Anyone feel like they are NOT going to make the filing deadline?

[Guest AHS527]

About a week to go here.....everyone on track? I see some posts about extending the deadline and was just curious how many of us actually feel like we need the extra time?

[Andy the Actuary]

hope to be done this weekend. traffic on website could cause gridlock.

Would appreciate an extension of life expectancy to replace all of the wasted hours futzing with IFILE/EFAST2.

[Tom Poje]

mostly finished. waiting for auditors reports, or just plain slow clients on the small plans. I can't blame E-Fast 2, haven't really had any problems with that, but that might be a difference in software, based on the comments I've seen.

[chc93]

mostly finished. waiting for auditors reports, or just plain slow clients on the small plans. I can't blame E-Fast 2, haven't really had any problems with that, but that might be a difference in software, based on the comments I've seen.

Agreed... same here.

[K2retire]

Would appreciate an extension of life expectancy to replace all of the wasted hours futzing with IFILE/EFAST2.

I'm looking for the "like" button on that one!

We've had the forms all prepared for a long time. We still have about 7% of our clients who have not submitted them. A large percentage of them have either moved to another service provider (who may have done the filing for them) or gone out of business.

[Lori H]

relius web client has been a NIGHTMARE.

[R. Butler]

It will be close. Mostly done, but we a 11 or 12 stragglers who we can't get to either register for their crdentials or maybe they've registered, but not signed. We also have about 3 or 4 audits out & I am worried about gridlock on 10/15.

[K2retire]

Agreed. We've seen acknowledgement turnaround times go from a few minutes to about 24 hours this week. Not sure if that is a DOL issue or a Relius issue, but either way it is scary.

[Belgarath]

I may be in a distinct minority here, but I don't get that stressed out over the 10/15 deadline. If clients don't get us the requisite data in a timely fashion, and forms have to be filed a week late, then they are just going to be filed under DFVC. The penalties are pretty small if you are only talking about a few days. And we'll charge 'em for any extra work/revisions.

Of course, this relaxed attitude doesn't necessarily extend to EZ forms...

[austin3515]

The penalties are pretty small if you are only talking about a few days. And we'll charge 'em for any extra work/revisions.

Not sure I agree since since the DFVC penalty accrues from 7/31, and would always therefore end up being the 750 (for a small plan)

[Belgarath]

Absolutely true, but I guess since I'm not the one forking out the money, $750 seems pretty small (compared to what it would be without DFVC.) And since we give them umpteen followups and warnings, then I generally have no sympathy.

I think I'm just a mean, uncaring person.

[doombuggy]

I agree w/ you. If after asking for this "stuff" for 9 months they still can't get their act together, then it's their own fault. Sometimes I get so sick of being a babysitter to these people. My old boss used to say "we aren't the pension police."

I just filed my last 5500 with EFAST2. I have one client that has not returned a signed copy of their EZ to us; they'll get a reminder on Monday, but that's it.

[Beemer]

We are currently using Relius and I don't know if we should be frustrated with them for the problems, or frustrated with the DOL. Does anyone use another software vendor that has had an easy time with filing this year?

[Bill Presson]

We ended up just using the Relius IFILE extract and then uploading directly to EFAST.

My assistant got credentials and she has coordinated the filings for our entire office. We still have about 25 left to actually sign, but I'm confident we'll get it done shortly.

It's actually been a pretty smooth process, except for several clients that refuse to actually read our instructions.

[Tom Poje]

used FT Williams for the first time this year. No problems. Haven't had any issues of 'waiting' for a 5500 to be received (or taking a number of passes to be finally accepted) like I've seen based on comments from others.

[Bird]

Tom, Tom, Tom, repeat after me - "Ft William" (no "s").

Our experience with them has been the same - excellent. Immediate confirmation of filing (or error).

[12AX7]

Relius Web Client is grinding to a halt. Nothing but problems with Relius. I do not recommend. Hellloooooooo FT William!

[Beemer]

This summer it sometimes took weeks to get a support call back from Relius, and then the person I spoke to was just filling in and didn't know very much about the system. How long did it take to get Ft. William (or others) to respond to support calls?

[Tom Poje]

I personally didn't have to call them, however I know another tpa I work with that says response time was half an hour, and they were well pleased.

via e-mail I had noted an spelling error on one of the screens, they sent an e-mail back and it was fixed the next day.

whether or not it had anything to do with it, I had sent another note about the IRS' comments that the 8955-SSA would be delayed (indicating that maybe they hadn't seen it since it was only a week since the IRS released the comment), and within a day or two, they changed their screens to indicate that, including the link to the IRS. now maybe they were going to do that anyway, its hard to say. My experience has been they are very responsive.

the selling point for me was the fact all you have to do is type in a plan EIN and the system retrieves the prior year info. If I had to start with fresh input (name of plan, address, etc) on every plan I doubt I would have switched at the start of this year. it was one of those decisions made mid-Feb because Relius wasn't ready yet.

[Guest AHS527]

ASPPA ASAP - AS of October 13 only 525,000 out of the 800,000 Pension and Welfare Benefit Plans have been efiled. NO blanket extension.

The DOL is going to make a fortune in DFVC fees!!!

[Bill Presson]

ASPPA ASAP - AS of October 13 only 525,000 out of the 800,000 Pension and Welfare Benefit Plans have been efiled. NO blanket extension.

The DOL is going to make a fortune in DFVC fees!!!

I think it's funny that they used that number as a reason to NOT grant an extension! Well, those weren't the ones having trouble complying, dingbat, I mean, DOL!

[Tom Poje]

but a better question is how many of those plans not filed are due to E Fast2?

yes, we are working on completing some even as I type, but none due to E-Fast2.

so, being honest, none of what we have should have an extension simply because "E-Fast 2 is new and people aren't used to it",etc.

[Guest AHS527]

225000 plans at a minimum of $750 DFVC = $206,250,000.00

[austin3515]

Am i the only one readiong too deeply into the last paragraph? Certainly a letter to the IRS saying the filing wasn't timely because the web-site crashed when you tried, etc. etc. would by you a couple of days? The web-site crashing thing so far has only delayed us, but of course, when the site crashes on 10/15...

This assumes of course that you reallly did try to log in and file and fail...

[Lori H]

How about all the time preparers and clients have had to spend getting acquainted with the new efile? Web Client was not even available until late March, when in the past mail in forms were generally available by late Feb.

[EBDI]

Last client filed yesterday! Relius web client has been unbelievably slow this week.

[K2retire]

For the past 2 days we have been exporting XML files from Relius to EFAST because every form with an attachment has not published to Web client correctly.

[12AX7]

Lord help you today if you're trying to E-File using Web Client. Relius gets a D Minus for EFAST2.

[austin3515]

I felt bad for them until now!! Today, we got a message that says we only have 5 plans left for publishing. No other previous warnings - 5 left! I called them to buy more, but I'm thinking we're going not be able to publish until they call us back (been on hold for 10 minutes)... (we took on a late efiling project for another company which is why we have so many left).

How could they not jsut billl us for what we used????? We're an exisitng cusotmer for crying out loud, and the plan books are $7 a piece - can;'t we get a little credit here???

On principal I'm moving to FT William (as long as the owners sign off on it...)

[12AX7]

If you see a long line at the FT William booth next week at ASPPA, I'm sure to be in that line waiving a fist full of cash! Oh well, I'm not that extreme, but I would think the line will include current Relius users.

[goldtpa]

I agree w/ you. If after asking for this "stuff" for 9 months they still can't get their act together, then it's their own fault. Sometimes I get so sick of being a babysitter to these people. My old boss used to say "we aren't the pension police."

I agree. I never thought that when I got into this business I would become a babysister. I am sick and tired of babysitting and asking for the information from jan to oct.

2011 New Years' resolution. If you dont have the info in to me by 9/1, to bad.

[Guest naveen]

We have used Datair Pension Reporter system for all our filings. The system is easy to work with in respect of all the support that they offer. Either I-File or through the web integrated process, we never had a problem, apart from a few stray cases of clients not using the 4 digit PIN.

P.S. - We have no vested interest in Datair except for being a long term licensee

[Tom Poje]

hurray. we finished last night.

now I guess its time to start getting the safe harbor notices ready and checking the minimum distribution notices that need to go out. (after a few days at the ASPPA Conference) hope to see some of you there.

....

as a side bar, as I noted before well pleased with FT William

many of the forms were strictly the SB for DB plans, and from those that handled them in the office (certainly not me), easily exportable as an XML file to be imported into Datair, but no such luck with Relius.

[Santo Gold]

We prepared our final 5500 before noon today, but had 10 plans combination hadn't signed or registered to sign yet. We spent a lot of time with follow ups this afternoon and at 5:18, the final plan was signed and accepted. A little surprised as I expected at least one "you mean we had to sign the form as well as register" to slip by.

[Guest Form5500]

My problem with the filing was the Auditor - he always waits until the last minute to do his Audit, and refuses to submit his Auditor's opinion if he can't review the 5500 on HIS terms i.e. whether or not he feels the numbers are correct. He gives issues to the Recordkeeper to resolve 1-5 days before the deadline and has the Recordkeeper busting their rear trying to get his questions answered. I have complained extensively to the employer about how he submits his Audit on either the 14th or 15th of October. It drives me crazy and he ends up blaming both me (the P.A. and the Recordkeeper). This Auditor walks a very fine line between being my supervisor and being just an auditor. The employer takes this auditor's word as gospel because he has been auditing for them for the past 15 years. Any suggestions for dealing with the most arrogant Auditor on earth?

[austin3515]

How about emailing the auditor every month and ccing the client, asking how the process is going, just want to be proactive to avoid the last minute rush - is there anyhting you can do, etc.

Just a thought... That would force the auditor to respond...

[GMK]

Any suggestions for dealing with the most arrogant Auditor on earth?

Document dates of completion (yours and the auditor's), and keep your employer informed of your concerns regarding filing timing issues, as appropriate. Then, your employer may better understand why you left for another employer, when that happy day arrives.

Some people see only the "on" and never the "or before" for deadlines (ever dealt with a probate lawyer?). No matter how ready you are and how many last minute pitfalls you could avoid, you are trapped by these jerks. ("Jerks" is a word my wife lets me use in place of rectal references when there are children around.)

[austin3515]

I think the poster was referrig to a client, not his/her actual employer.

[GMK]

After further review, I agree with your call, Austin.

So, document dates of completion and keep the client and your employer, if any, informed of your concerns about filing timing issues. If the situation remains unworkable, find a way to do an 'adios, client.' Barring a miracle or extended therapy (both unlikely), nothing will change the arrogance, or maybe it's indifference, of the auditor.