ASC Newsletter
In this issue #21-01
Remove the Burden of Plan Document Restatement Tracking
Eliminate the stress of organizing and tracking crucial details related to your plan document restatements by using an ASC CRMW (Customer Relationship Management & Workflow Solution).
The IRS Restatement Process has always been complicated and now with the expanded IRS pre-approved document overlapping cycles, it’s even harder to keep track of plan restatements. Missing a plan document restatement can be a costly mistake. Reduce your risk of missing a deadline by using integrated CRMW software.
ASC provides you with two very powerful CRMW options: CATTS (Client & Task Management System) and PensionPal. Both solutions integrate with ASC’s Plan Documents and provide real-time data flow between the plan document system and your CRMW.
CATTS (Client & Task Tracking System)
The ASC web-based Client & Task Tracking System (CATTS) sits on ASC’s DGEM (Document Generation & Management) platform, together with ASC’s DGEM Plan Documents. CATTS helps manage your restatements from beginning to end.
Real-time client and DGEM plan document data is automatically populated with your CATTS license activation for simplified system set-up and ongoing maintenance. CATTS robust reporting feature allows you to track deadlines across plan types and restatement-related tasks can be linked/synced between systems – yet are easy to customize to your operational and staff structure.
CATTS easily identifies the plans that need to be restated and it monitors and tracks the plan document status, from draft all the way to plan sponsor signature.
PensionPal
PensionPal, another robust CRMW is a premise-based solution. There are over 100k plans maintained on PensionPal plus over 1,000 users! The PensionPal Web Portal allows you to deliver specific documents, plan documents, general documents, news and updates and streamlines your year-end data collection process with an online questionnaire.
PensionPal’s customizable workflows, dashboards, task management and integration with other document systems enable you to stay on track with restatements. Its robust reporting feature includes automated reports which help track your plan document restatement progress and pertinent deadlines.
Restatement deadlines are objectively confusing! As you can see below, the DC and DB/CB Restatement Timelines overlap. Using an ASC CRMW simplifies and does the tracking for you!
Both CATTS and PensionPal do so much more than just tracking plan document restatements. See the chart below for specific details and differences between the two CRMW‘s.
To automate the management of your plan document restatements and choose the right CRMW, contact our Sales Team at 800-950-2082 ext.1 or email sales@asc-net.com.
Not a plan document customer yet? Feel free to contact our Sales Team or click here to learn more. We look forward to hearing from you!
“At-A-Glance” Restatement Cycles Timelines
Approximately every 6 years, the IRS mandates that employers update their plan documents through the process of “restating” their documents. “Restating” is a complete rewrite of plan documents in order to incorporate any recent regulatory or legislative changes that have occurred since the documents were written. Restatements are divided into various cycles depending on their plan type. Each plan type has a different six-year restatement cycle.
In order to clarify things for you, we have created “At a Glance” Restatement Timelines so that you can easily see the different restatement cycles. View the timelines by clicking below:
The Cycle 3 Defined Contribution Restatement Period for Pre-approved Plans opened August 1, 2020. Employers using Pre-approved Defined Contribution Plan Documents must restate their plans by July 31, 2022. For more information you can visit our Cycle 3 DC Enrollment Center here or email sales@asc-net.com
Choose ASC Systems to Administer Your MEPs / PEPs
Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) – and now Pooled Employer Plan (PEP) – functionality is not new to ASC Software Systems. Many years ago we built MEP capability into our ASC DC/401k Valuation, Compliance Testing, Plan Document and 5500 Systems to accommodate our clients who are MEP/PEP providers.
A MEP is a plan that is maintained by two or more unrelated employers. They can be ‘open’ or ‘closed’ and ASC’s System handles both.
Over the years, some of the largest MEP/PEP providers have chosen ASC Systems to administer their MEPs. Plan administrators have the ability, via the ASC System’s ‘user preferences’ to administer the plans the way they want. For example; participating employers of a MEP may be set up as individual cases within the ASC System and aggregated via Multiple Plan Maintenance Feature or the MEP can be set up as a single case; using the “locations” feature to identify the participating employers.
The MEP functionality utilizing the Locations Feature allows users to administer compliance testing, perform employer allocations and export 5500 data similar to running a single employer plan.
Users may also choose to set up individual cases for each participating employer in the MEP and administer testing and allocation within each plan case.
ASC’s DGEM Plan Document system offers robust MEP functionality including the ability to create, modify, update and restate documents from the master plan to the adopting employers. Plan provisions may be integrated to ASC’s Valuation and Compliance Testing software.
ASC’s 5500 System allows the user to choose the “multiple-employer” box on the 5500/SF which indicates the plan is a (closed) MEP. When this box is marked, the user is required to attach a list of participating employers to the filing that reflects name of the participating employer, EIN and percentage of total contributions to the plan. A “Multiple ER plans participating Employer information” template is available for users on the Downloads page in DGEM.
For more detailed information, you can watch the ASC MEPs & PEPs webcast, given by industry renowned John Griffin, J.D., LL.M.
ASC will keep you up-to-date on regulatory developments related to MEPs and PEPs. As we mentioned, the ASC Software Systems, including our ASC DC/401(k) Valuation, Compliance Testing, Plan Document, and 5500 Systems are built to accommodate our clients who are or will become MEP/PEP providers.
Contact sales@asc-net.com to learn more about the MEP/PEP functionality within ASC.
