ACA Reporting - Expanded

ACA Reporting assists you in creating the forms that are needed to report health care coverage to the federal government. The option for ACA Reporting can be found on the Payroll Reports menu.

This Section Includes:

Overview

What does ACA stand for and how does it affect ministries in the US?

ACA stands for the Affordable Care Act which was signed into law in 2010. The ACA law makes it a shared responsibility of individuals, employers, and the government to ensure that as many people as possible have health insurance.

The law does not require all U.S. employers to offer health insurance to their employees. It only requires an employer defined by federal regulations as an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) to offer health insurance to its employees. An ALE must make insurance available to their employees or pay a penalty. They must also report the employee-provided health insurance to the federal government.

Click on the image below to view a walk-through of the ACA Reporting:

This video overview may include some out-of-date images. We appreciate your patience as we work to get these videos updated. 

What should I do to get ready for ACA reporting?

The first and most important thing to do is to determine if you are required to report the health care of employees to the federal government. This can be determined by two criteria:

  1. If you are an employer that has over 50 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) employees, you are considered an Applicable Large Employer and are required to report health care information to the federal government.

Use the following link to calculate your Full-Time Equivalent employees:

https://www.Healthcare.gov/Shop-Calculators-FTE/

  1. If you are an employer that is self-insured, you are required to report health care information to the federal government. (Effective for calendar year 2015. This rule was optional for 2014.) For more detailed information on how the Affordable Care Act affects employers, click the following link:

https://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Employers

If I am required to report my health care information to the federal government, what can I do to get started?

We highly recommend that you download the IRS forms and instructions and familiarize yourself with the data that is required. If you are an Applicable Large Employer (ALE), then you are required to file form 1094-C and 1095-C. Below are links for these forms and their instructions.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Form-1094-C

https://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Form-1095-C

If you are not an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) but you are self-insured, then you are required to file form 1094-B and 1095-B. Below are links for these forms and their instructions.

https://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Form-1094-B

https://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Form-1095-B

What can I do to prepare my data before printing or e-filing the ACA reports?

To prepare your data for ACA Reporting, we recommend that you verify the following fields on each employee record before running the ACA Reporting option:

  • First Name
  • Middle Name
  • Last Name
  • Address (Address Line 1, City, State, and Postal Code)
  • Hire Date
  • Work Status
  • Employment Status
  • Social Security Number

If you also have Arena and are a self-insured employer, then the family members entered in Arena automatically show as covered individuals on the ACA reports. Information on covered individuals is only required if the employer is self-insured. If you are self-insured, we recommend that you verify the following fields for each family member before running the ACA Reports:

  • First Name
  • Middle Name
  • Last Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Social Security Number

How do I access the ACA reporting option in Financials?

The ACA reporting option is accessed using the Payroll Reports menu. It guides employers through the process of creating the reports needed for federal filing. These reports include the 1094-C and 1095-C forms if you are an ALE, or the 1094-B and 1095-B forms if you are self-insured. These forms can either be printed or e-filed.

 

Company Data

The Company Data page helps guide you through the first and most important decision concerning ACA Reporting - Are you required to file ACA Reports? If you answer "NO" to the first two questions on this page, you are NOT required to file ACA forms to the IRS.

Press the adjacent button to import last year's data. This action cannot be undone.

Click the Import button to have the ACA website bring over your selections and information from last year’s wizard. This allows you to simply update any changes when processing the current year’s forms. Below are the items that can be imported:

  • Company Data: All Items
  • Employee Data: Covered Individuals (only if they didn't come from Financials)
  • Other ALE Members: Members from the previous year

Do you have 50 or more Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Employees?

If you are an employer that has over 50 Full-Time Equivalent employees, you are considered an Applicable Large Employer and are required to report health care information to the federal government. Use the following link to calculate your FTE employees:

https://www.Healthcare.gov/Shop-Calculators-FTE/

Are you self-insured?

Self-insured employers pay for their workers’ health care costs either by paying providers directly or through reimbursement to the workers, and the firms bear the risk associated with year-to-year fluctuations in workers’ expenditure levels.

NOTE: The following questions, check boxes, and defaults appear if you are an employer that has more than 50 FTE employees.

Are you a Designated Government Entity (DGE) filing on behalf of an employer?

A Designated Government Entity (DGE) refers to a government entity that is designated to file for another government unit. Refer to Question #24 of the IRS web page - Questions and Answers on Reporting of Offers of Health Insurance Coverage by Employers for more information about designated government entities.

Are you a member of an Aggregated ALE group?

If you have multiple Applicable Large Employer’s with separate EIN numbers, you can group them together in what is called an Aggregated ALE group. An example of this could be where both a church and a school qualify as an ALE and would like to report their health care information in one report.

Certifications of Eligibility (check all that apply)

Selecting any of the following check boxes puts a check mark on the corresponding box on the 1094-C form. For more information on Certificates of Eligibility, see pages 6-8 of the Instructions for Form 1094-C.

  • Qualifying Offer Method - Checking this box puts a check in the Qualifying Offer Method box when the 1094-C form is generated.
  • Qualifying Offer Method Transition Relief - Checking this box puts a check in the Qualifying Offer Method Transition Relief box when the 1094-C form is generated.
  • Section 4980H Transition Relief - Checking this box puts a check in the Section 4980H Transition Relief box when the 1094-C form is generated. Selecting this option also adds a "Section 4980H Transition Relief" column to the grid on the Monthly Information page.
  • 98% Offer Method - Checking this box puts a check in the 98% Offer Method box when the 1094-C form is generated.

Employee Defaults

The values entered here are automatically assigned to corresponding grid fields on the Employee Data page (which is the next page in the ACA Reporting process). After a grid field has been changed on the Employee Data page, it will not be overwritten by a default value the next time the ACA Reporting is processed.

Minimum Essential Coverage Offered

Select the minimum essential coverage that was offered to your employees.

  • 1A - Qualifying Offer: Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to full-time employee with employee contribution for self-only coverage equal to or less than 9.5% mainland single federal poverty line and at least minimum essential coverage offered to spouse and dependent(s).
  • 1B - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee only.
  • 1C - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to dependent(s) (not spouse).
  • 1D - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to spouse (not dependent(s)).
  • 1E - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to dependent(s) and spouse.
  • 1F - Minimum essential coverage NOT providing minimum value offered to employee, or employee and spouse or dependent(s), or employee, spouse and dependents.
  • 1G - Offer of coverage to employee who was not a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year and who enrolled in self-insured coverage for one or more months of the calendar year.
  • 1H - No offer of coverage (employee not offered any health coverage or employee offered coverage that is not minimum essential coverage).
  • 1I - Qualifying Offer Transition Relief 2015: Employee (and spouse or dependents) received no offer of coverage, received an offer that is not a qualifying offer, or received a qualifying offer for less than 12 months.

Employee Share of Lowest Cost Monthly Premium

Enter the dollar amount for the lowest cost monthly premium that the employee was responsible for paying. This amount can be modified per employee on the Employee Offer and Coverage grid.

Safe Harbor Code

Select the default Safe Harbor code. This code can be modified per employee on the Employee Data page.

  • 2A - Employee not employed during the month
  • 2B - Employee not a full-time employee
  • 2C - Employee enrolled in coverage offered
  • 2D - Employee in a section 4980H(b) Limited Non-Assessment Period
  • 2E - Multi-employer interim rule relief
  • 2F - Section 4980H affordability Form W-2 safe harbor
  • 2G - Section 4980H affordability federal poverty line safe harbor
  • 2H - Section 4980H affordability rate of pay safe harbor
  • 2I - Non-calendar year transition relief applies to this employee

NOTE: The ACA Reporting site times out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Information that was entered when the time out occurs is saved.

Click the  button to proceed to the next page in the process of ACA Reporting.

 

Employee Data

The Employee Data page allows you to view your employees before moving to the next page. An employee highlighted in red indicates that the record is incomplete. Incomplete records may need one of the following corrections:

  • Add the First Name, Last Name, Address (Address Line 1, City, State, and Postal Code), and Social Security Number to an employee and rerun the ACA Reporting option.
  • For self-insured employers, each employee must have at least one Covered Individual with a First Name, Last Name, SSN or Birth Date, and at least one Month of Coverage selected.
  • Exclude the Employee. Selecting this option excludes the employee from the ACA reports and allows you to move forward with the ACA Reporting process. Even though selecting the Exclude check box allows you to move forward, you will still need to make corrections to the employee and rerun the ACA Reporting option to have the employee included on the ACA reports.

Employees Grid

Employees with payroll processed in the calendar year selected display on the Employees Grid. The required fields for an employee include: First Name, Last Name, a valid Address (Address Line 1, City, State, and Postal Code), and a Social Security Number.

Employee information that is not complete needs to be corrected in Financials. You can then rerun the ACA Reporting option to update the employee information that displays on the Employees grid. Below are the grid columns:

  • Exclude - Checking this option excludes the employee from the ACA Reporting. Even though selecting the Exclude check box allows you to move forward, you will still need to make corrections to the employee and rerun the ACA Reporting option to have the employee included on the ACA reports.
  • SSN - Displays the Social Security Number for the employee.
  • First Name - Displays the First Name of the employee.
  • M.I. - Displays the Middle Initial of the employee.
  • Last Name - Displays the Last Name of the employee.
  • Address - Displays a check mark if the employee has a valid address (Address Line 1, City, State, and Postal Code). Hover over the check mark to view the address.
  • Hire Date - Displays the date that the employee was hired.
  • Work Status - Displays the work status assigned to the employee.
  • Status - Displays the status of the employee.
  • Cov. Inds. - Displays the number of Covered Individuals assigned to the employee. If you are using Financials (without Arena), you are able to add Covered Individuals, and this number will automatically be updated. The Cov. Inds. column only displays for self-insured employers.

Employee Offer and Coverage Grid

This grid only displays if you selected that you are a member of ALE group on the Company Information page. Enter the Offer of Coverage, Employee Share, and Safe Harbor information for the corresponding month(s) where it applies or for the All 12 Months. (At least one month has to be entered in order to proceed with the ACA Processing.)

Click the Edit  icon to activate a row for editing. After a row has been activated, you can make changes on that row. Click the Save icon to save your changes for that row or click the Cancel  icon to cancel your changes.

Month

There is one row for each month and a row for All 12 Months. If an employee's Offer and Coverage is the same for every month, enter it once in the All 12 Months row.

Offer of Coverage

  • 1A - Qualifying Offer: Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to full-time employee with employee contribution for self-only coverage equal to or less than 9.5% mainland single federal poverty line and at least minimum essential coverage offered to spouse and dependent(s).
  • 1B - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee only.
  • 1C - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to dependent(s) (not spouse).
  • 1D - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to spouse (not dependent(s)).
  • 1E - Minimum essential coverage providing minimum value offered to employee and at least minimum essential coverage offered to dependent(s) and spouse.
  • 1F - Minimum essential coverage NOT providing minimum value offered to employee, or employee and spouse or dependent(s), or employee, spouse and dependents.
  • 1G - Offer of coverage to employee who was not a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year and who enrolled in self-insured coverage for one or more months of the calendar year.
  • 1H - No offer of coverage (employee not offered any health coverage or employee offered coverage that is not minimum essential coverage).
  • 1I - Qualifying Offer Transition Relief 2015: Employee (and spouse or dependents) received no offer of coverage, received an offer that is not a qualifying offer, or received a qualifying offer for less than 12 months.

Employee Share

Enter the dollar amount for the lowest cost monthly premium that the employee was responsible for paying.

Safe Harbor

  • 2A - Employee not employed during the month
  • 2B - Employee not a full-time employee
  • 2C - Employee enrolled in coverage offered
  • 2D - Employee in a section 4980H(b) Limited Non-Assessment Period
  • 2E - Multi-employer interim rule relief
  • 2F - Section 4980H affordability Form W-2 safe harbor
  • 2G - Section 4980H affordability federal poverty line safe harbor
  • 2H - Section 4980H affordability rate of pay safe harbor
  • 2I - Non-calendar year transition relief applies to this employee

Covered Individuals Grid

This grid only displays if you selected the option that you are self-insured from the Company Information page. All Covered Individuals must contain a First Name, Last Name, either a SSN or Birth Date, and at least one Month of Coverage checked. If they do not, the employee record is not complete and will be highlighted in red.

If you are using Financials with Arena, the family members related to the employee automatically display in the Covered Individuals grid. Covered individual information that is incomplete should be corrected in Financials and then you can re-run the ACA Reporting option to update the covered individual information.

If you are using Financials without Arena, then the Covered Individuals can be entered and modified manually on the grid.

  • Exclude - Checking this option excludes the Covered Individual from ACA Reporting. The Exclude column only displays if you are a Financials with Arena customer. If you are a Financials customer that does not have Arena, an Add  icon appears so that you can add your covered individuals.
  • First Name - Displays the First Name of the Covered Individual.
  • M.I. - Displays the Middle Initial of the Covered Individual.
  • Last Name - Displays the Last Name of the Covered Individual.
  • SSN - Displays the Social Security Number for the Covered Individual.
  • Birth Date - Displays the Birth Date of the Covered Individual.
  • Months of Coverage - Check the boxes for the months where health care was provided for the Covered Individual or select the All box if health care was provided for every month of the year.

The Refresh  icon is an indicator that will rotate when the information on the grid is being refreshed.

NOTE: The ACA Reporting site times out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Information that was entered when the time out occurs is saved.

Click the  button to proceed to the next page in the process of ACA Reporting.

 

Monthly Information

Monthly Information page is where you enter or modify the summary information of health care provided to your employees.

Click the Edit  icon to activate a row for editing. After a row has been activated, you can make changes on that row. Click the Save icon to save your changes for that row or click the Cancel  icon to cancel your changes.

  • The Description column cannot be edited. There is one row for each month and a row for All 12 Months.  If the monthly information is the same for every month, enter it once in the All 12 Months row.
  • Minimum Essential Coverage Offered - Select either "Yes" or "No" depending on whether or not minimum essential coverage was offered to your full-time employees and their dependents. Refer to the section labeled Column (a) Minimum Essential Coverage Offer Indicator on page 8 of the Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C for more information about minimum essential coverage.
  • FTE Employee Count - Enter the number of full-time equivalent employees for at least one month or for All 12 Months.
  • Total Employee Count - Enter the Total Employee count for at least one month or for All 12 Months.
  • Aggregated Group Indicator - This option only appears if you answered "Yes" to the question "Are you a member of an Aggregated ALE Group?" on the Company Data page. Check the box for at least one month or for All 12 Months.
  • Section 4980H Transition Relief - This option only appears if you selected the check box "Section 4980H Transition Relief" on the Company Data page. Select one of the following two options for at least one month or the All 12 Months.
    • A  50-99 Transition Relief
    • B  100 or More Transition Relief

NOTE: The ACA Reporting site times out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Information that was entered when the time out occurs is saved.

Click the  button to proceed to the next page in the process of ACA Reporting.

 

Other ALE Members

If you answered "Yes" to the question "Are you a member of an Aggregated ALE Group?" on the Company Data page, then this page appears so that you can enter the other ALE Members of your Aggregated ALE group.

Click the Edit  icon to activate a row for editing. After a row has been activated, you can make changes on that row. Click the Save icon to save your changes for that row or click the Cancel  icon to cancel your changes. Click the Delete  icon to delete a row.

  • Member Name - Enter the name of an organization that is part of the Aggregated ALE group.
  • Member EIN - Enter the EIN for the organization that is part of the Aggregated ALE group.

NOTE: The ACA Reporting site times out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Information that was entered when the time out occurs is saved.

Click the  button to proceed to the next page in the process of ACA Reporting.

 

Form Selection

The Form Selection page is the last page of the ACA Reporting process. Make your final selections here before generating the ACA Reports.

Is this the authoritative transmittal for this ALE Member?

Select "Yes" if this is the authoritative transmittal for this ALE member. Another field appears for you to enter the total number of employees that you are reporting.

Select "No" if this is not the authoritative transmittal for this ALE member.

For more information on authoritative transmittals, see page 2 of the Instructions for Form 1094-C.

Company Contact

Enter the First and Last name for the contact person at your organization that you would like the IRS to contact if they have any questions concerning your ACA Reports.

Return Signer Title

Enter the Title of the person who is signing the ACA Reports. The title entered here prints in the Title field at the bottom of the 1094-B and 1094-C Reports.

Report Type

Select whether you want to print or e-file the ACA Reports. (Printed reports are downloaded as zipped PDF files.)

Form 1095 - Orientation

1094 Forms are always landscape. Select the orientation for Form 1095.

  • Landscape (traditional form)
  • Portrait (up to 6 covered individuals)
  • Portrait (up to 28 covered individuals)
  • Mailer

Nelco Form Type

Select the Nelco form type that you are using.

  • Blank
  • Preprinted

NOTE: The ACA Reporting site times out after 20 minutes of inactivity. Information that was entered when the time out occurs is saved.

Click the  button to generate your ACA Reports.

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