Overview of Web Data Collection

One of the most important tasks of administration is acquiring information from plan sponsors. Between communicating what needs to be provided, ensuring it's all retrieved, and organizing it effectively, this can be an ordeal for even a single plan—to say nothing of managing every plan in the TPA's portfolio.

PensionPro offers an answer to this problem with its Data Collection functionality. Used in conjunction with PlanSponsorLink, Data Collection will walk contacts through a series of steps designed to obtain the necessary information, at which point it will be stored and made available to PensionPro users, accessible at any time. This article will explain how Data Collection is used and what information will be collected.

Tier Availability: Team, Business

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

Data Collection Types

The predominant use of Data Collection is for the purposes of annual plan administration, during which yearly company and census information is obtained from the client. In addition to this, other types of Data Collection are available for users of PensionPro's Business tier. The chart below provides a general overview of the types of Data Collection recognized by PensionPro, with links to additional articles containing details specific to each.

Type	Description	Tier
Annual Administration	Collects company, principal, family, and business information, as well as employee census data. Used yearly.	Team, Business
General Web Collection	Asks Plan Sponsors to complete a questionnaire and/or download or upload files. Used as needed.	Business
Distribution	Requests Plan Sponsor approval so that the TPA can process a distribution for a participant. Used as needed.	Business

Types of Data Collection with descriptions

Data Collection Process

While the information requested from the Plan Sponsor can vary depending on the situation, the Data Collection process itself follows a straightforward series of steps:

The TPA launches the Data Collection in PensionPro and notifies any relevant Plan Contacts that it is ready to be performed.
The Plan Contact signs in to PlanSponsorLink, sees the Data Collection task, and completes all required items.
The TPA reviews the collected information in PensionPro and utilizes it as necessary.

The below items in this section will cover this process in more detail and provide links to additional resources relating to setting up and using Data Collection.

Launching Data Collection

The process of creating a new Data Collection is slightly different depending on the PensionPro tier in use:

Team

Create a new Plan Cycle record. During creation (or at any point after), add the Data Collection element.

The Data Collection category will be added to the Views list within the Plan Cycle tab.
An Employer Data record covering the specified period will be added to the Client tab if one does not already exist.

Business

Launch a new Project using an applicable Project Template. This Template should have the Web Collection option enabled.

The Data Collection category will be added to the Views list within the Project tab.
Plan Cycle and Employer Data records covering the specified period will be added to the Plan and Client tabs respectively if these do not already exist.

How to begin Data Collection by tier

Data Collection Requests

After the Data Collection is launched, it is not made available to Plan Sponsors immediately. This provides the opportunity to make adjustments to annual data that rolled forward from the previous year, upload deliverables, customize email messages, and more before Data Collection officially begins.

As with launching Data Collection, the action that needs to be taken to activate Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink is slightly different depending on PensionPro tier in use:

Team	The Request step of Annual Data Collection must be locked.
Business	The first Task of the Project (Census Request Sent) must be completed.

Requirements for Data Collection to appear on PlanSponsorLink by tier

If Blast Email is used to send the Data Collection request to the Plan Contact, PensionPro will automatically complete the above action so that PlanSponsorLink is ready the moment the Contact receives the email. The Mailing Type of the Blast Email will need to be set based on the type of Data Collection being used (for example, Census Request for Annual Administration). For more information on using Blast Email to assist with the Data Collection process, refer to the article Blast Email for Data Collection.

Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink

A Plan Contact will need to sign in to PSL in order to view any Data Collection tasks available to them. This task will appear on the user's My Active Tasks tab and will be given one of the following titles based on Data Collection type:

Annual Administration	Year End Data Collection [Period Start] to [Period End]
General Web Collection	The name of the Project
Distribution	The name of the Distribution Project

Data Collection identification on PlanSponsorLink by type

Note: Plan Sponsors will need the appropriate Website Rights assigned to them to access Data Collection steps. For more information on Website Rights, or for information on assisting Plan Sponsors with signing in to PSL or resetting their password, refer to the article Managing PlanSponsorLink Users.

To start their Data Collection task, the Plan Sponsor should select Begin Task on the right of their My Active Tasks grid. PlanSponsorLink will direct the Sponsor to the first available step, and will guide the Sponsor through the Data Collection process.

My client says they can't see the Data Collection task on PlanSponsorLink. Why?

Review the following items, which are the most common causes of Data Collection not appearing on the Plan Sponsor's My Active Tasks tab:

Enable Plan to Display on PSL, found on the Plan tab > General view, must be set to Yes.
The Request step of Data Collection must be locked. Either lock it from the corresponding view, or send the appropriate Blast Email if one has not already been sent.
The individual must be a Plan Contact, and must possess any Website Rights needed to access the Data Collection.

More information about each step of the Data Collection process—including how each step functions in both PensionPro and PlanSponsorLink—can be found in the sections Annual Administration Steps, General Web Collection Steps, and Distribution Collection Steps later in this article. In addition, the instructions shown to the Sponsor can be customized for each step as desired; for details, refer to the PSL Web Steps section of the article PlanSponsorLink Preferences.

During any step of Data Collection, the Plan Sponsor can use the Save option in the upper-right corner to save their progress and avoid any inadvertent loss of work. Once saved, TPAs can immediately view the changes in PensionPro. Sponsors may also use the Notes option on each step to provide any information that does not fit within the normal bounds of the Data Collection process. These are saved to the Notes view of the Plan Cycle (Team) or Project (Business).

When the Plan Sponsor reaches the final Approval step, they will be able to use Sign and Submit to complete the Data Collection (so long as every prior step has been fully completed). The Plan Sponsor will be asked to provide their name, email, and other details to serve as their agreement that the data being submitted is accurate and complete. After approval, this individual will receive an email confirming that their Data Collection has been received. Additionally, a Note will be added to the Plan Cycle (Team) or Project (Business) that contains the details provided by the approver.

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

No direct notifications are provided when information is edited on PlanSponsorLink. However, for Annual Data Collection, an Alert icon displays next to any step in the Views panel if edits were made to that step on PlanSponsorLink.

After Data Collection

Once Data Collection is completed by the Plan Sponsor, it is returned to the TPA. PensionPro does not send the TPA a notification email when the Data Collection is submitted. Users can stay informed of Data Collection submission via the following methods:

Team

The Census Received field on the Milestones Dashboard will be set to the submission date.

Business

The next Task in the Project will appear on the appropriate My Tasks Dashboard and/or Worktray.

If Email Notifications are enabled, the user will receive a notification that this Task is now active.

What indicates to the TPA that Data Collection is complete?

Data Collection cannot be edited in PensionPro after it is submitted by the Plan Sponsor. If there is an error in the Data Collection and changes need to be made, a step can be reopened by navigating to the step in PensionPro and selecting More > Unlock. Unlocking a step results in the following changes:

The unlocked step will no longer be considered complete.
The final step of Data Collection, Approval, will no longer be considered complete.
The Data Collection task will be available on the My Active Tasks tab of PlanSponsorLink again.
(Business) Completion is removed from corresponding Project Tasks, and the Project is reopened if necessary.

Conversely, a step can be locked by selecting More > Lock. This results in the following changes:

The step will appear completed in PlanSponsorLink.
- This does not complete the Approval step, which must be locked or completed separately.
(Business) The corresponding Project Task will be overridden.

After a step is unlocked, it can either be corrected by the TPA, or the Plan Sponsor can return to PSL to make the required changes. The Sponsor will also need to complete the Sign and Submit process again in order to re-submit the Data Collection.

Warning: PensionPro does not send notifications to the Plan Sponsor if a Data Collection step is unlocked; the appropriate individual(s) should be contacted directly.

Important: If corrections need to be made to Data Collection following submission, PensionPro recommends returning it to the Plan Sponsor instead of making the edits directly. Alternately, require the Sponsor to review and approve the TPA's changes. Either of these options ensure that the data isn't altered without the Plan Sponsor's knowledge.

Protecting Collected Data

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

PensionPro includes firm-wide functionality to protect data provided via PlanSponsorLink from accidental edits or deletion, preserving it exactly as submitted by the Plan Sponsor. To enable this layer of data protection, perform the following steps:

Navigate to Maintenance > Preferences > PensionPro.
In the Views panel on the left, expand the General list and select the Data Security view.
Set the Lock Year End Data preference to Yes.

When Lock Year End Data has been enabled, Data Collection items can be edited in PensionPro until the Plan Sponsor starts the Data Collection process in PlanSponsorLink. At that time, PensionPro users will no longer be able to add, edit, or delete any information presented in the Data Collection views. Not only does this preserve the integrity of the data that is submitted, but it also prevents any accidental overwriting of data that may occur if the TPA and a Plan Sponsor are both making changes to Data Collection items at the same time.

If any Data Collection items require editing after the process is completed on PlanSponsorLink, the changes will need to be made by the Plan Sponsor. Selecting More > Unlock from any Data Collection view in PensionPro will reopen that step on PlanSponsorLink. The Plan Sponsor can then be notified that changes are required and directed back to PSL.

Annual Administration Steps

The steps of Annual Data Collection are used to obtain year-end company information and census data to facilitate annual plan administration and filing the Form 5500. Each step is only visible to (and can only be completed by) Plan Sponsors with the appropriate Website Rights for that step.

Step(s)	Website Right(s)
General, Company, Family, Plan, 5500	Employer Census
Principals	Principals
Business	Businesses
Contacts	Contacts
Employees	Employee Census
Approval	Approval, plus at least one other Right listed above

Required Website Rights for each Data Collection Step on PlanSponsorLink

Request

The Request step kicks off Annual Data Collection. The Plan Sponsor does not see this step; rather, it gives the TPA time to prepare for Data Collection and serves as a reminder to send the Data Collection request to the Plan Sponsor. Data Collection does not appear on PlanSponsorLink until this step is complete. Sending a Blast Email with an appropriate Mailing Type to a Plan Contact will complete this step automatically.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Shows the date the Data Collection request was sent to the Plan Sponsor. The Data Collection task will not be available in PSL until this step is completed by the TPA.

The step can be completed without using Blast Email by selecting More > Lock.
The Data Collection can be removed from the Plan Cycle (Team) or the Project can be marked for deletion (Business) using the Edit option.
A data collection report can be downloaded by selecting More > Download Report.

This step does not appear in PlanSponsorLink.

Using the Request step in PensionPro and PSL

General

The General step provides Plan Sponsors a chance to review and update Addresses and Phone Numbers. Changes made in this step will be reflected in the corresponding views on the Client tab.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Allows addresses and phone numbers to be added/edited for the Client company.

Select Add to add a new Address or Number.
Hover over an Address or Number to display the Edit and Delete options.
Select Send Interaction to send a pre-formatted Data Collection request email to a designated Plan Contact. The default message can be customized in PSL Preferences.

Functionality to add or edit Address and Number data is similar to PensionPro.

Addresses and Numbers cannot be deleted by the Sponsor. If deletion is necessary, the user should use the Notes option in the top-right to inform the TPA.

Required Address fields: Address, Address Type
Required Number fields: Number, Number Type
List values located under Core > General: Address Type, Number Type

Using the General step in PensionPro and PSL

Company

This step allows the Plan Sponsor to review and edit current company information, such as EIN, fiscal year end, and payroll provider. This information is reflected on the corresponding Employer Data record on the Client tab.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Fields presented for editing are the same in PensionPro and PlanSponsorLink. Select Edit to make changes.

EIN cannot be edited by the Sponsor if the Prevent EIN Editing option is enabled in PSL Preferences.

A link to an NAICS code lookup resource can be provided using the NAIC Code Link option in PSL Preferences.

Required fields: Month End, Year End (representing the Fiscal Year End)
List Values located under Core > Client\Employer: Entity, Payroll Frequency

Using the Company step in PensionPro and PSL

Principals

The Principals view records the owners and officers of a company. This information is reflected within the corresponding Employer Data record on the Client tab.

PensionPro	PlanSponsorLink
Select Add to add a new individual. Hover over an individual to display the Edit and Delete options.	Functionality to manage principals is similar to PensionPro.
Required fields: Name, Title, Percent Owner SSN is required if Is Not Employee is not selected List Values located under Core > Client\Employer: Title

Using the Principals step in PensionPro and PSL

Family

In this step, Plan Sponsors can record the family members of the company's principals. This information is reflected within the corresponding Employer Data record on the Client tab.

PensionPro	PlanSponsorLink
Select Add to add a new individual. Hover over an individual to display the Edit and Delete options.	Functionality to manage family members is similar to PensionPro.
Required fields: Name, Relationship, Related To SSN is required if Related To references a Principal who is an employee (i.e., Is Not Employee is not selected) List Values located under Core > Client\Employer: Relationship

Using the Family step in PensionPro and PSL

Business

This step collects information about any additional businesses owned by the company. This information is reflected within the corresponding Employer Data record on the Client tab.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Select Add to add a new business.
Hover over a individual to display the Edit and Delete options.
Double-click an entry to access its ownership information.

Functionality to manage other businesses owned is similar to PensionPro.

Ownership information is presented under the Owners column. Select Add in this column to add a new owner to the corresponding business.

Required fields: Legal Name, Entity Type, Qualified Plan Sponsored
List Values located under Core > Client\Employer: Entity Type

Using the Business step in PensionPro and PSL

Contacts

This step requires the Sponsor to review the current Plan Contact Roles and request any changes that may be needed. Plan Sponsors cannot edit these Contact Roles directly; instead, they will specify what changes they would like, and the TPA can make those edits if appropriate.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

In PensionPro, this step lists the changes requested by the Sponsor. It otherwise has no functionality.

Double-clicking a Contact in the grid opens the corresponding Contact tab.

Plan Contacts are listed with name, contact info, Plan Role(s), and Website Rights.

Each Contact has a Change Request option. Sponsors can request a Contact be replaced or removed and provide any necessary details.
A Sponsor can also suggest a new Contact by using the Add option at the top-right.
Selecting More > Roles and Rights Descriptions provides the Sponsor with details of each Contact Role and Website Right. Contact Role descriptions are retrieved from their List Value entries.
A Contact is not listed on this step if they do not have Show On PSL selected on the Plan's Contact Roles view.

Using the Contacts step in PensionPro and PSL

Warning: If a Contact is removed from all of their assigned Plan Contact Roles, the changes requested by the Plan Sponsor for that Contact will no longer be visible in PensionPro.

Plan & 5500

The Plan step and the 5500 step each contain a questionnaire to be completed by the Plan Sponsor—one to collect information necessary for administering the plan, and the other to be used in filing the Form 5500. The exact questions asked and the data types used are customized in the Data Collection Template (Team) or Project Template (Business).

PensionPro	PlanSponsorLink
Answers to questionnaire items cannot be edited within Data Collection, but can be edited via the corresponding Task in the Workflow view if necessary (Business only).	Either step cannot be completed until all required items have been answered.

Using the Plan and 5500s step in PensionPro and PSL

Employees

The Employees step is used to enter the annual employee census and payroll information. This can be done by entering employees line by line, importing from a spreadsheet, or importing via integrated payroll provider.

Due to the extensive amount of functionality that is available for working with census data, this step is fully documented in the article Working with the Employee Census, with instructions applicable to both PensionPro and PSL.

Approval

This is the final step of Annual Data Collection, and cannot be completed until all prior steps are likewise complete. This step allows the Plan Sponsor to see which steps are still unfinished, attach any supporting documentation or notes, and ultimately submit the finalized Data Collection.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Displays the date that each Data Collection step was completed.

Displays which steps still need to be completed, and allows the Sponsor to approve and submit the Data Collection.

The Sponsor can also use this step to add the following items, which will be saved to the Plan Cycle (Team) or Project (Business):

Documents – added to the Files view
Notes – added to Notes view

Using the Approval step in PensionPro and PSL (Annual)

General Web Collection Steps

Tier availability: Business

The following Data Collection steps are used with General Web Collection Projects, which ask Plan Sponsors to complete a customized questionnaire and upload or download files. The Plan Sponsor will need the General Web Collection Website Right to access these steps.

Note: Although General Web Collection lacks a Request step like the other types of Data Collection, it follows the same rules: the Data Collection won't appear on PlanSponsorLink until the corresponding Project Task is complete, which can be done automatically by sending a Blast Email with the appropriate Mailing Type.

Questionnaire

This step contains a series of customized questions for the Plan Sponsor to answer. The exact questions asked and the data types used are set in the Project Template.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Shows the Sponsor's answers to the questionnaire.

Answers cannot be edited within Data Collection, but can be edited via the corresponding Task in the Workflow view if necessary.

Provides a list of questions along with input fields to collect the desired information.

This step cannot be completed until all required items have been answered.

Using the Questionnaire step in PensionPro and PSL

Deliver

This step allows the TPA to upload files as "deliverables" for the Plan Sponsor to download when they reach this part of Data Collection. Although not required, the Sponsor will be expected to download all available documents.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

The TPA can upload files here, which will be made available for the Sponsor when they reach this step of Data Collection.

Select Add to add a new file.
Hover over a file to display the Edit and Delete options.
Double-click the file to download.

This step is combined with Collect to form a single step titled Collection Items, which is split into Deliverable and Collection sections.

Select Download next to a deliverable item to download the file.

Using the Deliver step in PensionPro and PSL

Collect

In this step, the TPA designates what kind of files it would like to receive from the Plan Sponsor, and the Sponsor is expected to upload them before completing Data Collection.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

If the Sponsor is required to upload a file, the TPA can add a "collection item" to this step. Each collection item represents one requested file.

Select Add to add a new collection item.
Hover over an item to display the Edit and Delete options. A collection item can only be deleted if the Sponsor has not yet uploaded a file to it.
The File column will show a filename if the Sponsor has satisfied the collection item. Double-click to download the file.
If a Sponsor's uploaded file needs to be deleted, select the item in the grid, then More > Delete Collection Item File.

This step is combined with Deliver to form a single step titled Collection Items, which is split into Deliverable and Collection sections.

Select Add to upload a file. During upload, PSL will ask which Collection Item it should be applied to. All required Collection Items must have at least one applied file before the step can be completed.

After uploading a file, select Download on the right to download a copy. Use Edit and/or Delete to make changes if necessary.

Using the Collect step in PensionPro and PSL

Approval

This is the final step of General Web Collection, and cannot be completed until all prior steps are likewise complete. This step allows the Plan Sponsor to see which steps are still unfinished, attach any supporting documentation or notes, and ultimately submit the finalized Data Collection.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

This step does not appear in PensionPro.

Displays which steps still need to be completed, and allows the Sponsor to approve and submit the Data Collection.

The Sponsor can also use this step to add Notes, which will be saved to the Notes view of the Project.

Using the Approval step in PensionPro and PSL (General Web Collection)

Distribution Collection Steps

Tier availability: Business

The below steps are used when including Data Collection with a Distribution Project. This type of Data Collection is generally used to receive the Plan Sponsor's approval before a Distribution is processed. The Plan Sponsor will need the Distribution Website Right to access these steps.

Request

The Request step begins the Data Collection for a Distribution. The Plan Sponsor does not see this step; rather, it gives the TPA time to prepare for Data Collection and serves as a reminder to send the Data Collection request to the Plan Sponsor. Data Collection does not appear on PlanSponsorLink until this step is complete. Sending a Blast Email with an appropriate Mailing Type to a Plan Contact will complete this step automatically.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Shows the date the Data Collection request was sent to the Plan Sponsor. The Data Collection task will not be available in PSL until this step is completed by the TPA.

The Distribution can be marked for deletion using the Edit option.
A data collection report can be downloaded by selecting More > Download Report.

This step does not appear in PlanSponsorLink.

Using the Request step in PensionPro and PSL (Distribution)

Approval

On this step, the Plan Sponsor can review the details of the Distribution and submit the Data Collection to authorize it.

PensionPro

PlanSponsorLink

Displays the date that each Data Collection step was completed.

The following details will be presented for Sponsor review:

Participant name
SSN (partially masked)
Project description
Plan name
Distribution Reason

The Sponsor can use this step to add the following items, which will be saved to the Project:

Documents – added to the Files view
Notes – added to Notes view

Using the Approval step in PensionPro and PSL (Distribution)