403(b)/457(b) Administration and Compliance Service (ACS)

Introduction to ACS
Don’t let the new 403(b) Rules intimidate you. EBC’s Administration and Compliance Service has been submitting contribution data and funds to vendors for the past (12) twelve years. The ACS can calculate contribution limits, track hardship withdrawals, loans, loan repayments, and transfers. That is all the IRS is requiring you to do.

EBC currently submits contribution data and funds to over 40 vendors. Our common remitter service is fast and effective. The whole process of uploading payroll information, reconciling, printing and posting should take your payroll administrator no more than 9 minutes. EBC staff is also available to employers and employees to answer compliance and administrative questions as they arise.

ACS is a fully encrypted web-based application that will allow employers to track and maintain employee 403(b)/457(b) contributions, contribution limits, transfers, loan applications, loan repayments, catch-up provision, and hardship withdrawals.

The following is a list of documents and features that are available through the ACS. After this list you will find a brief description of each item listed.

Plan Document

Information Sharing Agreement

Universal Vendor Agreement

Hold Harmless Clause

Information Sharing Agreement

Employer Access to ACS website

Common Remitter

Compliance Checklist

Contribution Limit Chart

Salary Reduction Agreement

Vendor List

Universal Availability Notice

On-line tracking of employee 403(b) activities

Reports on-line

Plan Document
Employer will receive a Written Plan reviewed for state and federal compliance. The Written Plan will be updated as necessary with respect to federal and state law changes. All amendments or updates are prospective unless federal law dictates otherwise.

Universal Vendor Agreement
All vendors participating in the ACS program must sign a UVA. The UVA contains an information sharing agreement and a hold harmless clause.

Employer Access to ACS website
Your payroll person logs into our encrypted website and uploads a file containing contribution information exported from your payroll system. This is then instantly available to you for reconciling to your internal reports. This information allows us to submit funds, and accounting detail, to your appropriate vendors. In addition, you have data entry screens available for tracking loans, hardship withdrawals, exchanges, and transfers. Data entered has the applicable rules applied to it. (For example, if an employee is approved for a hardship withdrawal the system will not let the employee contribute to a 403(b) Plan until the 6 months have elapsed from the withdrawal.) EBC will provide ongoing technical support and training for the ACS.

Common Remitter
Once payroll information is uploaded and the contribution file is reconciled a report may be printed and the information is submitted for processing through the ACS. This submission triggers an email that is sent to the ACS Administrator notifying him/her that a contribution report has been posted. The Administrator will retrieve the funds sent by employer and forward to the various vendors with a vendor specific detail report.

Compliance Checklist
“To Do” list of items to make sure you are compliant.

Contribution Limit Chart
Employer shall receive an updated “Contribution Limit Chart” each year. This chart will also be available on our website.

Salary Reduction Agreement
A “Salary Reduction Agreement” will be available that can be used for any provider included in your Written Plan.

Vendor List
You will designate the vendors you wish to have included in your list of 403(b)/457(b) Plan providers, and you may change that list at will. Only vendors that have agreed to share information as required by Federal law and have signed EBC's Universal Vendor Agreement will be included as options in the ACS Plan for payroll deductions and future transfers. Your Plan will also maintain a Vendor Contact List which includes vendors that have received payroll deductions on or after January 1, 2005. This list is maintained in the event of an IRS Audit. Click here to view EBC's list of approved vendors.

Universal Availability Notice
Employer will also have access to the newly required “Universal Availability Notice”. This notice must be provided to employees at least once a year.

403(b) Transaction History
When data has been entered regarding a transaction type, appropriate rules are applied. For example, if an employee is approved for a hardship withdrawal the system will not allow employee/employer contributions to a 403(b) Plan until the 6 months have lapsed from withdrawal date. The system also tracks loans and loan repayments, transfers and contribution limits (applies rules to catch up provisions as well). Contribution history is available for limit monitoring. The employer may view historical transactions for any employee related information.

On-line Reports
Employers have access to on-line reporting capability (e.g., Contribution Reports, Vendor Reports, Payroll Reports, Pay Code Reports, District Account Activity, Employee Account Activity, Account History, etc.).

Choose from Two Different Service Levels

EBC provides two different levels of service for the Administration and Compliance Service. We refer to the basic level of service as “ACS Third Party Administration” (ACS TPA) we refer to the advanced level of service as “ACS Third Party Administration Plus” (ACS TPA Plus).

Both service levels provide the documents and services described previously in this proposal.

The table below shows the differences between the “ACS TPA” service arrangement and the “ACS TPA Plus” service arrangement.

Differences between TPA and TPA Plus Services
Service	TPA Employer Responsibility to Perform Service	TPA Plus EBC Responsibility to Perform Service
Employee Customer Service (who is the contact)	Answer employee questions	Answer employee questions
Group Education	Bring experts in to educate employees	Bring experts in to educate employees
Data Entry (e.g., loans, transfers, hardship withdrawals)	The District enters all 403(b) transactions into the system	EBC enters all 403(b) transactions into the system
Sign Off On Transactions	District	EBC