 

Add a Family Relationship: 

  1. Click the Add button to the right of the Family grid. 
  2. Enter the name of the family member. 
  3. Select a relationship from the Relationship dropdown menu. 
    • The Relationship entered should be the Family Member’s relationship to a Principal. 
    • Relationship is a List Value. To find more information on adding List Values, please refer to Maintaining List Values. 
  4. Select a Principal from the Related To dropdown menu. 
    • For a Principal to be listed in the dropdown menu, they must be entered on the Data Collection > Principals tab. 
  5. Click Save. 

Edit – Clicking the Edit button to the right of a Family Member record allows a user to make changes to an existing family member record. The user can make changes to the record and click Save when complete. 

Delete – Users can click the Delete button located to the right of a Family Relationship record to delete the Family Member listed. Click “Yes” to confirm deletion. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is un-complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Business

This tab displays information about related companies and the owners of the related companies that were either added by the user or by the Client as part of Web data collection. 

Add – Users can click the Add button located to the right of the Businesses grid to add related businesses data. 

Add a Related Business: 

  1. Click the Add button located to the right of the Businesses grid. 
  2. Enter the related business company information in the popup window. 
    • Other Business Legal Name, Entity Type and Plan Sponsored status are required fields. 
  3. Click Save. 

Expand – To the left of any Related Business records is an expansion button (+). Users can click this to expand the Related Business record to view the Other Business Owners data for that Related Business. 

Add Other Business Owners: 

  1. Click the Expand (+) button to the left of a Related Business record. 
  2. Click the Add button to the right of the Other Business Owners grid that appears. 
  3. Enter the Owner’s Name and Ownership Percentage. 
  4. Click Save.

Edit Other Business Owners: 

  1. Click the Expand (+) button to the left of a Related Business record. 
  2. Click once on the Business Owner record to highlight it. 
  3. Click the Edit button to the right of the Other Business Owners grid. 
  4. Make necessary edits. 
  5. Click Save. 

Delete Other Business Owners: 

  1. Click the Expand (+) button to the left of a Related Business record. 
  2. Click once on the Business Owner record to highlight it. 
  3. Click the delete button to the right of the Other Business Owners grid. 
  4. Click “Yes” to confirm the deletion of the Owner. 

Edit – Users can highlight a Related Business record and click the Edit button to the right of the Businesses grid to make edits to that Related Business record. After clicking the Edit button, make necessary edits and click the Save button. 

Delete – Users can highlight a Related Business record and click the Delete button to the right of the Businesses grid to remove the Related Business record. After clicking the Delete button, click “Yes” to confirm the deletion. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is un-complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Contacts

This displays information about the contacts associated with the plan including their full name and any issues the Client noted for the contact as part of Web data collection. 

Issues – When a plan sponsor completes the Contacts portion of Annual Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink, they view the Plan Contact Roles for the plan where the “Show on PSL” checkbox was marked. The plan sponsor views the following: 

  • Contact Name 
  • Email Address 
  • Address information 
  • Number information 
  • Plan Role(s) 
  • Website Right(s) for the Plan  

If the plan sponsor notices anything incorrect regarding the above information, they can add a contact change request, highlighting the contact record and the problems with the information. Any contact change requests the plan sponsor adds will appear in PensionPro on the Data Collection > Contacts tab. The user can fix the information requested by the plan sponsor, unlock the Contacts step and resend to the plan sponsor to verify where the plan sponsor can remove the requested change and re-submit. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Plan

This tab displays a set of questions and answers that the Client completes on the PlanSponsorLink website for the Year End Data collection. These questions can be customized in the Annual Employer Questionnaire Task on the Project Template before the project is launched. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

5500

This tab displays a set of questions and answers that the Client completes on the PlanSponsorLink website for the Year End Data collection. These questions can be customized in the Annual 5500 Questionnaire Task on the Project Template before the project is launched. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Employees

The Employees tab displays the Employee census that is displayed on the PlanSponsorLink website. The information displayed can be edited using the buttons displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. The data can also be exported and imported using excel spreadsheets. Data field sets used are based on Plan Type and configured in Preferences > PensionPro > Collection Fields.

Errors and Warnings – If the Employee Census was uploaded with errors an Errors and Warnings (red exclamation point) button will appear. Clicking this button will open the Participant Errors and/or Warnings popup for the user to review. The popup displays any warnings such as deferrals not being entered. The popup will also display any errors, indicating the participant record associated with the error and the reason for the error. Participant records with errors will appear in red text on the Data Collection > Employees grid in PensionPro. 

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

Add – Users can add individual participant records to the Employees grid by clicking the Add button. The collection fields that appear in the slider are based on the Collection Fields for the Plan Type created in PensionPro Preferences. For more information on how to update Collection Fields, including user defined Collection Fields, please review Creating/Maintaining PensionPro Preferences. 

Add Participant Record: 

  1. Click on the Add button to the right of the Employees grid. 
  2. Enter the Employee’s information in the Add Employee slider. 
    • Required information is based on the Collection Field preferences for the Plan Type. 
  3. Click Save. 

Edit – Users can click once on a participant record and click the Edit button to make edits to that participant record. Users can make necessary changes to the participant in the Edit Employee slider and click the Save button when complete. 

Delete – Users can click once on an employee record to highlight and click the Delete button to remove that record. After clicking the Delete button, click “Yes” to confirm deletion. Note: Once the information is deleted, it cannot be retrieved. 

Copy Employees from Another Plan – Users can copy Employee records from another plan if necessary rather than copying that information over manually. 

Copy Employees from Another Plan: 

  1. From the Data Collection > Employees tab, click the Copy Employees (two sheets) button. 
  2. A dropdown will appear to the left, select the Plan to copy employee records from. 
  3. Click Copy. 

Import – Users can import an excel file containing employee information and upload that information at one time rather than entering each employee separately. 

Import Employees: 

  1. Click the Import button to the right of the Employees grid. A file browser will open. 
  2. Select the excel file containing census import information. 
  3. The census information will import and populate in the Employees grid. Any errors found in the template will appear in a popup for review. The imported census will overwrite any previously entered census data with the new import information. Any prior data cannot be retrieved after it has been overwritten. 
  • Note:  
    • A preformatted template can be exported by clicking the Export button from the Employees grid.  
    • The excel file sheet containing the census data must be titled “Employees.”  
    • The column headers on the import template must exactly match the Collection Field Display Names in PensionPro. If they do not, the values will not import for the intended Collection Field. 

Export – Users can click the Export button to export the current list of employees for the census. This allows the user to export the current data into an excel file. 

Export Employees: 

  1. Click the Export button to the right of the Employees grid. A File Browser will open. 
  2. Choose a destination to save the census file and click Save. 

Delete all Items – Users can click the Delete All Items button to delete all employees in the Employees Grid. Note: Once the information is deleted, it cannot be retrieved. 

Delete all items: 

  1. Click the Delete all items button. 
  2. Click “Yes” to confirm Deletion. 

 

Approval

The Approval tab displays each step of the data collection process and the date each step is completed. Here users can get a high-level view of the progress plan sponsors have made on their Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink.

Refresh - Clicking the Refresh button will refresh the data in the tab and populate fields if new data is available.

Lock- If the step is completed, users can click the Unlock button to remove completion for this step of the Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink for the plan sponsor to re-submit. If the step is not complete, users can click the Lock button to override and complete the data collection step.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can’t I edit Data Collection for my Project? The Annual Administration Project was completed, but I can’t edit the Data Collection items. 

Data Collection cannot be edited once the project has been completed. A user with the Manager right will need to remove completion for the one of the project tasks to re-open the project. Once the project has been reopened, the user can edit Data Collection Items. 

If I receive an incorrect census, how do I have the sponsor send another one? I don't want to delete the whole project and start again, I just need a corrected census. Is there a way to import a corrected census? 

There are two ways to import a corrected census. One is by the plan sponsor and the other is by the TPA/PensionPro user. For the plan sponsor to upload the corrected census without altering the other steps would be to remove the completion for that particular step in the Data Collection Task Grouping. To do this, go to the Project and in the Task Groupings tab double click the Data Collection grouping. Next, click on the Employee Census project task and click Remove Completion. This will remove the completion and the plan sponsor can then be notified to go back out to PlanSponsorLink, export the census and re-import the correct one. For the TPA to import the correct census the user would need go to the Data Collection tab of the project. In this tab, select the Employees subtab on the left. In this specific tab, there is an import button where the corrected census can be imported. 

I removed the completion on the Employee Census and am in the Data Collection tab and in the Employee sub tab, however, the import button does not show. 

The user will need to go to Maintenance > Preferences > PensionPro and then in the General tab, select Data Security from the drop-down menu. The Switch Lock Year End Data Preference will need to be set to No and then the user can go back to the Employees sub tab in the Data Collection tab of the project and the import button should appear. 

If the Lock Year End Data Preference is switched to No and then switched back to Yes, will plans that had their year-end data unlocked originally now have an issue with it being locked? 

If the option is set to No and then is switched to Yes, the plan sponsor can make changes as they work through data collection, but PensionPro users within the user’s firm cannot make changes to data collection once it's been started by the plan sponsor. 

How can I import updated census data to fix the census my plan sponsor submitted? 

Click on the Employees Tab. Users can click the Import button to import an updated Census spreadsheet. The newly imported template will overwrite any previously entered census data. 

A client submitted incorrect information which is displayed on one of the Data Collection tabs. How can I send this back to them to fix? 

There is an Unlock Web Collection (Unlock) button located in the upper right-hand corner of each tab. Click the Unlock Web Collection button to unlock that portion of data collection for this project. The task will appear on the plan sponsor’s PlanSponsorLink My Active Tasks dashboard. 

Am I notified when a client makes changes to Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink? 

When a client makes changes to the General, Company, Principals, Family, Business, or Contacts steps of Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink, users can view multiple indicators of these changes in PensionPro. On the Data Collection tab, users will see a yellow and orange triangle icon on the Data Collection step where they made changes. “Changed On Web” will also appear in red text above the grid when clicking on the subtab for General, Company, Principals, Family, Business, or Contacts steps of Data Collection.  

My plan sponsor is getting errors that the Separation Reason is invalid, but this collection field is not a required field. Why are they getting this error?  

Separation Reason refers to specific List Values in PensionPro. The plan sponsor must enter the Separation Reason exactly as it is entered as a List Value in PensionPro. For more information about List Values please refer to Creating/Maintaining List Values. It is also a good idea to document the Separation Reason format/selections in the Description and Format field of the Field Description Preferences so plan sponsors know how to fill out this field. For more information on Field Descriptions, please review Maintaining PensionPro Preferences.  

If I unlock a Task Group for Data Collection, will the plan sponsor receive an email notifying them that they will need to revisit that information, or do I need to send them a notification manually? 

If the user unlocks a Data Collection Task Group, they will need to notify the plan sponsor that they will need to log into PlanSponsorLink to complete or resubmit the data for that Task Group.

 

Annual Administration Starter Template

The annual administration with web collection starter template can be downloaded from this page. Please note that the Project Manager and Role Assigned per Task must be updated prior to import. Additional Task Groupings, Tasks, and Task Items should be added to match the user's firm's workflow for this process.

 

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