Contents of the Configure Benefit Settings Screen

Benefit Options

Use this group box to determine whether you have a dependent care/medical care flexible spending account benefit and whether you will be reimbursing through Costpoint Payroll.

Field	Description
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts	Select this check box if your company uses FSA for dependent care expenses. You will not be able to open the Manage Dependent Care FSA Plan Year, Manage Employee Dependent Care FSA Elections, and Manage Dependent Care History screens unless you select this check box, which also enables the Reimburse Through Payroll check box and the Dependent Care FSA Deduction field.
Reimburse Through Payroll	Select this check box to have dependent care FSA reimbursements added to an employee's paycheck. This check box is enabled only if you selected the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts check box. Selecting this check box enables the Dependent Care FSA Pay Type field. Select this check box only if you use Costpoint Payroll for reimbursement. Other payroll software packages are currently not supported. The Compute Payroll function examines this setting to determine whether any FSA processing must be done.
Dependent Care FSA Pay Type	Enter, or click to select, the pay type code that applies to reimbursing dependent care payments. The pay type code is defined on the Manage Pay Types screen. This field is enabled and required only if you selected the Reimburse Through Payroll check box. If you are using Costpoint Payroll to reimburse dependent care, you must set up this pay type on the Manage Pay Types screen, with the Benefit Reimbursement check box selected, before you can complete the Configure Benefit Settings screen. You can only use this pay type for dependent care reimbursement. In addition, you should define Pay Type Taxability on the Configure Pay Type Taxability screen as exempt from federal and state tax withholding as applicable to your plan. You must establish a unique pay type for the Dependent Care FSA. Note: You must not use Deduction Modify Codes for Dependent Care FSA pay types. These pay types are automatically programmed to calculate correctly when you select the Benefit Reimbursement check box on the Manage Pay Types screen.
Dependent Care FSA Deduction	Enter, or click to select, a deduction code to be used for dependent care FSA deductions. This field is enabled and required when you select the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts check box. You must establish a deduction code on the Manage Deductions screen and select Dependent Care Benefit in the Deduction Type drop-down list before you can complete the Configure Benefit Settings screen.
Medical Care Flexible Spending Accounts	Select this check box if your company uses FSA for medical care expenses. If you select this check box, you will be able to access the Manage Dependent Care FSA Plan Year, Manage Employee Dependent Care FSA Elections, and Manage Dependent Care History screens. Selecting this check box also enables the Reimburse Through Payroll check box and the Medical Care FSA Deduction field.
Reimburse Through Payroll	Select this check box to have medical care FSA reimbursements added to an employee's paycheck. This check box is enabled only if you have checked the Medical Care Flexible Spending Accounts check box. Selecting this check box enables the Medical Care FSA Pay Type field. Select this check box only if you use Costpoint Payroll for reimbursement. Other payroll software packages are currently not supported. The Compute Payroll function looks at this setting to determine whether any FSA processing needs to be done.
Medical Care FSA Pay Type	Enter, or click to select, the pay type code that applies to reimbursing medical care payments. The pay type code is defined on the Manage Pay Types screen. The Medical Care FSA Pay Type field is enabled and required only if you select the Reimburse Through Payroll check box. If you are using Costpoint Payroll to reimburse dependent care, you must set up this pay type on the Manage Pay Types screen, with the Benefit Reimbursement check box checked, before you can complete the Configure Benefit Settings screen. You can use this pay type only for medical care reimbursement. In addition, you should define Pay Type Taxability on the Configure Pay Type Taxability screen as exempt from federal and state tax withholding as applicable to your plan. You must establish a unique pay type for the Medical Care FSA. Note: Do not use Deduction Modify Codes for Medical Care FSA pay types. These pay types are automatically programmed to calculate correctly when you select the Benefit Reimbursement check box on the Manage Pay Types screen.
Medical Care FSA Deduction	Enter, or click to select, the deduction code that will be used for medical care FSA deductions. This field is enabled and required when you check the Medical Care Flexible Spending Accounts check box. You must establish a deduction code on the Manage Deductions screen and select Health Care Benefit in the Deduction Type drop-down list before you can complete the Configure Benefit Settings screen.
# of Days Employees are classified as new	Enter the number of days that employees will be classified as new employees for benefit election purposes.

Deduction Calculation Method

Use this group box to define how premiums should be deducted from an employee's salary on either a weekly payroll or bi-weekly payroll basis. Because benefit premiums are usually monthly, this option will define the calculation needed to allocate the monthly premium by pay periods. The Update Employee Package Deductions screen will use the settings in this group box when it calculates deduction amounts for benefit elections.

Your selection in this group box does not apply to FSA, which use the pay cycle frequency to determine how premiums are deducted.

Biweekly Deduction Calculation Method

Use the selections in this group box to specify the how contribution and deduction amounts should be calculated for employees assigned to a biweekly pay cycle. You can opt to override the standard calculation and instead base the deduction and/or contribution amounts on 24 pay periods or check dates. The Update Employee Package Deductions screen uses this setting when it calculates deduction and contribution amounts for benefit elections.

If you use the 24-Pay Period/Check Date Override option:

You must remember to use a deduction schedule to "turn off" deductions in the appropriate pay periods. For example, if you base your deduction and contribution amounts on the number of checks in the payroll year, you have 26 pay check dates in the payroll year, but you opt to use the 24-Pay Period/Check Date Override option, you will need to use a deduction schedule code to turn off the appropriate deductions when you compute payroll for two of your pay periods. Normally, you will turn off the deduction for the last pay period of each of the two quarters of the year with seven pay periods.
This will override the pay cycle's Benefit Module Setting from the Manage Pay Periods screen. For example, if the pay cycle's Benefit Module Setting is Deduct based on premium as of the check date and the Bi-Weekly Deduction Calculation Method is set to Do not use override, the pay period premium will be based on the number of checks assigned to the pay cycle on the Manage Pay Periods screen. However, if the Bi-Weekly Deduction Calculation Method is set to 24-Pay Period/Check Date Override, the pay period premium will be based on a pay frequency of 24 and the calculation will not use the number of actual pay check dates.

Note: Your selection in this group box does not apply to FSA, which use the pay cycle frequency to determine how premiums are deducted.

Field	Description
Use 24-Pay Period/Check Date Override	Select this option to base the biweekly deduction and/or contribution amounts on 24 pay periods or check dates.
Do not use override	Select this option to use the standard calculation for biweekly deduction and contribution amounts.

Weekly Deduction Calculation Method

Use the selections in this group box to specify how contribution and deduction amounts should be calculated for employees assigned to a weekly pay cycle. You can opt to override the standard calculation and instead base the deduction and/or contribution amounts on 48 pay periods or check dates. The Update Employee Package Deductions screen uses this setting when it calculates deduction and contribution amounts for benefit elections.

If you use the 48-Pay Period/Check Date Override option:

You must remember to use a deduction schedule to "turn off" deductions in the appropriate pay periods. For example, if you base your deduction and contribution amounts on the number of checks in the payroll year, you have 52 pay check dates in the payroll year, but you opt to use the 48-Pay Period/Check Date Override option, you will need to use a deduction schedule code to turn off the appropriate deductions when you compute payroll for four of your pay periods. Normally, you will turn off the deduction for the last week of each of the four months of the year with five pay periods.
This will override the pay cycle's Benefit Module Setting from the Manage Pay Periods screen. For example, if the pay cycle's Benefit Module Setting is Deduct based on premium as of the check date and the Bi-Weekly Deduction Calculation Method is set to Do not use override, the pay period premium will be based on the number of checks assigned to the pay cycle on the Manage Pay Periods screen. However, if the Bi-Weekly Deduction Calculation Method is set to 48-Pay Period/Check Date Override, the pay period premium will be based on a pay frequency of 48 and the calculation will not use the number of actual pay check dates.

Note: Your selection in this group box does not apply to FSA, which use the pay cycle frequency to determine how premiums are deducted.

Field	Description
Use 48-Pay Period/Check Date Override	Select this option to base the weekly deduction and/or contribution amounts on 48 pay periods or check dates.
Do not use override	Select this option to use the standard calculation for weekly deduction and contribution amounts.

Enrollment Validation Method

Use this group box to control how the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen is validated. The system checks enrollment rules for the benefit plan against employee records.

Field	Description
Error	Select this option to prevent updating of the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen when an employee does not meet benefit plan enrollment criteria.
Warning	Select this option if you want a warning message to be issued when an employee does not meet benefit plan enrollment criteria. This allows you to update the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen.
None	Select this option if you do not want enrollment rules enforced. You can update the Manage Employee Benefit Elections screen and no warning message displays.

Benefit Posting Method

Use the selections in this group box to determine how benefits will be posted and computed in payroll.

Field	Description
Lump Sum	Select this option to have benefits roll up for each employee and post at the benefit package level. A benefit package is identified by its deduction code. When this method is used, the Update Employee Package Deductions screen adds up all the coverage options for an employee into one total and inserts only one deduction for the employee. If you select this option, you will be required to enter a package deduction code on the Manage Benefit Packages screen when you set up benefit packages.
Itemize	Select this option to have benefits post at the individual deduction level. Each benefit will be assigned a deduction code. This is the recommended method and is the system default.

Field

Description

Lump Sum

Select this option to have benefits roll up for each employee and post at the benefit package level. A benefit package is identified by its deduction code. When this method is used, the Update Employee Package Deductions screen adds up all the coverage options for an employee into one total and inserts only one deduction for the employee. If you select this option, you will be required to enter a package deduction code on the Manage Benefit Packages screen when you set up benefit packages.

Itemize

Select this option to have benefits post at the individual deduction level. Each benefit will be assigned a deduction code. This is the recommended method and is the system default.

Benefit Pay Type Accounts

Use this table link pay types to accounts. The accounts will be used when posting FSA or Benefit cash out information to the General Ledger.

Field	Description
Pay Type	Enter, or click to select, up to three alphanumeric characters to identify the pay type. This pay type will be used for posting Benefit cash outs or FSA to the General Ledger.
Description	This field displays the pay type description.
Account	Enter, or click to select, the account that will be used when posting the corresponding pay type to the general ledger.

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