Healthy Financial Path

For many employers, November is an important 401(k) planning month. A calendar-year plan that uses certain safe harbor features may need to provide eligible employees with an annual notice 30 to 90 days before the new plan year begins. The rules are not identical for every safe harbor plan. Some plans are required to provide an annual safe harbor notice, while others may not. Regardless, now is a practical time for business owners to review the plan, understand the available choices and coordinate any changes with their advisors. We’ve outlined some considerations to help you:

Problems can loom large when payroll administrators ask for year-end information on a tight timeline. Owners and employees may be unavailable, records may be incomplete and the final payroll run may already be scheduled. That’s why November is the right time for a payroll checkup. Gathering information now gives your business time to value taxable benefits, confirm bonus amounts, correct employee records and meet the payroll provider’s cutoff. It also reduces the risk of inaccurate W-2s, amended payroll returns and unpleasant surprises for employees.