Data Collection - Annual Data Collection

Of the types of Data Collection provided by PensionPro, Annual Data Collection is the most widely-used—and justifiably so. Purpose-built to walk a Plan Sponsor through a series of simple steps to obtain every piece of information needed for year-end plan administration, Annual Data Collection will see regular use for most PensionPro Plans. This article will examine how to set up Annual Data Collection, how to launch it, and how to work with the Sponsor's data after it's been provided.

Tier Availability: Team, Business

Article Contents

• Overview of Annual Data Collection
• Annual Data Collection Preferences
  • Customizing the Census
• Creating an Annual Data Collection Template
  • TEAM: Managing Data Collection Templates
  • BUSINESS: Adding Data Collection to Project Templates
• Launching Annual Data Collection
  • TEAM: Adding Data Collection to a Plan Cycle
  • BUSINESS: Launching a Data Collection Project
  • Records Created By Annual Data Collection
  • Rolling Last Year's Data Forward
• 5558 Extensions

Overview of Annual Data Collection

Annual Data Collection is intended to make the process of retrieving information needed for annual administration from the Plan Sponsor easy and consistent. During this process, any relevant Plan Contact(s) will be expected to log in to PlanSponsorLink and perform a series of steps, each of which collects different types of data—such as company and ownership information and the employee census. The TPA will then have access to these answers in PensionPro to refer to as they prepare to complete the Form 5500.

Annual Data Collection is just one type of Data Collection that can be performed. For a list of all types of Data Collection, the steps that the Plan Sponsor will encounter, and instructions for using Data Collection in general, refer to the article Overview of Web Data Collection.

Annual Data Collection Preferences

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

Prior to beginning Annual Data Collection, it is a good idea to review the firm's PlanSponsorLink and Data Collection preferences. Refer to the article PlanSponsorLink Preferences for more information.

In particular, ensure that the preferences in the following views are set as desired:

• General > Annual Data Collection – governs PSL behavior and wording of miscellaneous messages
• Web Steps > Annual Administration – customizes the wording of the instructions for each Data Collection step

Customizing the Census

A piece of census information that is vital for one plan may be entirely irrelevant for another. For this reason, PensionPro allows census fields to be customized for each Plan Type; these fields can be required, optional, or removed altogether, and can be rearranged in any order that makes sense. For more information, refer to the article Customizing the Employee Census.

Creating an Annual Data Collection Template

Data Collection Templates are used to customize the items that Plan Sponsors will see during Annual Data Collection. For example, questionnaires are created in the Data Collection Template. Whenever Annual Data Collection is launched for a Plan, the user is asked to choose an appropriate Template; PensionPro will apply the relevant items from the Template, ensuring that the information is collected consistently while still allowing for flexibility depending on the situation for any given Plan on any given Plan Year.

This process differs based on PensionPro tier; each will be covered in more detail in the following sections.

TEAM: Managing Data Collection Templates

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

On PensionPro's Team tier, a Data Collection Template dictates what questions the Plan Sponsor will answer in the Plan and 5500 steps, what data type the answers will be in, and whether an answer is required. All other Data Collection steps are standard and do not need to be customized.

To get started, navigate to Maintenance > Templates; the Data Collection Templates grid lists any Templates that have already been created. A Template can be removed by hovering over it in the grid and selecting Delete on the right-hand side.

A new Data Collection Template cannot be added directly. Instead, hover over an existing Template and use the Copy option; this creates a copy containing all the same settings as the original. Then, to customize this copy, refer to the instructions below for editing a Template. To ensure that at least one Template is available for copying at all times, PensionPro provides a read-only sample template that cannot be edited or deleted.

Editing Questionnaires

To edit a Data Collection Template, double-click it in the grid; the Template opens to the Summary view. Use the Edit option at the top-right of the Template Summary Details grid to make any changes to the Template's Name or Description, or to mark it as Active/Inactive. Inactive Templates are not available for use when launching Data Collection.

Depending on the Data Collection step that needs customized, select either the Plan Questionnaire or 5500 Questionnaire view on the left; instructions are the same for either view. The corresponding grid lists any questions that have already been added to the step.

Hovering over any question displays the Edit and Delete options on the right-hand side. Questions can be rearranged by dragging and item up or down to reposition it in the grid.

Adding Questions

To add a new item to the questionnaire:

1. Select Add at the top-right of either questionnaire grid. The Add Questionnaire Item window displays.
2. Enter the Question.
3. Select a Data Type.
   • The Data Type determines what format the Plan Sponsor will use when inputting the answer to this question. Example Data Types include checkbox, integer, currency, and text.
   • Alternately, Sponsors can be given a dropdown to choose from several possible answers. These dropdowns are created and customized in List Values prior to being used in this step. For more information, refer to the article Data Types for Task Items.
4. If this question is mandatory, select Answer Required.
   • Required questions must be answered before the Data Collection can be completed.
5. Select Save.

BUSINESS: Adding Data Collection to Project Templates

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

On PensionPro's Business tier, Data Collection becomes another part of the Project workflow, and Data Collection steps are added to a Project Template as Tasks. Upon launching the Project, Data Collection is performed first so that the remainder of the workflow can utilize the information collected from the Sponsor.

The instructions in this section assume familiarity with Project Template creation. For more information, refer to the article Project Templates.

Template Settings

In order to add Annual Data Collection to a Project, the Project Template requires specific settings be applied. The following combination of settings informs PensionPro that this is an Annual Administration Project and should include the Data Collection element:

• Project Type must be set to Annual Administration.
• Require Web Data Collection must be set to True.
• Project Frequency must be Annual.

The following additional settings are optional, but may improve the Project workflow or otherwise provide additional convenience:

• External Deadline: If set to 7 months, this will typically set the Project Deadline in line with the 5500 filing deadline.
  • For example, 7 months following a 12/31 year end will match the 7/31 filing deadline.
• Can this Project be extended: set to Yes to enable the Create Extension option on the Project Summary. Refer to the section 5558 Extensions.
• Start Date Offset: When set to 12 months, the Project will become active on the first day of the new plan year. Alternately, set this to less than 12 months to provide additional time for Data Collection preparations.

Workflow Settings

The below steps must be taken in order to add the appropriate Data Collection tasks to the Project workflow. Project Templates that do not meet these requirements cannot be used.

1. The first Task Grouping must be titled Data Collection.
2. The Data Collection Task Grouping must contain only the following Tasks, in this order:
   • Census Request Sent
   • Company Contact
   • Company Data
   • Principals
   • Family Relationships
   • Other Companies owned
   • Contacts
   • Employer Questionnaire
   • 5500 Questionnaire
   • Employee Census
   • Final Approval
3. The questions to be used on the Plan and 5500 steps of Data Collection should be added as Task Items under the Employer Questionnaire and 5500 Questionnaire Tasks, respectively.
   • This will function the same as adding Task Items to any other Project. All Data Types are available, items can be marked as Required, and Project Fields can be added to report on answers. 

Some additional notes on the Data Collection workflow:

• The Census Request Sent Task should be assigned to an Employee Role/Worktray, as a PensionPro user will have to complete this step to make the Data Collection available on PlanSponsorLink.
• The remaining Data Collection Tasks will be completed as the Plan Sponsor performs each step. For this reason, it is better to assign them to a designated Worktray for monitoring, rather than an Employee Role.
• Following the Final Approval Task, create a new Task Grouping and continue the Project workflow like any other Project.

Launching Annual Data Collection

When the Data Collection Template is ready and PlanSponsorLink preferences are set as desired, it is time to launch Data Collection for a Plan. This process starts slightly differently depending on the PensionPro tier in user; when no tier is specified, assume that the directions are applicable in all situations. The instructions in this section build upon the concepts presented in the article Overview of Web Data Collection.

TEAM: Adding Data Collection to a Plan Cycle

Requires Security Rights: Add/Edit Plan Cycles

On PensionPro's Team tier, Annual Data Collection is used alongside Plan Cycles, with each Data Collection applicable to the plan year covered by its corresponding Plan Cycle. The Data Collection can be added to the Plan Cycle when it is created, or any time afterwards.

To add a new Plan Cycle with Data Collection:

1. Open the desired Plan and select Plan Cycles from the Views list on the left.
2. Select Add at the top-right of the Plan Cycles grid. The corresponding window displays.
3. Set the Period Start and Period End dates to represent the plan year start/end dates.
4. Use the Data Collection field to select the desired Data Collection Template.
   • This Template contains the questionnaires created in the section TEAM Tier: Managing Data Collection Templates.
5. Select Save.

If the Plan Cycle has already been created but Data Collection hasn't been added yet, it can be done so via the following steps:

1. Open the desired Plan Cycle and select General from the Views list on the left.
2. At the top-right of the General Information grid, select More > Add Data Collection. The corresponding window displays.
3. Use the Template field to select the desired Data Collection Template.
4. Select Save.

Once Data Collection has been added to a Plan Cycle, the Data Collection grouping will be available within the Views list.

Data Collection can be launched across multiple Plans using Power Tools. In this situation, two Power Tools will need to be utilized:

• The Plan Cycles tool to add new Plan Cycles to the Plans (if needed)
• The Data Collection Creation tool to add a Data Collection Template to the newly-created Plan Cycles

Specific instructions can be found in the Plan Cycle Power Tools section of the article Plan Cycles.

BUSINESS: Launching a Data Collection Project

Requires Security Rights: Add/Edit Project

On PensionPro's Business tier, a Data Collection Project is launched like any other Project as per the instructions in the article Launching & Managing Projects. The Project will start at the first Task, Census Request Sent, which provides the TPA the opportunity to make preparations before directing Plan Contacts to PlanSponsorLink. Data Collection is not available in PSL until this Task is completed.

Records Created By Annual Data Collection

During Annual Data Collection, some information (EIN, principals & family, etc.) is synced with a corresponding Employer Data record, found on the Client tab. If an Employer Data record doesn't already exist for the plan year when Annual Data Collection is launched, PensionPro will create the record automatically.

On the Business tier, a Plan Cycle record for the plan year will also be created if one does not already exist.

Rolling Last Year's Data Forward

If Annual Data Collection was performed for the prior Plan year, much of the information supplied at that time can be carried over into the next Plan year. This allows it to be edited—as opposed to re-adding the data annually—and helps prevent clerical errors.

Data that can be rolled forward includes:

• Addresses and phone numbers
• Company information
• Principals, family, and other businesses owned
• Employee census data
  • Employees with a Date of Separation will not roll forward unless a Date of Rehire is also present.

When launching the Data Collection, ensure that the Period Start Date for the Plan Cycle/Project is set as one day following the Period End Date of the prior year. For example, if last year's Period End Date was 12/31, the current year's Period Start Date should be 1/1. If this is not properly established, the warning "No prior year data was found to roll forward" will display; if Data Collection is launched regardless, the information will not carry over.

5558 Extensions

Tier Availability: Business

When using an Annual Administration Project, PensionPro makes it easy to create a new, linked Project to manage the workflow for filing a 5558 Extension.

If the Extendable field in the Annual Administration Project's Template is set to Yes, a Create Extension option will be available on the Summary view of the launched Project. Selecting this option does three things:

1. Allows the user to select an Extension Project to launch
2. Adds the launched Extension to the Associated Projects view of the original Project
3. Increases the External Deadline of the original Project by 2½ months.

For more information, refer to the 5558 Extensions section of the article Extending Project Deadlines.