So you're ready to submit your payroll contributions, how exciting! We know that the first time you submit your contributions, it may be helpful to have step-by-step instructions. We hope that the how-to guide below will help make this process easier. It is very important to complete your payroll contribution submissions in a timely and accurate manner. After your first few payroll cycles, it will become even easier. However, if you ever have difficulty, you may refer back to this article, or please feel free to contact us for help. If you prefer to upload your employee contributions via an excel or CSV file, please see our article on uploading your payroll contribution file.
To begin, log in to your employer portal.
Here, you can see the employee list and their status, e.g., Eligible, Ineligible, Active, Pending, or Opted-Out.
Note: Only eligible employees will show on your payroll contribution screen. If you do not see an employee listed here, you may need to add the employee by clicking on the "Add Employee" button.
From the Home Page:
- Click on the contributions icon to the left of your screen.
From the "Contributions Page:"
- Click on Start Contribution.
When submitting your employee payroll contributions, you have three options for entering that information.
- Type the contribution data directly into the grid.
- Upload a payroll file.
- Copy from the previously completed payroll contribution submission of the same type, e.g., regular or off-cycle. Be sure that any employee savings rate changes are updated from previous submissions, and remove any employees who have opted out of saving.
If you have just a few employees, you may find the manual entry feature to be the most straightforward approach. If you have many employees or are downloading a contribution file from your payroll system, uploading a file may be the best approach. To learn how to upload a file, please go here.
Understanding the Grid
- Social Security Number or SSN - Pre-populated from employee data.
- Name - First and Last - Pre-populated from employee data.
- Date of Birth - Pre-populated from employee data.
- Roth - Pre-populated from the employee portal. This is the percentage of pay the employee is deferring.
- Roth Contribution - required - You must calculate the dollar equivalent of the employees' selected percentage.
- When completed, click on the blue Send & Validate button.
To enter the contributions manually instead of uploading a file:
- Enter the contribution dollar amount for each eligible employee into the grid below in the "Roth Contribution" column.
- Press the enter/return key after entering each individual contribution.
- When finished, click the Send & Validate button on the bottom right to move to the next step.
Take your time, and be careful to enter accurate information. If you are missing a required field, it will be highlighted in red.
During the contribution entry, you may be presented with validation errors related to your employee data. To learn more about how to resolve common data validation issues that can occur while entering contributions, please go here.
Note: If the button is still gray, there may be missing or incorrect information, or you may need to tab out of the last field you typed in.
- On the contribution grid, you can sort any column by clicking on that column header (please see the below image). After you enter the contribution values, click on the column header, and you will see an arrow that points up or down. Click again on the same column header to change the direction of the sorting. This feature is applicable to all column headers.
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The columns will sort by:
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Greatest value to least value
- Least value to greatest value
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After clicking Send & Validate, if there were unallowable contributions, you will be redirected to the "Unallowed Contributions" screen. To learn more about unallowed contributions, click here.
If this occurs, you will need to click Send & Validate again for your final "Submission Review."
On the "Review Submission" screen, the submission details are presented to you for your final review.
Contribution Adjustments
- Recap any contribution reductions that were made due to unallowable contributions.
Contribution Details
- Recap of each employee and their contribution amount
Total Contribution
- This is the total amount of the submission that should be remitted to the bank
- Your remittance method is shown underneath the total dollar amount
Once you've reviewed the submission, you have three options:
- Complete the submission
- Edit the submission
- Or Cancel the submission
If you have multiple pay groups, you must submit a payroll contribution submission for each pay group separately.
When you have completed your submission completely, you will see the below screen!
You will be directed back to the "Contributions" home page, where you will see your next expected payroll submission date and the status of your pending submission.
At the bottom of your screen, in the "History" area, you will see your payroll contribution submission(s). Click the date of the submission in blue if you wish to review it.
If your submission still shows as "Processing," you still have the opportunity to cancel your submission.
Once the status shows as "Delivered," you will no longer be able to make any changes. The processing step may take an hour during regular business hours. We know last-minute changes may be needed; this window of time should provide you with the cushion you need to make those corrections.
If you need to make changes to your banking information, please see our article about bank accounts.
Email Confirmation
After each contribution is delivered, you will receive an email confirmation for your records.
Sample email: