Fee Schedules

Fees not only represent the costs associated with administering a Plan, but also enable a TPA to be appropriately compensated for their hard work. Plan-related Fees should always be close at hand, and PensionPro uses Fee Schedules to manage these Fees both globally and on a Plan-by-Plan basis. Once applied to a Plan, Fees may be pulled in to Merge Documents, added to Distributions, or simply be present and available for reference at any time.

Tier Availability: Team, Business

Security Rights Required: Add/Edit Fee Schedules

Article Contents

• Fee Schedule Templates
• Fee Schedules on Plans
  • Adding Plan Fee Schedules
  • Managing Plan Fee Schedules
• Managing Fee Items
• Adding Plan Fee Schedules via Power Tools

Overview

In many cases, it can benefit a firm to employ standard sets of Fees, and then determine which of those standard Fees are applicable to which Plans. PensionPro uses Fee Schedule Templates to build and maintain these standard schedules in one centralized location. When Fees need to be added to a Plan, the Fee Schedule is copied from a Template, instead of building a new one from scratch each time. If Fees need to be updated, simply update the Template to include the changes, then use Power Tools to apply the new version of the Fee Schedule to the relevant Plans. The old Fee Schedule will be retained for reference.

Of course, it's also possible that a Plan won't use one of the standard Fee Schedules, and will instead use Fees specific to that Plan. PensionPro can do this too—once a Fee Schedule is added to a Plan from a Template, Fees can be edited as necessary without affecting the original Template. If this customized Fee Schedule needs to be updated again later on, it can be copied directly, and changes can be made to the new version—once again, the old version of the Fee Schedule will still be available for reference if necessary.

Fee Schedule Templates

Fee Schedule Templates allow various Fees to be mapped out into Schedules, which will later be added to Plans. There is no limit to the number of Fees that can be added to a Schedule, and a firm may wish to maintain a single Template that contains every Fee. However, one Plan can contain multiple Fee Schedules; for this reason, when designing Templates, it may be better to focus on smaller Schedules that group related Fees, then mix-and-match these Schedules as necessary when adding them to Plans.

To create and manage Fee Schedule Templates:

1. Navigate to Maintenance > Preferences > PensionPro. The PensionPro Preferences tab opens.
2. Select the Fee Schedule view from the list on the left.

The Fee Schedule Template grid contains all existing Templates. Hovering over a Template displays the Edit option on the right-hand side.

To add a new Fee Schedule Template, select Add at the top-right of the grid. The Add Template window displays. Enter a Name for the Template, then select Save.

To manage the Fees for any given Template, double-click on the appropriate entry in the grid to drill down into that Template. The grid will update to display the Fees that are currently applied. Refer to the section Managing Fee Items for instructions on adding and editing individual Fee items.

Fee Schedules on Plans

A Fee Schedule Template must be added to a Plan before it can be referenced elsewhere in PensionPro.

To manage a Plan's Fee Schedules:

1. Open the Plan in a new Plan tab.
2. Select the Fee Schedules view from the list on the left.

The Plan Fee Schedules grid displays any Schedules that have already been added for the Plan.

Adding Plan Fee Schedules

To add a new Fee Schedule Template:

1. Select Add at the top-right of the grid. The Add Fee Schedule window displays.
2. For Action, select either Copy from an existing Fee Schedule or Copy from a Fee Schedule Template.
   • Copy from an existing Fee Schedule will copy any Fee Schedule already in effect for this Plan that has not been Closed.
   • Copy from a Fee Schedule Template will copy the Fee Schedule from any Template maintained globally in PensionPro Preferences (see Fee Schedule Templates, above).
3. Use Selection to choose either an existing Fee Schedule, or a Fee Schedule Template, depending on the Action chosen in Step 2.
4. Enter the desired Start Date.
   • This date cannot overlap any existing Fee Schedules with the same name.
5. (Optional) add a Description.
6. Select Save.

Managing Plan Fee Schedules

A newly-added Fee Schedule will have its Status set to Edit by default. A Fee Schedule can have one of three Statuses:

• Active: Indicates that the Fee Schedule is currently in use. Existing Fees can be updated, but new Fees cannot be added. The Schedule may be deleted.
• Edit: Indicates that the Fee Schedule is not ready and should not be used. New Fees can be added, and existing Fees can be updated. The Schedule may be deleted.
• Closed: Indicates that the Fee Schedule is no longer in effect, and should only be used for reference. Fees cannot be added or updated, and the Schedule cannot be deleted. An End Date is required for closed Schedules.

A Fee Schedule's Status can be updated at any time by hovering over the Schedule in the grid and selecting Edit on the right-hand side. Select Delete to remove a Schedule that is not set to Closed.

To manage the Fees for any given Schedule, double-click on the appropriate entry in the grid to drill down into that Schedule. The grid will update to display the Fees that are currently applied. Refer to the section Managing Fee Items for instructions on adding and editing individual Fee items.

Managing Fee Items

The following steps apply to managing individual Fee items within a Fee Schedule (on the Plan tab) or Fee Schedule Template (in PensionPro Preferences). The instructions are similar in both locations, with only minor differences.

To add a new Fee to the current Schedule, select Add at the top-right of the grid. The Add Fee Schedule Item window displays.

• The following fields are always required: Type, Amount Type, Frequency, Payor, Payment Source
• The following field is required on Fee Schedule Templates: Amount
• The following fields are List Values under the Fee Schedules category: Type, Amount Type, Category, Frequency, Payor, Payment Source
• A Fee cannot be added on the Plan tab if the Fee Schedule Status is Active or Closed.

Hovering over a Fee in the grid displays the Edit and Delete options on the right-hand side.

• A Fee cannot be edited on the Plan tab if the Fee Schedule Status is Closed.

When editing a Fee Schedule Template within PensionPro Preferences, Fee items can be rearranged by clicking and dragging up and down within the grid.

Adding Plan Fee Schedules via Power Tools

In addition to adding Fee Schedules to Plans individually, a single Fee Schedule Template can be added to multiple Plans at once using Power Tools.

Security Rights Required: Access Power Tools

First, ensure that the Fee Schedule Template is set up as desired, as the Power Tool cannot be undone; refer to the section Fee Schedule Templates if necessary. Then, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Power Tools > Plans > Fee Schedules. The Fee Schedule Power Tool opens at Step 1.
2. Select the desired Fee Schedule Template from the Choose a Template dropdown.
3. Add the desired Start Date. This represents the date that the Fee Schedule will be effective.
4. Select the Status that will be applied to the new Fee Schedule.
   • Select Active if the Fee Schedule should go into effect immediately. Otherwise, select Edit.
5. Set Close existing Fee Schedule? to Yes or No, as applicable.
   • This option can only be changed if the new Status will be set to Edit. If the new Status will be Active, an existing Fee Schedule will always be closed automatically.
   • PensionPro will only close existing Fee Schedules that use the same name as the Template being added.
6. Select Next.
7. In Steps 2 and 3, apply filters as necessary, and select the desired Plans. Refer to the article Column Selections & Filters for more detailed instructions.
8. Review the changes to be applied in Step 4, then select Execute.

Upon completion of the Power Tool, the Fee Schedule Template will be added to all Plans selected in Step 3.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is there any way to delete an existing Fee Schedule Template?
  Fee Schedule Templates cannot be deleted from PensionPro Preferences, as older Templates may be linked to prior periods and required for fee calculation. Instead, the Template can be repurposed into a new Fee Schedule, or can be renamed DO NOT USE or some similar terminology to signify that it is outdated.