Tips and Guidelines for Entering Adjustments

Reporting prior period, retroactive and current month adjustments can be tricky at times. This document is intended to provide helpful clarification on the process.

Each row within the detail file employers submit represents a specific field. The header row displays as follows:

The arrows above indicate:

• The header record of a fixed length
• The version number of the file format
• The type of report
• The employer code
• The report month
• The file creation date

The next set of rows contains the details for individual members in the file including the transaction type field where the types of adjustments are indicated (all of the fields are not displayed for the example). The detail row displays as follows:

The arrows above indicate:

• The record type
• The transaction type ~
• C = Regular Contribution
• P = Prior Period Adjustment
• R = Retroactive Payment
• A = Current Adjustment
• The posting month
• The member SSN
• The plan type
• The contract type
• The TRS eligibility date
• The job classification code
• The service credit eligibility flag
• The increase/decrease contract pay
• The contract pay

The highlighted fields in the examples above represent the transaction type. Contributions for the current month reported as an increase or decrease, should have a transaction type of C. The first row above is an example of a regular contribution. The example indicates the posting month of 11/2011 with an increase of 512.05 for the contract pay.

Contributions for any prior month can be reported as an increase or decrease with a transaction type of P. The second row above is an example of a prior period adjustment. The example indicates that for the posting month of 01/2011 there should be a decrease of 100.00 for the contract pay. During the report of 01/2011 if 1000.00 were previously reported as the contract pay, the posting month of 11/2011 will indicate an adjustment for 100.00 and the posting month of 01/2011 will reflect as 900.00 for the member. Prior period adjustments can also be reflected as increases.

Contributions that were never reported for any prior month can be reported as an increase or decrease with a transaction type of R. The third row above is an example of a retroactive adjustment. The example indicates that for the posting month of 05/2003 there should be 200.00 for the contract pay. During the report of 05/2003, no contributions were reported for the member.

Contributions for the current month that require an adjustment should have a transaction type of A. The fourth row above is an example of a current month adjustment. The example indicates the posting month of 11/2011 with an increase of 2000.00 for the contract pay. If the current pay reported was 500.00, the current month adjustment will post 2500.00 as the member’s 11/2011 contribution.

We hope this document has been helpful. If you have any questions, please contact your assigned employer services representative.

Thanks for your partnership in service to your employees!