Welcome to ExACCT! Getting Started

Transcription

1 Please Note: To navigate through the ExACCT User Guide easily, please use the Books or Thumbnails available in the navigation pane. To show these navigation links, click on the button Show/Hide Navigation Pane (circled below). 1

2 Welcome to ExACCT! For the past several years, we have searched for ways to simplify the administrative tasks necessary for you to maintain your retirement savings program. We have asked our customers how to best meet their needs. As a result, ExACCT has been developed from this search and from direct customer feedback. The ExACCT program allows you to complete your census, transmit contributions, transmit loan repayments, and submit employee information, such as name, address, date of hire, etc. to American United Life (AUL) throughout the year. The contribution process will enable you to build your year-end census from the accumulated information you send via ExACCT, decreasing the time it takes to assemble and submit your yearend census. Additional benefits from using ExACCT: Uses your own payroll data or payroll vendor output to import data into ExACCT. Increases accuracy of data by validating information. Offers faster response and processing time. Offers opportunities to reduce the number of forms to fill out and submit. Provides conservative ADP and ACP tests with the pre-testing option that can be ran throughout the year. Getting Started Using ExACCT to send contributions, loan repayments, and participant data to AUL simplifies and expedites the administration of your retirement plan. Please see the ExACCT Homepage for more information and to download our Web Installation. For Use Of ExACCT On A Network If you have already installed ExACCT on a stand alone PC, skip to Signing On To ExACCT. Multiple users on a network can use ExACCT. The System Administrator will need to perform a stand-alone installation on the administrator s PC, and then follow these additional steps: 1. Open the ExACCT folder in the C: drive from Windows Explorer. 2. Right-click on ExaData.mdb and click Copy. 3. Locate the network drive you want to use. Create a new folder called ExACCT. Open the folder and click Paste. 4. You will also need to go back into the C:\Program Files\ExACCT directory and copy the ExaSupt.mdb file to the network drive as well. 5. Open ExACCT and enter your User ID and Password at the sign-on screen. 6. Click Tools from the Menu Bar, and then click Options. 7. A warning box will appear stating that any changes made in this form will cause ExACCT to shut down. Click Yes to continue. 8. In the Data Database Location field, change the database location to the network drive by clicking on the Browse button. 2

3 9. Open the ExACCT folder in the network drive and click ExaData.mdb, then Open. 10. In the Support Database Location field, change the database location to the network drive by clicking on the Browse button. 11. Open the ExACCT folder in the network drive and click ExaSupt.mdb, then Open. 12. Click OK. The program will re-link database and help files used by ExACCT. 13. Click OK to shut down ExACCT. When you log back into ExACCT, you will be connected to the new database location. Each individual user now needs to install ExACCT on each individual PC and change their database locations to the network location by following these steps: 1. Click on Tools, then Options. 2. A warning box will appear stating any changes made in this form will cause ExACCT to shut down. Click Yes to continue. 3. In the Data Database Location field, connect to the database on the network drive by clicking on the Browse button. 4. Open the ExACCT folder in the network drive where the System Administrator moved the databases and click ExaData.mdb, then Open. 5. In the Support Database Location field, connect to the database on the network drive by clicking on the Browse button. 6. Open the ExACCT folder in the network drive where the System Administrator moved the databases and click ExaSupt.mdb, then Open. 7. Click OK. The program will re-link database and help files used by ExACCT. Click OK to shut down ExACCT. When you log back in to ExACCT, you will be connected to the new database location. Signing On To ExACCT Now you are ready to sign on and use the ExACCT software! To open the program, Click Start button, Programs, ExACCT, ExACCT. When the program opens, a sign-on window will display. To log on to ExACCT for the first time: 1. In the User ID field, enter ADMIN. 2. The first time you open the ExACCT software, you will need to use the one-time grace password - ADMIN. Use the Tab key or the mouse to navigate to the Password field and enter ADMIN. 3. You will be prompted to select a unique password that will be easy for you to remember. In the New Password field, type your new personal password. (We recommend a password that is at least 5 characters in length.) 4. Confirm it in the last field by typing it again, and then click OK. 3

4 5. The first time you sign on to ExACCT an options warning box will appear. Click Yes to continue and then click OK to link your databases. Once this process is complete, click OK to restart ExACCT. 6. The next time you open the software, your User ID will be ADMIN, and your Password will be what you have just changed it to in the New Password field. You are not required to change your password again unless you want to do so for your own security. Security When you receive the ExACCT software, you will want to determine who the System Administrator(s) should be. The System Administrator is responsible for maintaining the security and integrity of the information. There are four levels of security in ExACCT. The Administrator level may add, modify or delete user s access to ExACCT. The Data Entry and Confidential levels can input and transmit data as long as they have a USER ID and Password. An Administrator can use the Not Allowed option to remove a user s access. To add a new user: 1. Click Tools, Security. 2. On the Tool Bar, click New Record. 3. Enter a User ID and Password for the new user. 4. Select Administrator, Data Entry, or Confidential in the Security Level field by clicking the down arrow and clicking the appropriate option. Users with data entry or confidential access will not be able to view the Security screen. 5. Click Save. To change a user s access level: 1. Click Tools, Security. 2. Find the User ID you wish to edit by scrolling through the records with the Next button on the Tool Bar. 3. You may change the Password for the current User ID by typing in a new password. 4. You may change the Security Level for the current User ID by clicking on the down arrow and selecting Administrator, Data Entry, Confidential, or Not Allowed. 5. Click Save. 4

5 To delete a user s access completely: 1. Click Tools, Security. 2. Find the User ID you wish to delete by scrolling through the records with the Next button on the Tool Bar. 3. Click the Delete button on the Tool Bar. 4. A pop-up box will appear stating Are you sure you want to delete this record? Click Yes to delete the user. Data Transmission Test Once you have installed the software and set up security, you are ready to test your connection to AUL s server. (Note: Testing your connection will not download plan data.) To test your connection with AUL: (Note: It may be necessary to open your Internet browser and connect to the Internet first.) 1. Click Tools, Data Transmission. 2. In the Transmit box, click the radio button next to the option Test Communications. 3. In the Plan Number field, enter your plan number. 4. If your plan is set up as a divisional case with AUL, you may enter a division number in the Division field to transmit data for that division only. Leaving the Division blank will submit data for all divisions in the plan. 5. In the User ID field, enter your AUL Communications User ID. (If you do not remember your AUL Communications User ID, contact your Plan Services Consultant.) 6. In the Password field, enter your AUL Communications password. (If you do not remember your AUL Communications password, contact your Plan Services Consultant.) 7. If the connection is successful, a message box will appear stating: The connection to AUL has been closed. 8. Click OK to close the box. In the Transmission Status window a message stating Communications Test Complete will be displayed. 9. You are now ready to download your plan data from AUL. Downloading Plan Data Now that you have installed and set-up ExACCT; you are ready to download your plan and employee data. To download your plan s data from AUL: 1. Click Tools, Data Transmission. 2. In the Transmit box, click the radio button next to the option Download Only. 3. In the Plan Number field, enter your plan number. 4. If your plan is set up as a divisional case, you may enter a division number in the Division field to download data for that division only. Leaving the Division field blank will download data for all divisions in the plan. 5

6 5. In the User ID field, enter your AUL Communications User ID. Your User ID can be found on the letter provided with your ExACCT packet from AUL. (If you have lost your User ID, you may contact your Plan Services Consultant or the Data Transmission Unit at ext ) 6. In the Password field, enter your AUL Communications Password. Your Password can be found on the ExACCT Password letter that you received separately through the mail. (If you do not remember your Password, you may contact your Plan Services Consultant or the Data Transmission Unit ext ) To change your password, enter your current password in the Password field, and then click the Change button. Enter and confirm your new password, which is updated in the transmission. 7. Once all applicable fields have been completed, click the Transmit button. An announcement box will appear. Please read this announcement and click OK to continue. 8. The Transmission Status window will display the conversation between your PC and the AUL server. Because the Internet is such a dynamic technology, many variables can cause a transmission failure: Internet traffic, phone line maintenance, a malfunctioning server, or an ISP disruption. If you are unable to transmit after two or three attempts, contact the Data Transmission Unit for assistance at ext Once the transmission is complete you will receive a pop-up box indicating: The connection to AUL has been closed. Set SubAccount Order Prior to creating your first contribution or census, you must determine the order in which your ExACCT subaccounts will appear. To set the subaccount order: 1. Click Tools, Set SubAccount Order. (Note: If more than one plan is in ExACCT, you will be required to enter the desired plan number first.) 2. Using your mouse, click once in the Seq (Sequence) box next to the SubAccount Name you want to appear first. 3. Repeat Step 2 until all subaccount names have a sequence number assigned. 4. To save your changes, click Update. 5. A dialog box will be displayed confirming your selections have been saved. Click OK to close this box and Exit to close the SubAccount Order change box. Employee Maintenance Important: All new enrollments MUST have a complete address (Address, City, State, and Zip Code) before a new enrollment record can be saved or imported into ExACCT. Once you have downloaded your plan s most current information from AUL, you are ready to begin electronically submitting your enrollments, employee data changes, contributions, loan repayments and census data through ExACCT. 6

7 The Employee Maintenance screen allows you to enroll new employees in your plan, as well as update important information about them, such as date of hire, date of termination, plan status, etc. The Employee Maintenance module has 3 sections: Enrollment - the Enrollment tab contains employee information that AUL will use to administer your retirement plan. This includes gender, address, and dates of birth, hire, and termination. Optional - the Optional tab allows you to track data that is not required by AUL but that may be useful for your business, such as employee number, payroll frequency, and job title. Contribution Types - the Contribution Types tab contains information about available contribution sources, AE Status, and the clear dates of entry option. (Note: Dates of Entry for each contribution source will be calculated and populated by AUL.) To add a new employee: 1. Click File, Employee, Employee Maintenance (or use the F2 shortcut key). 2. Click on the New Record button. (If you click the New Record button accidentally, click the Undo button to close the blank record.) 3. On the Enrollment tab, the following information is required before the new record can be saved. The required fields are: Social Security Number, First Name, Last Name, Plan Number, Division, Plan Status, Gender, Date of Birth, Date of Hire, and a complete address (Address, City, State, and Zip Code.) (Note: The Re-Termination field will be grayed out for all new enrollments. Once the enrollment has been transmitted a user can add, remove, or update the Re-Termination date.) 4. If a Terminated, Retired, Deceased, or Disabled Plan Status was selected, a Date of Termination and Plan Year Hours will be required. Employment Status, HCE, and Key Employee can be selected if applicable. 5. If you wish to maintain other employee information such as Employee Number, Title, Exempt, Pay Frequency, and Beneficiary information; select the Optional tab. (Note: This information is for your records only. This information will not be used by AUL.) 6. The Contribution Types tab contains the Dates of Entry (DOE). The DOE s for new employees will be calculated once their data is transmitted to AUL and the employee is enrolled. Contributions cannot be entered for new employees until the Dates of Entry are transmitted back to you. Therefore, you will transmit data to AUL on business day one. The information will be processed at AUL on the next business day. On the third business day, you can download any updated Dates of Entry by performing a Download Only transmission. 7. If an employee has a wrong date of hire or is a rehire, click the Clear Dates button. This will remove the DOE s and require recalculation at AUL. 8. Once all indicative data has been entered, click the Save Record button. (Note: It s important to transmit all enrollments as soon as possible so that DOE s can be calculated by AUL and made available to download.) 7

8 To change existing employee information: 1. Click File, Employee, Employee Maintenance (or use the F2 shortcut key). 2. The employee records will appear in last name order. It is possible to view the records by last name, first name, or by SSN. To change the sort, click in the desired field so the cursor is blinking there. Click on the Asc Sort button on the Tool Bar. 3. You can navigate through the employee records by clicking on the arrow buttons on the Tool Bar. 4. Change the information that needs to be updated and click Save. To change a Social Security Number: Social Security Number changes must be made through the Change Employee SSN screen. Click File, Employee. This screen allows you to correct social security numbers in one central location. All data related to that social security number will also be changed. (Note: Social Security Numbers are not corrected by adding a new employee record.) To Merge Employee SSN: This option allows you to merge an employee s SSN and division when more than one record exists for the same employee under different SSN. This option requires a Super User password. If you would like to use this option, please contact your Data Transmission Unit at ext To search for an employee: 1. If you would like to search for a specific participant, click inside the last name, first name, or SSN field. 2. Click the Find button on the Tool Bar. 3. A Find window will appear. In the search field, enter the participant s last name, first name, or SSN. 4. Click the Find button. 5. The appropriate participant record will appear behind the Find window. If it is the record you were looking for, click the Cancel button. If there are multiple records with the same data in that field, it may be necessary to click the Find Next button. For example, two participants may have last name of Smith. Abigail Smith would appear first. If you are looking for Benjamin Smith, you would need to click the Find Next button to bring up his record. To transmit enrollments & indicative data: When you are ready to transmit your enrollments and indicative data, refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Data Transmission. 8

9 Contributions Once your employee data is updated and transmitted, ExACCT allows you to create contribution listings and initiate electronic debits from your bank. You can also submit loan repayments through the Contributions module. If you use ExACCT to submit contributions throughout the year, you can use the Build Census tool at the end of the year to populate your census with the contributions for each participant. ExACCT uses batch processing to transmit contribution listings and initiate bank drafts. Each contribution is assigned a batch number. Once a batch is transmitted to AUL, no changes can be made to it. (Note: If you have installed ExACCT on a new computer or re-installed ExACCT on your computer, please contact the Data Transmission Unit at ext to have your batch numbers adjusted. Failure to do so could result in batches being combined and could debit your bank account more than needed for your contribution.) To submit a contribution to AUL: (Note: Prior to creating your first contribution, you must determine the order that your contracts subaccounts should appear. Please see Set SubAccount Order for further information.) 1. Click File, Contributions, Contributions (or use the F3 shortcut key). 2. A Contribution Setup screen will appear. For a new contribution, leave the Batch Number field blank. ExACCT will automatically assign a batch number once all required fields are entered. If you have already created a batch, you may use the Replicate a batch function the next time you create a batch. This will create an editable copy of the original batch with all the amounts already entered for each participant. You may view the ExACCT Help Utility for further explanation of this function. 3. Click on the down arrow in the Plan Number field and select the appropriate Plan number. 4. In the Division field, click on the down arrow and select the appropriate division. (Note: If your plan is not set up as a divisional case, the default division will appear automatically.) 5. Enter the Control Amount(s). The following control amounts will be set before creating your contribution entry listing. The amount in Contributions should be the total of all the individual contributions you are sending in the batch. The amount in Loans should be the total of all individual loan repayments. The Disability Premium is the amount your company pays for disability insurance for employees. This may not be applicable to your plan. Use Credit Amount to reduce suspense and apply to current contributions. Please call your Plan Services Consultant to obtain your current available suspense balance. (Note: The credit amount cannot be greater than the contribution amount. Prior to exiting the Contribution Setup screen, tab out of the credit amount field.) 9

10 The Total Remittance amount displayed is the sum of Contributions, Loan Repayments, and Disability Premium less your Credit Amount. This will be the amount requested for the ACH debit. The Entered Amount column shows the running totals of contributions and loans entered in the batch from the Contribution Entry screen. 6. In the Pay Date field, enter the pay date. If you are submitting your final employer contribution (e.g. ER Match, Profit Share, etc.), be sure to enter your plan year-end date as the Pay Date for the allocation. Contact your Plan Services Consultant with any questions. 7. Select Check for Future Deposit if you want to delay the posting of the contribution until a specified future date. The Future Date field becomes "active" only when the Check for Future Deposit box has been select. (Note: The Future Deposit option should be used by ACH Debit clients only. Prior to using this feature, please review the Creating a Future Date Contribution Listing topic in the ExACCT Help Utility for more information.) 8. The SSN# field allows you to display only the participant whose Social Security Number is entered. The default entry for SSN# is blank, making all eligible employee s available. 9. The Pay Frequency, Employees, SSN#, and Plan Status values fields allow you to sort through your participant records and enter contribution amounts only for participants meeting these criteria. If you have some employees who are paid weekly and others who are paid bi-weekly, you may use the Pay Frequency field to display only those employees who meet the criteria for the contributions. (Note: The default entry for Pay Frequency is ALL. You must set the pay frequency in employee maintenance Optional tab before this functionality is available.) 10. The Employees field allows you to display Exempt (salaried) participants, Non- Exempt (hourly) participants, or ALL. The default entry for Employees is ALL. You must set the exempt status in employee maintenance before this functionality is available. 11. If you would like to enter amounts for Loans, Compensation (this field is available only for users with administrative-level access), or Hours, click in the appropriate boxes. Hours and compensation amounts are required for each participant. (This may not apply to certain plans.). 12. Under Contribution Source, you can select All Available Contribution Sources by clicking the check box. The Contributions Types are based on the type of plan you have. If you do not wish to use all the available contribution sources, click in the Y/N column to the right of each contribution source to change to Yes to No. 13. To process a new contribution listing and initiate a draft from your bank to AUL, leave the Historical Information Only box unchecked. The historical information field is used only to update ExACCT to reflect manual contribution amounts. (Note: If this field is checked, any information on the listing can be transmitted to AUL, but the batch will not be processed. This option is often used to catch up data for census roll up purposes at the end of the year or for plans using ExACCT for census only.) 14. When you have completed the Contribution Setup screen, click the Continue button to enter the contribution amounts for each participant. 15. The Contribution Entry screen is built based upon your entries in the Contribution Setup screen. Only those participants who match the criteria you set will appear on the entry screen, and only the contribution sources which were selected will be 10

11 available. The Loans, Compensation, and Hours entry fields will be available only if you checked them on the Setup screen. At the top of the Entry screen, the batch number, plan number, pay date, and pay frequency will be displayed. (Note: Make a note of the Batch Number, located on the top left part of the screen. The transmission module will require the batch number when you transmit to AUL.) 16. The first employee record will appear. Employee records can be sorted by: Name, Social Security Number, or by Employee Number. (Refer to the ExACCT Quick Reference Guide located on our web site at the ExACCT Homepage under ExACCT Links for instructions on sorting records.) In the Contribution Source section of the screen, enter the amount to be contributed into each source for that participant. 17. If you elect to enter loans and a participant has an active loan(s) against their account, a loan window will appear on their record showing the loan number, the initial amount of the loan, the payment frequency and scheduled repayment amount. If a loan repayment is to be made, enter the repayment amount in the Amount field of the appropriate loan. 18. If you have elected to enter compensation, enter the amount of 415 Compensation, Plan (Full Year) Compensation, and Plan (Part Year) Compensation for this participant s current pay period. These amounts will be added together at the end of the year by the Build Census function. You may refer to the ExACCT Help Utility for further information. 19. If you have elected to enter hours, enter the number of Pay Period Hours for this participant s current pay period. At the end of the year, hours on all listings will be added together by the Build Census function. 20. To move to the next participant s record, click the Next Record button and enter their contribution information. You can also enter contribution information in spreadsheet view by clicking the Form view or spreadsheet view button from the Tool Bar. (Note: In order to make the year-end process as easy and seamless as possible, you will see all participants on the contribution detail screens. Participants who have not yet met the entry date for a source will appear, but you will not be able to enter contributions. You will, however, have the ability to enter compensation and hours. Complete these fields to ensure accurate census data at your plan year-end when building your census from contributions.) 21. When you have entered contribution information for all eligible participants, click the Save button. 22. Now you are ready to close this screen. Click the Close icon located on your Tool Bar to close the window. 23. Before a batch can be transmitted to AUL, the Control Amounts must balance with the Entered Amounts. If you are not finished with the contribution listing, but you would like to save it and come back to it later, click the Save button and close the Contributions screen. Contribution Processing: 11

12 Business Day 1 - Contribution file is transmitted to AUL. Business Day 2 - Contribution file will be uploaded onto our record keeping system and an electronic request for funds is submitted to the financial institution we have on file. Provided you are an ACH debit client. Business Day 3 - The contribution will be processed and posted to participant accounts in AUL s nightly cycle. Day Contributions Process at American United Life Day Contributions Transmitted Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday X X X X X To edit an existing contribution listing: 1. Click File, Contributions, Contributions. 2. In the Batch Number drop-down box, select the number of the batch you want to edit. The batch should be displayed on the Contribution Setup screen. 3. If necessary, you may change the Control Amounts. No other changes to the Contribution Setup screen are allowed. 4. Click Continue. 5. Make any necessary changes to the Contribution Entry screens for the individual participants. 6. Click Save on the Tool Bar to save your changes. 7. To exit this screen, click the Close icon located on your Tool Bar to close the window. (Note: A contribution cannot be modified or deleted once it has been transmitted.) To delete a batch: You may only delete batches that have not been transmitted to AUL. (Note: In order to ensure accuracy of data for year-end census completion, please delete any test or out-of-balance batches you may have entered. Failure to do so will result in amounts being over- or under-stated when you Build Census from Contributions. Historical batches maybe used to adjust your totals.) 12

13 1. Click File, Contributions, Contributions. 2. In the Batch field, select the Batch Number you wish to delete from the drop-down box. 3. A Delete button will appear at the bottom of the window. Click on the Delete button. 4. You will get a final verification request, asking, Are you sure? To confirm you want to delete the batch, click Yes. Once batches are deleted, the totals are erased for census building purposes. To transmit a batch: When you are ready to transmit your batch, refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Data Transmission. Creating Your Annual Census At the end of each plan year, most full service customers will submit a census so that AUL can prepare necessary services for the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor. There are two primary ways to create a census. They are: 1. Building a Census from Contributions 2. Importing Census Data into ExACCT If you have been using ExACCT for contributions and you want to create your census, please refer to Build Census from Contributions instructions below. To import census data, please refer to Importing Data From Other File Formats or the ExACCT Help Utility for further information. (Note: If you have not been using ExACCT for contributions, you must download plan and participant data prior to working with your census information.) ExACCT Contribution Users: The Build Census function will total all payroll contributions, compensation, and hours that have been maintained in ExACCT and populate the census with the totals. (Note: Building a census more than once will overwrite any changes previously made to the census. Also, prior to creating your first census, you must determine your ExACCT subaccount order. Please see Set SubAccount Order for further information.) 1. Click File, Census, Build Census from Contribution. 2. The Build Census screen will appear. In the Enter the Plan Year End to Build Census field, enter the plan year of the census you wish to create. 3. In the Plan Number field, click on the down arrow and select the plan for which you are preparing the census. Click OK to build your census. 4. When your census has been built, a message box will appear stating the number of records processed and inserted. The payroll contributions, compensation, and hours 13

14 that have been maintained in ExACCT will be added up and the census will be populated with the totals. 5. Click OK to accept message and then Cancel to close Build Census screen. Census Only Users: For users that have not used ExACCT to remit contributions, but intend to use ExACCT to remit a census, you must first download your plan and employee data. (See Downloading Plan Data for further information.) Following the download of plan and employee information, there are two primary ways to create a census: Build Census from Contribution and importing census data into ExACCT. (Note: Prior to creating your first census, you must determine your ExACCT subaccount order. Please see Set SubAccount Order for further information.) Building a Census from Contributions: ExACCT s Build Census from Contribution option will create census records based on contribution(s) records created within a given plan year. At least one contribution must exist within a given plan year for the Build Census option to create census records. (See To submit a contribution to AUL to create a Historical contribution and review ExACCT Contribution Users to build your census.) Importing Census Data into ExACCT: ExACCT s Import utility can be used to import census data into ExACCT. (See Importing Data From Other File Formats page 29 or the ExACCT Help Utility for further import information.) Updating census information: This option should be used only after you have loaded your plan population diskette or built your census from the Build Census from Contribution option. (Note: ExACCT has an import utility which allows you to import census and employee data from a spreadsheet, database, or other file formats. For more information regarding the import utility, please refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Importing Data From Other File Formats.) 1. Click File, Census, Census Information. 2. An Enter Plan Year screen will appear. Select a plan number from the drop down box. 3. Enter the plan year of the census you are working on in a four-digit format. For example, if your plan year runs from 10/1/06 through 9/30/07, enter Click OK to view census information. The employee records will appear in last name order. 5. It is possible to view the records by last name, first name, or by SSN. To change the view, click in the desired field (you should see the cursor blinking in the field you ve selected.). Click on the AscSort button on the Tool Bar. You can then navigate through the employee records by clicking on the arrow buttons on the Tool Bar. 6. If a new employee needs to be added to your census, you must first enter the enrollment under Employee Maintenance. Once the new employee has been 14

15 added, return to Census Information and click the New Record button on the Tool Bar. Next, enter the SSN of the employee to be added and select the Tab key. The employee data will auto-fill with the participants name, DOB, DOH, etc. 7. To delete a record in Census Information, click on the Delete Record button on the Tool Bar. You can only delete records that you have created and that have not been transmitted. 8. On the right side of the screen are the hours, compensation, and source contribution fields. (Note: Detailed descriptions of these fields can be found in the ExACCT Help Utility.) Amounts can be entered directly into these fields. If you used the Build Census function to create your census, these fields will be populated with totals based on contributions. Verify the amounts. Remember to use the arrow keys to navigate in the contribution grid. 9. Click Save after you have updated the participant s information. It is important to save your changes before moving on to the next participant record. 10. To go to the next participant s record, click the Next Record button. Searching for a participant s census information: If you would like to search for a specific participant, click inside the last name, first name, or SSN field. (Note: The cursor needs to be positioned in the desired search field. Please refer to the ExACCT Quick Reference Guide located on our web site on the ExACCT Homepage under ExACCT Links for instructions on searching and sorting records.) 1. Click on the Find button on the Tool Bar. 2. A Find window will appear. In the search field, enter the participant s last name, first name, or SSN. 3. Click on the Find button. 4. The appropriate participant record should appear behind the Find window. If it is the record you were looking for, click the Cancel button. If there are multiple records with the same data in that field, it may be necessary to click the Find Next button. 5. Once you have located your participant, simply change the information that needs to be updated and click the Save button. Updating plans: The Plans screen is where you will need to verify and/or update your plan information. If you are maintaining census information for multiple plans, click on the Next Record button at the top of the Plans screen to access the record. 1. Click File, Plans. 2. At the top of the Plans screen, there are 6 tabs divided into the following: Plan Tab, QPIR 1, QPIR 2, Certification, Trustee and AUL Supplied. The information on these tabs (excluding AUL Supplied) must be reviewed and completed before the census can be transmitted. 3. Once you have completed updating your Plan information click the Save button located on the Tool Bar. If you have any questions on how to complete fields on these screens, contact your Plan Services Consultant. 15

16 Running the AULSense report: Once you have completed entering your data, you should run the AULSense report. AULSense is a validation test to check your census and plan information for common errors. Two types of messages may appear on the AULSense report: Warnings and Fatal Errors. Warnings are red flags to alert you to possible problems with the data. Fatal errors are problems that will prevent the file from transmitting to AUL. All fatal errors must be corrected before the census can be transmitted. To run the AULSense report: 1. Click File, Census, AULSense. 2. Enter the plan year for which you are completing the census, the appropriate plan number and division (if applicable). 3. By checking the Fatal error only box, it will display fatal errors only. A fatal error occurs when critical information is inaccurate or missing. Fatal errors must be corrected before transmitting. (Example: The date of entry is before a date of hire or your plan s six-digit business code is blank.) If you decide not to check the Fatal error only box, all warnings and fatal errors will be displayed. 4. To view the AULSense report in a spreadsheet format, click the Export button. Choose the file to be exported by clicking on the Browse button. ExACCT will look for files that match the file type indicated in the Choose a File Type field. Click on the file to be updated. If the file already exists, click Save. (Note: If you wish to create a new file for the exported data, simply browse the directory in which you wish to save the file and enter a new file name in the File Name field. Click Save.) 5. To print, click on the Print button and the report will be sent to your default printer. 6. When all warnings have been reviewed and all fatal errors have been cleared from the AULSense report, you are ready to print and transmit your census. (When you are ready to transmit your batch, refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Data Transmission.) Pre-testing your census: Estimated test results are produced for estimation purposes and are not intended to replace annual nondiscrimination testing. All results are estimated and based on the data you have entered into ExACCT. These estimated results are calculated using the current year testing method. (Note: Prior to running a pre-test, you must have Microsoft Excel installed on your PC, plan year compensation, and designated at least 1 HCE.) To run a test: The following steps must be followed in ExACCT to ensure accurate information. The information must be entered in the contributions (batches) that are created for your payroll. Step 1: Enter Plan year Compensation and plan year hours for all employees. Step 2: Enter Contribution information for participating employees. Step 3: Enter Highly Compensated Employees (HCE s). 16

17 1. Click File, Census, Pre-Testing. 2. Select a plan number by clicking on the down arrow and selecting the appropriate number from the drop-down list. 3. Enter the plan year to be tested, click OK. 4. In the lower left corner of the screen, ExACCT will indicate when the pre-test is complete. An Excel spreadsheet will be created and saved to the default file location as specified in Excel. To determine Excel s default file location, open Excel and select Tools, Options, General Tab. Your specific plan number will be the file name of the pre-test report. (Example: G12345.xls) Printing a Census Report: The Census Report provides printed detail of census information that has been updated, including totals of your compensation, contributions, and numbers of HCE employees. We recommend you print a paper copy of your census for your records. 1. Click File, Census, Census Report. 2. Select the Plan Number, Division (if applicable) and enter Plan Year in a four-digit format. 3. You have the following sort options: Plan and Division by SSN SSN Employee Name Plan and Division by Employee Name Print Certification only 4. To print, select one option and click Print. The report will be sent to your default printer. Only two columns are printed for contributions - Deferrals and Match. If entered contribution sources other than Deferral or Match, those contributions will not appear on the printed census. (Note: If you experience difficulties printing, try the Print without lines option.) Transmitting your census: Follow these steps for transmission of your census to AUL. It may be necessary to open your Internet browser and connect to the Internet before following the steps below. Note: When you are ready to transmit your batch, refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Data Transmission. 1. Click Tools, Data Transmission. 2. In the Transmit box, click the radio button next to the option Annual Census Information. 3. In the Plan Number field, click the down arrow and select the appropriate plan number. 4. If your plan is set up as a divisional case, you may enter a division number in the Division field to transmit data for a specific division. Leaving the Division blank will submit data for all divisions in the plan. 5. Make sure the Census Plan Year is correct. 17

18 (Note: You must correct all fatal errors found when running the AULSense report before you can transmit your census.) 6. In the User ID field, enter your AUL Communications User ID. If you have lost your User ID, you may contact your Plan Services Consultant or the Data Transmission Unit at ext In the Password field, enter your AUL Communications password. If you have lost your password, you may contact your Plan Services Consultant or the Data Transmission Unit at ext Once all applicable fields have been completed, click the Transmit button. The Transmission Status window will display the conversation between your PC and the AUL server. (Note: Census transmissions are not successful until you confirm contribution and compensation totals.) 9. Two pop-up boxes will appear that provide you the calculated totals. If they are correct, click the Yes button. If the amounts are incorrect, do not accept the transmission and try again. Much of the census information sent will update the record keeping system at AUL. The Internet is a dynamic technology, many variables can cause a transmission failure: Internet traffic, phone line maintenance, a malfunctioning server, or an ISP disruption. If you are unable to transmit after two or three attempts, contact the Data Transmission Unit for assistance at ext Once the transmission is complete you will receive a pop-up box indicating: The connection to AUL has been closed. Transmitting to AUL ExACCT s transmission module allows you to download information from AUL and send your updates back to AUL. Five options are available: Contribution and Payments, Census Information, Enrollments and Indicative, Download Only, and Test Communications. Contribution and Loan Payments This option is used for submitting a contribution and/or a loan payment. Control amounts and Entered amounts must balance before a contribution can be transmitted to AUL. You must select the batch you wish to transmit, by using the drop-down list. ExACCT will ask you to confirm your contribution amounts and loan amounts at the end of the transmission. Clicking Yes will validate the batch. When contributions are transmitted to AUL, participant indicative data changes will be sent as well. Annual Census Information At the end of the plan year, you may use the Census Information option to transmit your census to AUL. (Note: Remember that fatal errors must be cleared from the AULSense report before the census can be transmitted.) ExACCT will confirm contribution and compensation totals at the end of the transmission. Clicking Yes to both questions will confirm successful transmission. Make sure your census plan year is correct. 18

19 Enrollments and Indicative Use this option to transmit to AUL any data changes you have made. Transmitting enrollment and indicative changes will not send contributions or the census. Download Only If you have no updates to send to AUL, but you would like to download any updated information AUL may have for your retirement plan, you may use the Download Only option. Test Communications This option is used before any data is transmitted to or from AUL. It will detect problems with Internet connections, firewalls, network problems, etc. These errors will be displayed in the Transmission Status window. Follow the steps below for all transmissions to AUL except for census. For census transmissions, please refer to the ExACCT Help Utility under Data Transmission. 1. Click Tools, Data Transmission. 2. An AUL Communications box will appear. In the Transmit box, click the radio button next to the option you wish to use. Valid options are: Contribution and Payments, Enrollments and Indicative, Download Only, and Test Communications. See the descriptions on the previous page to determine which option is appropriate for you. 3. In the Plan Number field, enter your plan number. 4. If your plan is set up as a divisional case with AUL, you may enter a division number in the Division field to transmit data for that division only. Leaving the Division blank will submit data for all divisions in the plan. 5. In the User ID field, enter your AUL Communications User ID. (If you do not remember your AUL Communications User ID, contact your Plan Services Consultant.) 6. In the Password field, enter your AUL Communications password. (If you do not remember your AUL Communications password, contact your Plan Services Consultant.) 7. Use the drop down arrow in the Batch field to select the batch you wish to transmit. (Only active when you select the Contributions and Payments option.) 8. When you have completed all the fields, click the Transmit button. The Transmission Status window will display the conversation between your PC and the AUL server. A Contribution transmission will ask you to confirm the total Contribution Amount and total Loan Amount (if applicable) received by the server. If they are correct, click Yes. If the amounts are incorrect, do not accept the transmission. After a transmission is complete, you will receive a pop-up box indicating the transmission is complete and your connection to AUL has been closed. If you are unable to transmit after two or three attempts, contact the Data Transmission Unit for assistance at ext

20 Importing Data From Other File Formats Important: All new enrollments MUST have a complete address (Address, City, State, and Zip Code) before a new enrollment record imported into ExACCT. ExACCT s import utility allows you to import data from a spreadsheet, database, or other file into ExACCT through a mapping process. Please refer to the ExACCT Help utility for further information. Additionally, import templates are available on the ExACCT Homepage. In addition to the actual importing of data, the import utility is also able to store and reuse a predefined mapping of data, called a Specification. These specifications act as a road map, defining the source and destination location for every piece of data within the import file. Data cannot be imported without a specification. Before you begin the import process, make sure your original file is formatted to allow a smooth import. For formatting help, see the ExACCT Help Utility. ExACCT can import from the following file formats: Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Excel (version 97 or higher), Microsoft Access (version 97 or higher), Fixed Width Text or Comma Delimited files. Once your file is formatted properly, you are ready to import. To import: 1. Click File, Import. 2. A File Format and Name screen will appear. Under the Select the Import File Type, click on the down arrow and select the appropriate file type to be imported. Valid selections are Lotus, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Fixed Width Text, or Comma Delimited File. 3. In the Enter File Name field, click Browse. ExACCT will look for files that match the file type indicated in the first field. Click on the file to be imported and click Open. 4. If the source is a spreadsheet or Access database, click on the down arrow in the Enter the Source Worksheet field and select the worksheet or table to be imported. 5. In the Destination Table Name field, click on the down arrow and select the ExACCT table you wish to update with the import file. Valid entries are Employee, Census, and Contributions. A sample of the data from the file you have indicated will appear in the window. 6. In the Plan field, select a plan number from the drop down arrow. (Note: If you are importing census data, you must enter a plan year.) 7. On the right side of the screen, you will see a Log File Name for the Error Reporting field. Any import errors will be written to a text file in the default location in your C: directory. You can then view this error log by opening Notepad or Word pad. If you would like to change this directory, enter a new path and file name in this field. Note: ExACCT will continue to add new import errors to this file unless the Append to Log File check box is turned off. Turning off the Append to Log File check box will cause ExACCT to overwrite the file every time a new import is attempted. 8. When you have completed the information on this screen, click Continue. 9. A Mapping and Import screen will appear. If you have already entered an import specification, click on the down arrow in the Enter the Import Specification field and select the appropriate specification. If this is the first time you have imported into ExACCT or you wish to create a new specification, choose a name for the new 20

21 specification you are about to create and type it into this field and then click the Tab button. 10. An Import Warning box appears asking you if you would like to use your column headings from your imported file as your field names. If you want those headings to appear, click Yes. If not, click No, the column headings will be labeled field 1, field 2, etc. 11. In the Map the input fields to... column, the data from your file will appear. In the ExACCT Information field just to the right, click on the down arrow and select the ExACCT field name that should be populated by the field selected in the source file. For example, if the F1 field of your Lotus or Excel spreadsheet contains the participant's date of birth, enter F1 in the Map field and DOB in the ExACCT Information field. 12. When you have mapped all the fields you wish to import, click Save Spec to save this mapping specification. Then click Yes to add it to the database. 13. Click Import. If you received any error messages while the data is importing, see the Import topic in the ExACCT Help Utility for help. Exporting Data Into Another File Format If you would like to create a specialized report from the ExACCT software or maintain the information in another program, you can export the information out of ExACCT into a Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Excel (version 97 or higher), Microsoft Access (version 97 or higher), Fixed Width Text, or Comma Delimited file. To export data to another file format: 1. Click File, Export. 2. Under Step 1, Choose a Table or specification, select the table or tables you want to export by clicking in the appropriate check boxes. Valid selections are Employee, Contribution, and Census. (Note: The contribution and census tables cannot be exported at the same time. Data exported from the contribution table will require you to select a Batch Number or a Data Range. Data exported from the Census table will require you to select a Plan Year.) 3. If you have already created an export specification, you may select the specification by using the down arrow under Specification Names field. If you will not be using a specification, please proceed with Step 2. (Note: If you select a specification you will be required to Select the Export File Name under Step 4. If your specification contains data from the Contribution table, you be required to select a Batch Number or a Data Range. If your specification contains data from the Census table, you will be required to select a Plan Year.) 4. Under Step 2, Select the fields to export, select the fields you wish to export by clicking on each individual field name. You may also click the Select All button to highlight all the fields. 5. Under Step 3, Choose a File Type, select the file type to be exported by clicking on the down arrow and selecting the desired file type. 6. Under Step 4, Select the Export File Name, if you are updating an existing file, select the export file name by clicking on the Browse button and then locate your existing file. ExACCT will look for files that match the file type indicated in the Choose a File 21