Once your program is launched, you will need to complete the following tasks each month:
Approve Statements
In order to ensure your participants will receive a contribution to their student loans and/or 529 accounts, the monthly statement for your program(s) must be approved from within your Gradifi Employer account by close of business on the third business day of the month.
A statement approval notification email will be sent to account administrators on the first business day of the month.
- The email prompts account administrators to log into their account and view the statement, which includes eligible participants receiving contributions and the total amount of funding due for the month. This funding amount includes both contributions and any applicable monthly fees.
- An automated feature can be enabled to approve the monthly statement (or multiple statements if you offer both Student Loan PayDown and College SaveUp) by close of business on the third business day of the month on your behalf.
- To turn on or off the auto-approval feature, go to the "Profile Settings" section and click Auto Approval.
- Administrators will still have the ability to view and edit the statement prior to Auto Approval by the third business day of the month.
Download and Submit Tax Reports to Payroll
After monthly statements are approved, the “Monthly Contribution Report” will be available to download and share with your payroll administrator to track the contribution amounts paid per participant each month. For tax-related questions, please contact a tax/payroll specialist.
If you offer both Student Loan PayDown and College SaveUp, we recommend downloading each report separately.
Downloading Tax Reports
From the main dashboard, click on Reports in the top navigation bar.
At the bottom of the page, select the monthly report you want to access, and click the Download button next to “Monthly Contribution Report.”
Send the report to your payroll administrator for processing.
Note: It’s recommended to conduct any applicable withholdings in the payroll cycle closest to the third week of the month when Gradifi performs the disbursements.
For Student Loan PayDown
The legislation for student loan repayment benefits allows employees to receive up to $5,250 in federal tax-free contributions towards their student loans from their employer each year; state income tax treatment may vary by state.
Please consult your tax advisor for all questions related to individual employee tax questions.
For College SaveUp
- Your payroll administrator should know that College SaveUp generates inputted income data by participant to enable payroll to withhold taxes on the participant’s contributions.
- The contributions are considered a taxable fringe benefit and should be reported as ordinary income with withholdings in boxes 1, 3, and 5 of the participant’s W-2.
- While the contribution is reported as income (from which taxes are withheld), the contribution amount should not be included in the participant’s take-home pay because it has already been funded to Gradifi for disbursement to the participant’s 529 account.