Since ProgramPay, powered by Vestwell, has an integration with your payroll provider, we can take a lot of work off your plate regarding the processing of your payroll files through automation (yay!). This guide will help you set up your integration as well as help you understand your specific responsibilities for the proper submission of payroll files. Even though we offer an integration with your payroll provider, Plan Sponsors have ongoing responsibilities to make sure the content is correct. Please read this whole article to understand the steps to set up your integration and to learn about your initial and ongoing responsibilities.
- Is My Version of Gusto Compatible with the Integration
- How Does My Integration Work?
- How Do I Initiate My Integration Set Up?
- Are There Any Reasons Why My Plan Might Not Be Eligible for an Integration?
- What Are My Responsibilities?
- What Does The Integration Handle For Me?
- Will My Payroll Provider Charge Me Fees to Set Up and/or Maintain This Payroll Integration?
- How do I disconnect my integration?
Is My Version of Gusto Compatible with the Integration?
Gusto offers several products that have similar names. Below is a list of the integration-compatible product/version names offered by Gusto.
Supported
- Gusto (Simple, Plus, or Premium)
Not Supported
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Gusto Embedded
- This includes any business or organization that uses a platform powered by Gusto Embedded.
Visit https://gusto.com/product/pricing for more information on your Gusto product.
How does my integration work?
Your integration is a 360° Automated Integration. This is a two-way integration in which ProgramPay, powered by Vestwell, will automatically receive certain information about your plan and participants from your payroll system, process employee and employer contributions to the plan, and automatically send your employees’ selected deferral elections from their Voya Participant website to your payroll provider.
Are there any reasons why my plan might not be eligible for an integration?
There are some plan design and payroll system features that currently prohibit the use of our integration, including:
- Plans which do not have an established recurring pay schedule setup in both ProgramPay and the payroll system. Your plan must have a scheduled recurring pay schedule setup in both ProgramPay and your payroll system
- Plans which do not use the same payroll provider for all pay group(s)
- Plans which have limitations preventing each pay group from being integrated.
- Plans with per pay period non-mandatory employer contributions
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Plans that allow after-tax contributions
- Note: After-Tax and Roth contributions are not the same
How do I initiate my integration setup?
To connect your integration please follow the below instructions. To complete this set up, you must be the Primary or Full Access Admin on your Gusto account.
- Complete the linked form: Payroll Integration Request Form so our team can collect the necessary details to set up the integration.
- Once the information on your request form is verified, the ProgramPay team will let you know. Look out for emails from voyaaba@vestwell.com
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Then you must follow the steps below to authorize your connection:
- Log in to the ProgramPay portal.
- Navigate to the "Contributions" page.
- Click the gear icon.
- Click the Connect to Gusto button.
- Follow the steps to authorize your connection.
If you already have 401(k) deferral codes set up in your payroll system, Vestwell may need to change those to ProgramPay-compatible codes. If your deferral deduction code exists in your payroll system, you may see that they have been renamed. If the deduction code does not exist in your payroll system, we will be creating them on your behalf. The deduction codes will be named:
- Vestwell Pre-Tax 401(k)
- Vestwell Roth 401(k)
Once the integration is successfully connected, you will no longer have the ability to update deferral rates directly in your payroll system.
Where to Find Retirement Deduction Codes:
You can locate the codes in Gusto by following the instructions below:
- Log in to Gusto.
- Select Benefits.
- Navigate to "Active Benefits."
- Click Benefits connected to Gusto.
Note: These deduction codes will not appear under each individual employee, rather they will reflect on the "Benefits" tab of your Gusto portal.
Other Set Up Steps
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Pay Groups: If your plan has multiple pay groups set up in Gusto, you must add a pay schedule name to identify each pay group. You can do this by following the next steps:
- Log into the Gusto portal.
- Navigate to the settings option.
- Find the "Pay Schedule" option & click the Edit button.
- Enter a name to identify the pay group in the empty field.
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Click Save.
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Setup Loans
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Be sure to set up loan repayment deduction codes and any outstanding employee loan repayment schedules directly in your Gusto portal prior to the first integrated payroll date. Vestwell will not set up loans in Gusto via the integration.
- Log into the Gusto portal
- Navigate to the employee to which a loan repayment should be added
- Scroll to the bottom of the employee’s Job & Pay tab and click +Add Garnishment or Custom Deduction
- Under Deduction Type, choose Garnishment
- Under Garnishment Type, choose Other Garnishment
- Under Description, type exactly Vestwell 401k Loan Repayment
- Use the following prompts on the Gusto website to accurately enter the loan repayment amount to be withheld.
- Click Save & Continue
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Be sure to set up loan repayment deduction codes and any outstanding employee loan repayment schedules directly in your Gusto portal prior to the first integrated payroll date. Vestwell will not set up loans in Gusto via the integration.
IMPORTANT - If your plan is a conversion to Voya ABA RF or you have already established your 401(k) contribution and deferral codes in your payroll system, there are other steps you must complete.
- Vestwell will use the employee deferral rates in ProgramPay to establish the rates on the Vestwell-specific deferral codes within your payroll system. Rates will not be copied from previously used deferral codes. Employees should refresh their deferral rates via the Participant website prior to first integrated payroll to be sure we have the most accurate and up to date information in ProgramPay.
- For live plans, rates will be set by the Vestwell in Gusto one business day after the integration is successfully connected. Less common, if the integration is setup prior to your plans effective date, rates will be set 4 business days before your first payroll after your plan's effective date.
- To avoid duplicate deferrals, review your payroll system and ensure previous employee and employer contributions are cleared from your payroll system.
Once Vestwell has successfully connected the integration for each of your pay groups, the integration will begin with your next pay date. If we are not able to successfully complete the connection due to mismatches or other issues with Pay Groups or Pay Frequencies, we will reach out to you via email.
Be sure to continue to process contributions directly into the ProgramPay portal until your integration is connected.
Complete any other required setup step before running your first desired integrated payroll date.
What are my responsibilities if my plan has an active payroll integration?
Our ability to set up the integration and successfully process payroll and deferral changes on behalf of your plan depends on you! It is your responsibility to:
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Continue to process payrolls via your payroll provider platform
- Please be sure that the ProgramPay deferral codes and rates are present prior to processing your first integrated payroll.
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Pay Groups - Ensure that paygroups have the same name and schedule/frequency in both ProgramPay and your payroll system.
- Note: Once your integration is active, you will no longer be able to edit pay groups in the ProgramPay portal as this can disrupt the processing of contributions. For further assistance, please contact voyaaba@vestwell.com.
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Employee Deferral Rate Management
- ProgramPay uses the rates set by your employees via online enrollment and the participant website when initiating a new payroll integration. Employers should review rates and encourage employees to review and update their rates in the participant website while payroll integration is being implemented.
- Once integration is connected, you will not be able to update deferral rates directly in your Gusto portal.
- On an ongoing basis, be sure your employees are setting and maintaining their deferral rates via the Voya participant website. Rates sent via online enrollment and the participant website will flow automatically into ProgramPay.
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Employee Loans
- If applicable to your plan, set up and maintain retirement loans within your payroll system (see instructions above)
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Discretionary and/or Profit-Sharing Contributions
- With an active integration, non-mandatory company contributions will not be able to be set up within your payroll system.
- Submit non-mandatory employer contributions through the ProgramPay portal using an off-cycle upload.
- Fixed match will not be able to be set up within your payroll system & will also need to be submitted using an off-cycle upload.
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Mandatory Employer Contributions
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With an active integration, mandatory company contributions which are funded on a frequency other than per pay period will not be able to be set up within your payroll system.
- Upload these contributions through your ProgramPay portal as an off-cycle contribution.
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With an active integration, mandatory company contributions which are funded on a frequency other than per pay period will not be able to be set up within your payroll system.
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Employee Status Changes
- Make updates in your payroll system when employees are hired, terminated, or re-hired, etc.
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Employee Personal Information
- Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date personal information within your payroll system - including date of birth, social security number, and email address.
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Pay Frequency/Schedule Changes
- Report any pay frequency or pay schedule changes to ProgramPay.
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Review Payroll Data
- We rely on you to provide us with correct, updated, and complete data about your employees regardless of whether we receive that data directly from you or from your payroll provider. Regular audits and spot checks of the data provided to us will help you quickly identify and rectify any discrepancies.
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Validation Errors on Payrolls
- From time to time, we may receive data from your payroll company that triggers a validation error in ProgramPay and we are unable to process one or more contributions or loan payments. When that happens, you will be alerted by email about the issue with instructions on next steps to resolve the issue. These alerts will be sent from "ProgramPay@notices.vestwell.com". Please adjust spam or other filters in your email system to allow you to receive these important communications. You can learn more about the contribution validations and the types of errors that can occur here.
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Miscellaneous Service & Support
- Monitor for emails from the ProgramPay Employer Services team at VoyaABA@vestwell.com and respond to questions and outreach in a timely manner.
- Negative Contributions/Corrections
- Negative contributions or corrections are not able to be processed through the integration. For assistance with negative contributions or corrections, please contact us directly.
What payroll activities does ProgramPay handle for me?
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Payroll Deduction Codes
- ProgramPay will set up and maintain certain payroll deduction codes within your payroll system. Do not edit these codes once they are set up.
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Processing Contributions & Loan Payments
- Process supported employee/employer contributions and applicable loan payments into your retirement plan based on what was processed in the payroll system. Even if you process your payroll early, ProgramPay will never process the contributions file before the actual pay date.
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Off-Cycle Submissions
- Off-cycle contributions processed in your payroll system will come through the integration & reflect in your employer portal after the pay date, unless the off-cycle is categorized as a Wage Correction, Reversal or Tax Reconciliation.
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Per pay period Safe Harbor employer contribution
- ProgramPay will set up and maintain mandatory employer contributions that are on a pay period basis and were reported in the Payroll Integration Request Form.
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Employee Deferral Management
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ProgramPay will set employee deferral rates in your payroll system if they were set by the employee via Voya’s online enrollment and deferral management tools in the participant website prior to your first integrated pay date.
- Please do not process your first integrated payroll before this step is completed.
- Deferral rates set by employees directly in Voya’s participant website will be updated automatically within 2 business days.
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ProgramPay will set employee deferral rates in your payroll system if they were set by the employee via Voya’s online enrollment and deferral management tools in the participant website prior to your first integrated pay date.
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Employee Status Changes
- When you add, rehire or terminate employees in your payroll system, the changes will be reflected in the ProgramPay portal one business day after the next pay date.
Will my payroll provider charge me any fees to set up and/or maintain my payroll integration?
Your payroll provider may charge fees in conjunction with the integration. Please check with your payroll representative for more specific details.
ProgramPay will not charge you to facilitate this integration.
What if I Amend My Plan or Change the Frequency of My Employer Contributions?
If your plan has been amended or if you are considering an amendment to your original plan documents, please inform your retirement plan representative to understand what actions on your part will be required to submit and process your payroll files correctly.
If you have changed the frequency of funding your employer contribution, our team will work with your payroll provider to make any necessary updates.
How do I disconnect my integration?
To deactivate your integration:
- Log into the ProgramPay portal.
- Navigate to the "Contributions" page.
- Select the tools icon.
- Click Disconnect under the integration status.
- Follow the steps to authorize your connection.
If you change payroll providers, it is your responsibility to inform us so that we can disconnect your integration and assess whether integration with a different payroll provider is available. Please see this article and reach out to your Voya Representative for further assistance.