Entering Payroll Contributions Data Directly Into the Portal
In this article, we’ll walk through the process for entering payroll contributions data directly into the grid shown on your emergency savings account (ESA) portal.
1. Navigate to the “Contributions” Tab on your ESA Portal
After logging into your employer portal and selecting your ESA program on the dashboard, click on the contributions icon on the left-hand side of your ESA portal, as shown below. The contributions tab icon looks like a hand holding a coin. This will bring you to the correct page for uploading your ESA payroll contributions file.
Once you have navigated to the “Contributions” page, click Start Contribution.
2. Enter Your Contribution Information Into the Contribution Grid
On your portal, you will see a grid with a combination of gray-shaded and white-shaded editable and non-editable columns. Note that the only employees shown on the grid will be currently registered and eligible employees.
Editable Columns
The only column you’ll be able to edit will be the white-shaded column labeled “Savings $ Amount.” This is the dollar amount each employee is deducting from their paycheck for their ESA during the pay period. You can retrieve this information from your payroll system after you run payroll. Copy over each employee’s savings amount from your payroll system into this column.
Non-Editable Columns
The rest of the columns shaded gray are non-editable fields. Some of these columns are pre-populated with your participating employees’ names, social security numbers, and other personal information based on the census data and other information you have provided during onboarding and program setup. If you offer any incentive, including an “Employer Match,” “Initial Deposit Bonus,” or “Milestone Bonus,” the data within these columns will be automatically calculated based on the “Savings $ Amount” for each employee and your incentive program design. If you do not offer any of these incentives or an incentive is not applicable, $0 will be shown.
Here’s a summary of the non-editable columns you’ll see in the grid and the source of the data included:
- SSN (Social Security Number): Pre-populated based on census and onboarding data
- Last Name: Pre-populated based on census and onboarding data
- First Name: Pre-populated based on census and onboarding data
- DOB (Date of Birth): Pre-populated based on census and onboarding data
- Employee Group: Pre-populated based on onboarding data and program setup
- Employer Match: If offered, this data is automatically calculated based on the appropriate match amount you offer each employee, given the match structure you have designed
- Initial Deposit Bonus: If offered, this amount is automatically populated for your applicable employees making their first contributions this pay period. The amount is based on the incentive structure you have designed
- Milestone Bonus: If offered this amount is automatically populated for your applicable employees that hit a certain milestone amount in their ESA this pay period. The amount is based on the incentive structure you have designed
If you need to make any changes to data in the contribution grid within the non-editable columns, you can contact our support team by calling (917) 979-5358 and selecting option 3 or by emailing us at clientsuccess@vestwell.com.
3. Review Your Contributions Data
Once you’ve entered all required payroll contribution data for your participating employees, you will have a chance to verify that the information displayed on your ESA portal is accurate. You can sort any column on the contribution grid by clicking on that column header. When you click, you will see an arrow pointing up or down. The “down” arrow will sort the column from greatest value to least value, and the “up” arrow will sort the column from least value to greatest value. Click again on the same column header to change the direction of the sorting.
At this stage, you will also be able to view the contribution totals summarized at the bottom of the screen. These represent the totals across all employees for the designated pay cycle.
- “Employee Contribution” shows the total ESA contribution amount made across all participating employees for this pay period. This is the total amount deducted from all employee paychecks towards saving in their ESA.
- “Employer Match” shows the total ESA match amount you are providing towards your employees’ ESAs for this pay period if you offer a match.
- “Initial Deposit Bonus” shows the total sign-up bonus amount you are providing for applicable employees that hit the initial deposit threshold you have set during program setup, if you offer an initial deposit bonus.
- “Milestone Bonus” shows the total milestone bonus amount you are providing towards your applicable employees’ ESAs, if you offer one.
If you need to edit the data displayed in the contribution grid on your portal, you can contact our support team by calling (917) 979-5358 and selecting option 3 or by emailing us at clientsuccess@vestwell.com. Additionally, you can use our support chatbot in the lower right-hand corner of your employer portal for help.
4. Send Your Contributions Data for Validation
Once you have reviewed the contributions data displayed on your portal and are satisfied, click the Send & Validate button to proceed. If the button is gray and unable to be clicked, this means you have missing or invalid information you will need to correct before proceeding.
5. Perform a Final Review of Your Submission
You will now be brought to a “Review Submission” page for a final review of the contribution details you have provided for this pay cycle. This page will show a summary of the contribution details for this pay cycle, including the total contribution amount that will be deducted from your bank account. This total is inclusive of all employee contributions withheld from employee paychecks and any employer contributions. On this review page, you will have the opportunity to take several actions:
- You can click Edit Submission to go back and make further edits to the data.
- You can click Cancel Submission to delete the submission and start over.
- You can click Complete Submission once again to fully submit the contribution data.
If you click Complete Submission to complete your contributions data submission for this pay cycle, a confirmation screen will pop up to confirm that you have successfully submitted your contributions data for further processing. The submission process is now complete and you can click the Back to Transactions button to return to the “Contributions” dashboard.
Even after you receive this submission confirmation, you will have 1 hour to cancel the submission if needed. You can do this by clicking on the three dots next to your submission on the contributions dashboard and choosing Cancel.
If you have any questions during your ESA payroll contribution submission process, you can reach out to clientsuccess@vestwell.com.