There's a lot of important information that crops up during annual plan administration. Much of this information is reported to the Department of Labor via a Form 5500. But after the 5500 is filed, where does that data go? In PensionPro, the Plan Cycle is used as a place to record participant counts, testing results, assets and contributions, signing and filing dates, and much more. This article discusses working with Plan Cycles as well as using their unique features.
Tier Availability: Track, Team, Business
Article Contents
Creating Plan Cycle Records
Generally, a new Plan Cycle will be added to a Plan on a yearly basis. There are a few methods that can be used to accomplish this.
Adding a Single Plan Cycle
Security Rights Required: Add/Edit Plan Cycle
The simplest way to add a new Plan Cycle is from the Plan Cycles view of the Plan tab:
- Open the desired Plan and select Plan Cycles from the Views list on the left.
- Select Add
at the top-right of the Plan Cycles grid. The Add Plan Cycle window displays.
- Set the Period Start and Period End dates to represent the Plan Cycle period (i.e., the plan year start/end dates).
- The period of time set by these dates cannot overlap an existing Plan Cycle, and cannot be greater than one year.
- (Team tier only) If Web Data Collection will be used for this Plan Cycle, select the desired template from the Data Collection dropdown; otherwise, set this field to None.
- Select Save.
Adding Plan Cycles to Multiple Plans
PensionPro provides a selection of Power Tools that can be used to add Plan Cycles or Data Collections in bulk. These are covered individually in the section Power Tools later in this article.
Automatic Creation with Projects
Tier Availability: Business
As Plan Cycles are intended to help with yearly plan administration and the Form 5500, PensionPro provides extra convenience by automatically creating a matching Plan Cycle when an Annual Administration Project with Web Collection is launched. If the Plan Cycle already exists, it will simply be associated with the Project instead.
Plan Cycles & Annual Administration
Tier Availability: Team
For users of PensionPro's Team tier, the Plan Cycle tab will be heavily utilized during annual plan administration. Not only can this tab record the information needed for the Form 5500, but Data Collection can be added to the Plan Cycle. This Data Collection element allows a Plan Contact to submit their employee census and other yearly details via guided prompts on PlanSponsorLink; PensionPro then takes this data and makes it instantly viewable on the Plan Cycle tab. For more information, see Data Collection with PensionPro TEAM.
Integrations
Throughout its various views, the Plan Cycle tab is capable of storing over 100 different pieces of information. To simplify the process of entering this data into PensionPro, rather than inputting it by hand, PensionPro can pull the information utilizing integrations with the Department of Labor and ftwilliam.com. To find out more about these integrations, refer to the article Plan Cycle Data Syncing.
Milestones
Tier Availability: Track, Team
Ensuring that no aspect of yearly plan administration gets overlooked is one of the most important duties of a TPA. Plan Cycles utilize Milestones to record the date that each major component relating to filing the Form 5500 is completed, so that it's easy to see which components still need attention. These Milestone dates are then made available on the Milestones Dashboard for quick reference. For more information, refer to the article Using the Milestones Dashboard.
Power Tools
Security Rights Required: Access Power Tools
In addition to managing Plan Cycles one Plan at a time, PensionPro also includes Power Tools which are capable of adding or importing Plan Cycles for multiple Plans as well as adding Data Collection to Plan Cycles that are lacking it. The following sections discuss each of these Power Tools in more detail.
Plan Cycle Power Tool
The Plan Cycle Power Tool is the go-to Power Tool for adding Plan Cycle records to a Plan. For each selected Plan, PensionPro will create a new, blank Plan Cycle of specified Period End.
To use this Power Tool:
- Navigate to Power Tools > Plan Cycles. The Plan Cycle Power Tool opens at Step 1, Options.
- Use the Month, Day, and Year fields provided to select the End date that will be applied to the new Plan Cycle(s).
- Generally, this will be the Plan Year End date.
- Select Next to move to Step 2, Filters.
- Choose the columns and filters that will be applied to the grid in the Selections step.
- For more detailed instructions, refer to the article Column Selections & Filters.
- Select Next to move to Step 3, Selections.
- From the grid, select the Plans to add the Plan Cycle to; then select Next to move to Step 4, Review.
- Review the information presented for accuracy. When ready, select Execute to add the Plan Cycle(s) and complete the Power Tool.
Plan Cycle Data Import Power Tool
Instead of adding blank Plan Cycles to Plans, PensionPro also provides the option to import Plan Cycles from a spreadsheet template. When Plan Cycles are added this way, they will be populated with the information that was present in the template. This can be a good option if transferring data from another software into PensionPro.
To use this Power Tool:
- Navigate to Power Tools > Import > Plan Cycle Data. The Plan Cycle Power Tool opens at Step 1, Options.
- Select More
> Download Template to download a copy of the import template in Excel workbook format.
- Complete the template as desired.
- Each line of the template will create a new Plan Cycle record.
- Plan Name or TPA Plan ID is required along with Period End.
- Return to PensionPro. Use the I want to field to select one of the following options:
- Import Data: Creates a new Plan Cycle record and populates it with the provided data.
- Fill in Blank Fields: Adds template data to existing Plan Cycle records. If fields are already populated in PensionPro, they will be ignored.
- Override All Fields: Same as the previous option, but data in populated fields will be replaced with the template data.
- Use the File Selection box to navigate to and select the template file for upload. PensionPro will scan the template for errors. When ready, select Next to move to Step 2, Preview.
- A list of the affected Plans will be presented in the grid. Confirm the information is correct, then select Next to move on to Step 3, Review.
- If PensionPro detects an error that will prevent import, a link will be provided to download a copy of the import template with the error(s) highlighted.
- Review the information presented for accuracy. When ready, select Execute to add the Plan Cycle data and complete the Power Tool.
Data Collection Creation Power Tool
Tier Availability: Team
Data Collection is commonly added to Plan Cycles when they are created. However, it's easy to add Data Collection to existing Plan Cycles after the fact—even in bulk. The Data Collection Creation Power Tool will add Data Collection to Plan Cycles that do not yet have one, or will create a new Plan Cycle with Data Collection if one does not yet exist for a plan year.
To use this Power Tool:
- Navigate to Power Tools > Data Collections > Data Collection Creation. The Data Collection Creation Power Tool opens at Step 1, Options.
- Select the Data Collection Template to be used, then choose the Period End Year. When finished, select Next to move to Step 2: Filters.
- Choose the columns and filters that will be applied to the grid in the Selections step.
- For more detailed instructions, refer to the article Column Selections & Filters.
- Select Next to move to Step 3, Selections.
- From the grid, select the Plans to add the Plan Cycle to; then select Next to move to Step 4, Review.
- Review the information presented for accuracy. When ready, select Execute to complete the Power Tool.
- PensionPro will place the desired changes into a queue. Two notification emails will be sent; the first is sent immediately to confirm that the changes have been queued, and the second when the changes have been successfully completed.