The complexity of ACA compliance and reporting continues to evolve and places an excessive burden on HR departments. Those who have outsourced are finding that not all vendors are accurately managing their data, or their solution is not comprehensive and lacks support. Those that are managing compliance in house are feeling the increasing administrative strain and complexity. And either way, both are at higher risk of non-compliance.
Here are five advantages you get when you invest in a complete, best-in-class ACA solution:
- Saves you time. ACA-related tasks are complex and time consuming. End-to-end ACA compliance takes hours of effort every month plus an extra sprint at the beginning of the year to review 1095-C forms prior to distribution and filing with the IRS. Outsourcing allows HR to redirect attention to other areas by recouping time spent reviewing data, pulling reports, reading current laws and managing deadlines.
- Gives you ACA expertise. The level of service for compliance is key, and it takes a much higher level of support than a generalist. A comprehensive ACA solution gives you dedicated support that keeps up with changes to the law, manages ACA throughout the year, proactively identifies potential issues, and investigates penalties .
- Reduces the risk of penalties. Pulling data from disparate systems can lead to jumbled, inaccurate or incomplete reporting that can carry hefty fines. A comprehensive solution pulls together data from different sources, analyzes the data, and proactively identifies any issues to help ensure compliance with IRS reporting requirements. And with additional complexities such as multiple EINs, seasonal/variable-hour employees, mergers and acquisitions, and rehired employees, this becomes even more important. With a solution designed for ACA reporting and experts that review and clean data monthly, you can help reduce your risk of incurring IRS penalties.
- Solves for state mandate reporting. When each state passes its own individual mandate, the difficulty level for total compliance increases, and not all ACA vendors or HRIS/Payroll systems are helping their clients with compliance. Internal HR departments struggle to monitor all these moving parts, which take time away from other critical tasks. Your ACA solution should include the option to add state mandate reporting, so that you don’t need to worry about these additional requirements or tricky technical interfaces to report. Your outsourced experts can identify who is affected and manage the reporting on your behalf.
- Streamlines the process. Integrating a robust ACA solution into your existing benefits administration platform combines everything needed into one place. Benefits and eligibility data are readily accessible, reporting is accurately managed, and it allows you to maintain a historical record of ACA.
Partnering with a vendor who specializes in ACA Compliance is vital to help ensure accuracy. Our Benefitfocus® ACA Compliance Solution combines software and end-to-end service to take the burden of ACA off your hands. It helps with everything from aggregating and analyzing your data, proactively alerting you to any issues monthly, filing with the IRS, assisting with penalty notices and managing state mandate reporting.
Learn more about our ACA compliance solution.
