Your compliance guide
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When handling your retirement plan, compliance is our highest priority. Follow our online guided process on PlanSponsorLink and you won't miss a thing.
Your plan consultant and our Care Team have your back.
An easy to read guide providing us information to prepare your signature-ready IRS tax filing.
A comprehensive reporting of employee data used to determine key metrics for compliance.
Employee Census 101
What you should know.
Report all employees that received pay at any time during the plan year regardless of their current employment status.
Admittedly, there are some unusual terms in our employee census. Look up key definitions using our 401(k) Glossary.
Total compensation and total 401(k) deferral fields should balance to your year-end payroll reports.
Use the remarks field to let us know about anything special (such as a change in an employee's name).
Compensation generally includes wages and other payments reported on a Form W-2,
K-1, or Schedule C.
Complete and return all information requested via Secure File Share or your Client Portal by January 31st or 30 days after plan year end.
The Annual Employee Census is a comprehensive reporting of employee data such as:
Once per year we collect this information from you to make sure your 401(k) is operating in compliance with certain laws established by the IRS and Department of Labor.
The IRS and Department of Labor require a new tax filing (Form 5500) each year for every 401(k). The Annual Employee Census provides us information needed to prepare your signature-ready forms.
The deadline to return your completed census information to Inde is January 31st, or 30 days after your plan year end if your plan year end is different from December 31st.
It is important that we receive this information by the deadline so that we can begin our comprehensive compliance review.
Any employee receiving a W-2, or any partner or shareholder receiving a K-1 or Schedule C is required to be reported on the census, including:
Tip: Compare the total compensation, employee contributions, and employer contributions fields to your payroll reports. If there are no discrepancies than you know you've included everyone.
Part-time, non-deferring, and/or non-eligible employees are needed in order for us to perform our comprehensive compliance review. We are also required to report a total head count on your tax filing.
In our experience, by asking for all employees, we are also better able to assist you in avoiding compliance errors.
Gross compensation generally includes wages and other payments reported on an employee's Form W-2. Gross compensation also includes 401(k), HSA, and 124 cafeteria plan deferrals.
For sole proprietors, gross compensation is net Schedule C income.
For partners and shareholders, gross compensation is K-1 income.
In addition the Annual Employee Census, we also ask you to return your Annual Compliance Guidebook. Your Annual Compliance Guidebook has additional information used to prepare your signature-ready tax forms.
No, we do not require that you use our specific template. If it is easier to pull the required census data from your Payroll system or Record-keeping system, please do so. If you decide not to use our template, please verify your report has all the information we require.
Make sure you have entered the required information for every employee (e.g., social security number, compensation, hours of service)
Check the totals section in your Annual Employee Census against your payroll reports or Form W-3 to make sure they match.
Use the Remarks field to let us know about anything special (such as a change in last name).
Complete and return all the information requested.
401(k) Limits
A note from the IRS.
Your employees can contribute as much (or as little) as they want,
up to these limits. For more information, see IRS 401(k) Contribution Limits.
| 401(k) LIMITS | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 401(k) Elective Deferral Limit | $ 22,500 | $ 20,500 | $ 19,500 |
| Catch-up Contribution Limit | $ 7,500 | $ 6,500 | $ 6,500 |
| Annual Combined Contribution Limit | $ 66,000 | $ 61,000 | $ 58,000 |
| Annual Compensation Limit | $ 330,000 | $ 305,000 | $ 290,000 |
| Highly Compensated Employees | $ 150,000 | $ 135,000 | $ 130,000 |
| Non 401(k) Related Limits | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 403(b)/457 Elective Deferral | $ 22,500 | $ 20,500 | $ 19,500 |
| SIMPLE Employee Deferrals | $ 15,500 | $ 14,000 | $ 13,500 |
| SIMPLE Catch-up Deferral | $ 3,500 | $ 3,000 | $ 3,000 |
| SEP Minimum Compensation | $ 750 | $ 650 | $ 650 |
| SEP Annual Compensation Limit | $ 330,000 | $ 305,000 | $ 290,000 |
| Social Security Wage Base | $ 160,200 | $ 147,000 | $ 142,800 |
