First click the “Start Distribution” button in the upper right hand corner of the plan level dashboard as displayed above. Next, enter the name of your participant.
Now you will be asked to fill in the email address, social security number, and date of birth for your participant. If the participant already exists in the system because you use our Compliance software, or this participant has requested a distribution in the past, these screens will automatically be bypassed and your participant data will pre-populate for you.
When finished, you’ll be redirected to Step 1: Participant Profile. Please note that the fields in the “Employment Information” section will be locked for the participant. Only the TPA and Plan Sponsor can edit these fields. If Marital Status is “Married” a new section will appear giving the participant the ability to download a spousal consent which they can then send back to you via the portal or via mail. You can upload your own spousal consent and provide a mailing address in the plan specifications. If you do not upload a spousal consent, ours will be used by default.
Fill in the data needed for your process and then click the “Continue” button at the bottom of the screen to progress to Step 2: Distribution Details.
In Step 2: Distribution Details, the “Approximate Vested Account Balance” will be locked for the participant and the plan sponsor. Anyone can enter the “Requested Amount” and choose the “Amount Type”.
In the next section, anyone can choose the Distribution Type and provide the details, however, only the TPA can select the “Involuntary” checkbox. This checkbox is meant to be used for distributions that are part of a force-out campaign. When this checkbox is selected, a green check mark will appear next to the distribution on the global and plan level dashboards. You can sort on the “involuntary” column to easily identify distributions that are part of your campaign.
Depending on your “Distribution Type” you may need to fill in more or less data. Keep in mind that this section can be completed by the plan sponsor or the participant. Once their data entry is complete, you’ll be notified that the distribution now needs “TPA Verification”.
The next section on this screen, “Taxes Loans & Fees” is controlled by the plan specifications. You can completely remove this section or customize it for your process. This section is also locked for the plan sponsor and participant. They can, however, add additional withholding if you provide the option via the plan specifications.
The last section can be used to upload additional files you would like the participant to download. Files are added a few different ways. The first way is via the “Choose Files” button. These files are from your computer. The second option is via the plan specifications. If you upload a file in Question 21, this file will appear in all of the distribution records for that plan. The final way is via the “Attach Document Templates” link. This link will give you a list of templates you created via the “Document Template Editor” as well as documents we provide all customers by default.
If you’ll be using the “Attach Document Templates” option, a modal will appear on your screen with a list of options. Simply select the checkbox for each document you would like to include. When you add a file via the modal to the distribution record, any placeholders that were used in the creation of the document will auto-populate with the participant’s data. See instructions for the “Document Template Editor” for additional information.
Any files you added should now appear under the “Miscellaneous Files for Download” box.
In Step 3: Distribution Summary, you will now have the ability to review all of the data you provided before sending it off to the next party in line for data collection, based upon your specification answers for initiation and data collection. Once you click “Continue” at the bottom of the screen, you’ll be taken to a confirmation that the distribution is now being sent to the next party in line.
If you want to skip the participant or the plan sponsor during the data collection process, you will have the option to select the radio button for “Verified” before submitting the distribution. While this can be set-up on the plan level via the plan specifications, you can also skip a party on the distribution level in this section.
Once the plan sponsor and participant have done their data collection, you will receive a notification that the distribution now needs “TPA Input”. The status will also be updated on the global and plan level dashboards. Visit the Notification Manager instructions for details about email notifications.
