Plan Cycle Data Syncing

One of the conveniences offered by PensionPro is the automatic population of Plan Cycle fields from outside sources. Many Plan Cycle fields will be filled on their own—with little to no user setup required—using information from the filed Form 5500. PensionPro can also leverage a firm's existing ftwilliam.com integration to retrieve yearly information from that system. This article explains what information is obtained and what requirements are necessary to make it happen.

 

Tier Availability: Track, Team, Business

 

Note: Some features and views may not be available in all tiers.

 

Article Contents

 

 


 

Department of Labor

 

One of the greatest benefits that PensionPro can provide is the import of data reported on a filed 5500, which is retrieved directly from the DOL. With so much information that needs to be reported every year, having that data easily accessible with no additional effort can be a great benefit.

 

Note: Because the DOL does not make information from the Form 5500-EZ publicly available, PensionPro is unable to retrieve this data. This limitation also applies to the Form 5500-SF for one-participant plans prior to 2021.

 

PensionPro is able to retrieve 5500 information dating back to 2011 so long as the data is available from the DOL. Once the information has been retrieved from the DOL, it can no longer be edited in PensionPro.

 

Requirements

 

The following criteria must be satisfied before PensionPro can retrieve data from the DOL:

 

  • The Plan Cycle must exist and have Period Start and End dates that match the 5500.
  • An Employer Data record must exist on the Client tab with matching Period Start and End dates. This record must contain a valid EIN.
  • A valid IRS Plan Number must be present on the Plan tab.

 

Timing

 

After a new Plan Cycle record is added, PensionPro will check the DOL for any existing 5500 data and automatically retrieve it the following night.

 

If the Plan Cycle record is created prior to filing the 5500, PensionPro will still populate the Plan Cycle with 5500 information after it becomes available, with the following limitations:

 

  • 5500 information is not available to PensionPro immediately after filing; typically, the information is made available 1 to 2 months after the filing date.
  • PensionPro checks to see if the data is available on the 15th of every month, at which point it is retrieved.

 


 

ftwilliam.com

 

Although not as broad in scope as pulling 5500 information from the DOL, PensionPro can also populate a selection of Plan Cycle fields with data obtained from ftwilliam.com, providing an easy way to store and use testing results and filing dates.

 

Requirements

 

The following criteria must be satisfied before PensionPro can retrieve data from ftwilliam.com:

 

 

Timing

 

After the integration is established and the Plan is linked, PensionPro will begin to populate the Plan Cycle record with information from ftwilliam.com.

 

  • Data that was present in ftwilliam.com prior to to linking the Plan or creating the Plan Cycle will populate within 72 hours.
  • Changes made to ftwilliam.com data will be reflected in PensionPro within 2 hours.

 


 

Manually Refreshing Data

 

The ability to sync Plan Cycle data with third-party sources was designed in such a way to make it as hands-off as possible, checking for and retrieving data in the background so that users don't need to remember to do so themselves. However, there may be some cases where the user is aware that new data is available and needs that data in PensionPro immediately.

 

When this happens, the Plan Cycle can be refreshed using the following steps:

 

  1. Open the Plan Cycle tab and navigate to the General view.
  2. Select Moremore_options.png > Refresh Plan Cycle Data.

 

When this is performed, PensionPro will check all sources for new data and update the Plan Cycle accordingly.

 


 

Synced Fields by View

 

This section outlines which fields on the Plan Cycle tab are populated from which source(s), separated by view. For a more detailed listing, refer to the Plan Cycle Sync Sources attachment found in the sidebar of this article (or at the bottom of the page on mobile layouts).

 

General:

  • The following fields do not sync from any source: Period Start, Period End, Frequency, Status, Safe Harbor, Total Budget Amount.
  • All other fields on this view populate from the DOL.

 

Participant:

  • All fields on this view populate from the DOL.

 

Filings:

  • The following fields populate from FTW: 5558 Filed Date, 5500 Invited Date, DFE Signed Date, 5500 Filed Date, 5500 Accepted Date, Sign Status, Acceptance Status.
  • The following fields populate from the DOL: Admin Signed Name, Sponsor Signed Name, and all Schedule-related fields.
  • The following fields can be populated from either FTW or the DOL, as available: Admin Signed Date, Sponsor Signed Date.
  • Any fields in this view that are not listed above do not sync from any source.

 

Test Results:

  • All fields on this view populate from FTW.

 

Actuarial:

  • The following field does not sync from any source: Adjusted Funding Target Attainment Percentage.
  • All other fields on this view populate from the DOL.

 

Financial:

  • All fields on this view populate from the DOL.