Page Descriptions

This section provides descriptions of all Employer Reports pages and tips for using the pages. You can jump to a specific page description by clicking a link below.

•The List Employer Reports page displays a list of your employer reports for the selected fiscal or calendar year. You can select any report from the list to view details. You may also edit reports that are not yet submitted to TRS, and you can create a brand new report from this page.

•The Report Summary page displays a summary of contributions for the selected month's report and provides access to important functions such as editing (i.e., validating) the report and submitting it to TRS.

oA progress bar displays at the top of the Report Summary page to help you manage your reports.

•The Employer Report - Member List page can be accessed from either the List Employer Reports page or the Report Summary page. It displays a list of all members in the selected report. From here, you can add or remove TRS members from your report and you can select a specific member to access Member Detail pages.

•Employer Report - Member Detail pages allow you to view or update a member's wage and contribution details for the selected pay period.

•The Employer Report - Add Member to Report page adds an existing TRS member to the selected report.

The List Employer Reports page appears automatically when you have logged into the Wage & Contribution Reporting System and have passed through the Welcome page for your employer ID. You can also access this page anytime by clicking the Employer Reports menu option.

•By default, the List Employer Reports page lists all reports that exist for the fiscal year of your most recent report. For example, when you upload a July report, the year is updated and only the July report is displayed by default.

•The Year drop-down list at the top of the page allows you to select a prior year to view all contribution and adjustment reports for that year.

•You also can choose Calendar Year instead of Fiscal Year to view reports from January onward. The display refreshes when you change this selection.

Pay Period: The month and year of the report. Reports are listed from newest to oldest.

•Your monthly contribution report always displays 1 C, indicating that it is the contribution report (as opposed to an adjustment report) for this pay period. It is not possible to create another contribution report for the same period.

•If you create one adjustment report for this period, the No / Type field displays 2 A. This code indicates it is the second report for this period. If you create another adjustment report for this pay period, it will be 3 A, and so on.

•The sequence number is assigned automatically by the system based on the report type (Contribution or Adjustment).

Post: An indicator of whether the contributions in this report have been posted to TRS members' accounts. A check mark displays for posted reports.

Employee Contribution: The total amount of employee contributions in this report.

Employer Contribution: The total amount of employer contributions in this report.

•Note: If the report includes termination pay or contributions for working retirees, those amounts are listed in separate rows, labeled Term Pay or Work Retiree.

Over+ / Short-: The amount of any overage (shown with a plus + sign) or shortage (minus - sign) in this report, based on a comparison between the calculated amount due and the total amount remitted to TRS.

•The View

button accesses the Report Summary for the selected report. The report summary shows more information about the employer and employee contributions and other details. See Report Summary, below.

•The Employees

button allows you to view a list of employees (members) included in this report. See Employer Report - Member List, below.

•The Add Report

button, to the right of the Total Remitted column, is used to create a new employer report header record from scratch. This might be done, for example, to create an adjustment report. See Step-by-Step Procedures for creating a report header.

Access the Report Summary page for a specific employer report by clicking the View

button on the List Employer Reports page. The page displays total employer and employee contributions for this pay period, as well as status information about the report itself.

TIP: Reports that are not yet submitted will display both an Edit

button and an Employees

button in the upper right corner. If the report already has been submitted to TRS, no Edit button is available.

TIP: A green Progress Bar displays at the top of this screen. Click the Progress Bar Features link below to see a detailed description.

1. New reports begin in Ready to Edit status.

•Run the Employer Edit Report to allow the system to validate your report.

TIP: This status does not apply to "$0 Contribution" reports. To comply with the requirement to submit a report each month, employers may create a "$0 Contribution" report (as described in Step-by-Step Procedures) for a summer month in which no wages are paid. As long as the employer is not remitting any funds, the Progress Bar advances automatically to Ready to Submit status. Once the Submit button is pressed, the $0 Contribution report is posted, allowing the employer to create another $0 Contribution report for following month, if desired.

Web_WC_ProgressBar_Ready-to-Edit

2. After you have run the Employer Edit Report, the progress bar may display Edited with Errors:

Web_WC_ProgressBar_Edited-with-Errors

•Click the Employees icon to review errors and correct employee data as needed.

oNote: The progress bar reverts to Ready to Edit status anytime you make changes to the report.

TIP: See the topic "Resolving Error and Warning Messages" in this Online Manual for suggestions on fixing common issues.

•Repeat Step 1 when you are finished making corrections. The system will re-check your report for errors. If errors still exist, correct employee data as needed and repeat Step 1 again.

3. When no errors are found, the progress bar reflects Edited No Errors | Ready to Submit.

Important! If you want to keep the list of warning messages generated for your employees, you must print or save the Edit Report (PDF) that is created when you click the Run Report button.

Web_WC_ProgressBar_ReadyToSubmit_fullscreen

•You must click the Submit button at the bottom of the screen to send the report to TRS.

4. When the progress bar shows Submitted in green, your part of the process is complete.

Web_WC_ProgressBar_Submitted

•Until TRS begins processing the report, you may still click the Unsubmit button to make further changes to your report, if necessary. When you unsubmit a report, the progress bar resets to Ready to Edit status. You will repeat Steps 1 - 4 to edit and submit the report again.

TIP: As noted under Step 2 above: "$0 Contribution" reports are posted automatically upon clicking the Submit button. No TRS processing is required for this type of report.

Pay Period - Report No: The month and year of the report, and a sequence number indicating how many reports of this type have been submitted for this pay period.

No of Pay Periods: The number of pay periods included in this report. This field displays '1' for most reports, but in May or June, some employers combine multiple months in a single year-end report.

Year-End Report: An indicator that may be set by the employer when submitting a combined contribution report for May or June. If the employer has indicated that it is a year-end report, this field displays a check mark.

TRS Employees: The number of employees for this pay period who are Montana TRS members.

Total FTE: The number of full-time-equivalent positions represented by the TRS members in this report.

TIAA CREF Earnings: Earnings for employees who are members of TIAA CREF rather than TRS. This is only seen in reports from employers within the Montana University System.

Working Retiree Earnings: Earnings for all members in this report whose work status is Working Retiree.

Report Status: The current status of this employer report. Possible report status values are:

•Employer Editing: The report is not yet submitted to TRS and can be updated or deleted.

Date Submitted: The date this report was submitted to the Wage & Contribution Reporting System by the employer.

ACH Pull Date: This field displays only for reports that have an ACH payment type. The date selected by the employer for the ACH payment is shown.

See Edit Report Header in the Step-by-Step Procedures topic for more information.

Date Paid: The date on which funds were received from the employer for this report.

Date Edited: The last date on which the contents of this report were validated by running the Employer Edit Report.

Edit Status: The current or final status of this report's progression through the editing process. Some Edit Status values correspond with values shown in the progress bar at the top of the screen. Possible values are:

•Ready to Edit: Reports are placed in this status when first submitted, and anytime a change is made. The Edit Listing report must be run to proceed.

•Edited with Errors: If a report has errors that must be corrected, this status is displayed. When updates are made, the Edit Status reverts to Ready to Edit.

•Edited No Errors: This edit status displays at two points in the process: When the employer has run the Edit Listing report and no errors were found; and after the report has been processed successfully by TRS.

•Ready to Process: This status means the employer has submitted the report, but TRS has not yet processed the report.

Balance Status: A field that displays either In Balance or Not In Balance to indicate whether the employers' wages and contributions match system calculations based on the reported earnings and FTE hours. Reports must be in balance to be submitted to TRS.

Date Posted: The date on which the report was posted. If the report is not posted, the field is blank.

Normal: The amount of employee contributions from active TRS members included in this report.

Buy Back: The amount, if any, of additional employee contributions to TRS, such as to purchase service credit.

Term Pay: A type of buy back that represents the portion of members' termination pay paid to TRS.

Total: The total amount of employee contributions from active and terminating members in this report.

Normal: The amount of employer contributions based on a percentage of active TRS members' earnings.

Term Pay: The amount of employer contributions, if any, related to employees' termination pay.

TIAA CREF: The amount of earnings that the employer paid to TRS for TIAA CREF members.

Working Retiree: The amount of working retirees' wages contributed to TRS by the employer.

Total: The total amount of employer contributions for active and terminating TRS members, TIAA CREF members, and working retirees.

Amount Due: The amount owed by the employer for this pay period, as calculated by the system.

Amount Remitted: The amount that the employer actually paid for this pay period. This field also displays the payment type: Check, ACH, or IUJ.

Over+/Short- : The amount by which the employer's payment differs from the amount due for this report. If the employer paid more than the amount due, the difference is displayed as an overage (positive amount). If the employer paid less than the amount due, the difference is displayed as a shortage (negative amount). If the employer paid exactly the amount due for this report, the Over+/Short- field displays .00.

Balance Forward: The amount of any overage (i.e., credit) or any shortage carried forward from one or more prior pay periods. If an amount is shown in this field, the user may review the Employer Balance page for information about its origin.

Amount Due This Report: The actual amount that was due for the current report, not including any overage or shortage in the current payment. This amount is repeated from the section above for reference.

Important! This total consists of the actual amount due for this report plus or minus any shortage or overage balance carried forward.

TIP: Please remit the actual total balance due. If you decide to remit a different amount, the Employer Balance page will maintain a running total and the List Employer Reports and other pages will display a red warning message until the outstanding overage or shortage is resolved.

Note field: A field that may display a note entered by TRS staff or by the employer to explain any special circumstances with this report, such as the reason for any overage or shortage. Notes are maintained on the Edit Report Header page; see Step-by-Step Procedures.

Green Bar message: This status bar, located at the bottom of the Report Summary page, indicates the action that may be taken on this report based on the current report status and editing status.

Report Status:	Message in green bar at bottom of Report Summary:	Action button:
Employer Editing	Employer Edit Report	Run Report
Employer Editing	Submit Report to TRS	Submit
Submitted	Unsubmit from TRS	Unsubmit
Submitted	(no message; TRS has begun processing)	(no button is available)
Posted	Copy this Report to a new Pay Period	Copy

The Employer Report - Member List page provides a list of all members included in the selected report. For reports not yet submitted to TRS, this page allows you to add or remove members, review error and warning messages, and edit contribution details for individual members.

•If the employer report contains more than two members, you will see fields below the employer name to help you sort the list and find specific members.

Record Selection: This row of radio buttons will only appear if the report is still being edited by the employer. Three buttons are available:

oThe All radio button is selected by default and displays all members in the selected contribution report.

oThe Errors and Warnings radio buttons allow you to filter the list so that only members with error messages or warning messages in the Employer Edit Report are shown. This makes it easier to review and resolve reporting problems for specific members.

Sort By: These radio buttons allow you to change the order in which members are listed. You can choose Name, SSN, Work Status, or Tier.

oThe Name button is selected by default; members are listed alphabetically by last name.

oWork Status sorts members first by work status (Full Time, Hourly, Part Time, Working Retiree, etc.). Within each Work Status group, members are listed alphabetically by name.

TIP: Tier 2 applies to employees hired on or after July 1, 2013 in a TRS-reportable position. The TRS tier determines the contribution rate and other factors.

Search for Member: Use one of these fields to find a specific member from within this list of members. These Search fields do not search the entire TRS membership database; they apply only to members included in the selected report.

oType either the SSN or at least one letter of the last name and click the Find button. The Reset button erases any characters you have typed in these fields.

TIP: If you used the Record Selection buttons to narrow the list of members, be aware that the SSN or Last Name fields will search only within those results.

•The Pay Period, Type (C = Contributions or A = Adjustment), and a Posted indicator display above the column headings for your reference.

•If the report contains more than 50 names, page links

are available near the top and bottom of the page. Click an underlined link to jump to that page in the list of members.

Name: The member's name, in Last Name, First Name format. By default, the list is sorted alphabetically by last name when the page is first accessed.

Tier: The member's TRS eligibility tier (1 or 2). Generally, employees hired on or after July 1, 2013 are Tier 2.

Work Status: The member's status as Full Time, Part Time, Hourly, TIAA CREF, Working Retiree, or Re-employed Working Retiree.

FTE: A number representing the member's Full-Time Equivalent status with this employer. The number is shown as a percentage, up to 1.00.

Employee Contrib: The amount of TRS contributions from this member's earnings for this pay period.

Employer Contrib: The amount of additional employer contributions for this member. (Note: Since employer contributions generally are calculated as a percentage of total wages, this column is usually blank. A dollar value is displayed only when additional employer contributions are due for a specific member, such as from their termination pay.)

Errors and Warnings: A column that may display an Error (red X) icon or a Warning (yellow triangle) icon for a member, based on results of employer editing. If the member has both errors and warnings in the Employer Edit Report, the Error icon takes precedence and displays in this field.

•Note: The Errors and Warnings column no longer displays after the contribution report has been posted.

•The View Member

button accesses the Employer Report - Member Detail page for the selected member for viewing only. The Member Detail page shows more information about the member's contributions for this pay period.

•The Edit

button is displayed only when a report is not yet submitted to TRS. It provides access to the Employer Report - Edit Member Detail page to update information such as wages, work status, or employee contribution amounts for the selected member.

•The Add Member

button is displayed only when a report is not yet submitted to TRS. It allows you to add a TRS member to the report in order to submit contributions for them. The employee must already be a TRS member to be added to a report. See procedure below, Add Member to Report.

The Member Detail and Edit Member Detail pages are identical except that the Edit version may only be accessed when the employer report is not yet submitted to TRS.

•The Pay Period, Type (C = Contributions or A = Adjustment), and a Posted indicator display below the employer name for reference. Updates made on the Edit version of the page affect this pay period only.

Member SSN, Member Name: The SSN and name (in Last Name, First Name format) of the selected member are displayed at the top of the page and cannot be edited.

Tier: The member's TRS tier (1 or 2). The tier is determined by the hire date and cannot be edited.

Action: The most recent action taken for this member by TRS or by the employer. For active TRS members, this field displays Normal. For a newly enrolled TRS member, this field may display Add until contributions are posted to the member's TRS account.

•Use the Edit version of this page to select the Terminate action, if this monthly report includes the member's final wages.

Work Status: The member's work status for this pay period. Options include Full time, Hourly, Part Time, and Working Retiree.

Position Code: A code and position name for members who have a work status of Working Retiree only. This field is disabled for any other work status.

Wages & Hours section (Note: Fields in this section may be updated on the Edit version of the page only.)

Actual Wages: The wages reported for this member in this pay period. This field may be updated only on the Edit version of the page.

Service FTE: A number representing the member's Full-Time Equivalent status. This value is 1.00 for Full Time work status. For Part Time status, enter or update based on the percentage FTE for that position. For Hourly status, the system calculates FTE automatically based on the hours entered. This field is editable.

Hours: The number of hours worked this pay period for members who have a work status of Hourly or Working Retiree. The field is disabled for any other work status.

Employee Contribution section (Note: Fields in this section may be updated on the Edit version of the page only.)

Normal: The amount of normal TRS contributions based on the member's work status and wages.

•You can enter an amount manually, or you can click the Calculator

button (near the word Normal) and the system will calculate this amount based on current contribution rates.

Buyback: The amount, if any, that the member is contributing to TRS to buy service credit.

Term Pay: The amount of termination pay, if any, that the member must pay to TRS as contributions.

Term Pay Option: A field that shows the termination pay option (1 or 2) elected by the member, if applicable.

Employer Contribution section (Note: Fields in this section may be updated on the Edit version of the page only.)

Buyback: Any additional amount, excluding termination pay, that the employer is contributing to TRS on behalf of this member for a service purchase.

Term Pay: The amount, if any, that the employer must contribute to TRS from this member's termination pay.

One or more messages will display in this section if the Employer Edit Report generated any error or warning messages for this member. These messages display on both the View and Edit versions of the page.

Messages with the red 'X' icon indicate errors that must be resolved before you can submit the report to TRS.

Messages with the yellow triangle icon are intended to warn you of possible problems, such as missing demographic data.

oYou should review warning messages and resolve the underlying issue, if possible. However, warning messages do not prevent you from submitting your employer report to TRS.

•You have clicked the Add icon on the Member List page for a report that you are editing, and

•You have used the Add Member page to find an existing TRS member by SSN or name. When that member is selected, the Add Member to Report page displays so that you may enter contributions and work status information for this report.

TIP: If a new employee is already a TRS member and you are adding them to your report, don't be concerned if you see that their current TRS status is "terminated" (i.e., with a former employer). TRS staff will update and activate their membership when contributions are received, as long as you have submitted any required enrollment forms to TRS.

Member SSN, Member Name: The SSN and name (in Last Name, First Name format) of the selected member are displayed at the top of the page and cannot be edited.

Tier: The member's TRS tier (1 or 2). The tier is determined by their hire date and cannot be edited.

Action: The most recent action taken for this member. This field displays Add only for an employee who is being added as a new TRS member. Once their TRS membership record is established and contributions are received, this field displays Normal.

Important: If a member is terminating employment and the current report includes their final wages, change the Action to Terminate to notify TRS of their status change.

Work Status: Select the member's work status for this pay period from the drop-down list. Options include Full time, Hourly, Part Time, Working Retiree.

Position Code: A field that is accessible only for employees with a work status of Working Retiree. This field is disabled for any other work status.

Wages & Hours section (Note: Fields in this section may be updated on the Edit version of the page only.)

Service FTE: A number representing the member's Full-Time Equivalent status. This value is 1.00 for Full Time work status. For Part Time status, enter the actual percentage of FTE for that position. For Hourly status, the system calculates FTE automatically based on the hours entered.

Hours: If the work status is Hourly or Working Retiree, enter the number of hours worked this pay period. The field is disabled for any other work status.

Normal: Enter the amount of normal TRS contributions based on the member's work status and wages. You can enter an amount manually, or you can click the Calculator

button (near the word Normal) and the system will calculate this amount based on current contribution rates. Current rates and rate history can be found on the TRS website.

Buyback: Enter the amount, if any, that the member is contributing to TRS to purchase service credit.

Term Pay: Enter the amount of termination pay, if any, that the member must pay to TRS as contributions.

Term Pay Option: If there is term pay, select the term pay option (1 or 2) elected by the employee.

Buyback: Enter any additional amount, excluding termination pay, that the employer is contributing to TRS on behalf of this member for a service purchase.

Term Pay: Enter the amount, if any, that the employer must contribute to TRS from this member's termination pay.

oNote: Be sure to submit TRS Form 113 at least one week prior to reporting contributions.