Census Instructions

*denotes a required field

For assistance on completing your census file, please contact one of the following:

• Nova’s Client Relations team is available at no additional cost to answer questions about census submission. This team can be reached at clientrelations@nova401k.com or at (713) 881-9361.
• Your Nova Account Manager

First Name*

Enter the employee’s first name and a middle initial, if appropriate.

Last Name*

Enter the employee’s last name and any suffix (Jr., Sr., etc.)

SSN*

Enter the employee’s Social Security number. Must be in ###-##-#### or ######### format.

Gender

Choose Male (M) or Female (F) from the dropdown list.

Date of Birth*

Enter the employee’s date of birth.

Original Date of Hire*

Enter the employee’s original date of hire. If an employee has been rehired, enter their original date here and a rehire date in the Date of Rehire column.

Date of Separation

Enter the employee’s date of separation.

Separation Due to Death, Disability, or Retirement

Enter Yes if separation of service was due to death, disability or retirement

Date of Rehire

Enter the employee’s date of rehire. Ensure the employee also has a date entered for Original Date of Hire and Date of Separation.

Hours

For employees working 1,000 hours or more in the plan year, enter 1000. Otherwise enter the actual hours worked. If hours are not provided, Nova will assume hours are not being maintained and will use the equivalency hour method defined in your plan document.

Plan Compensation

Plan compensation is used to determine the amount of employee and employer contributions under the Plan. In completing this item, provide plan compensation for the entire year without applying any pre-entry compensation exclusions. Please provide plan compensation dollars to the penny without rounding.

You can find the definition of plan compensation in item 23 of the Plan’s Adoption Agreement, but if you need assistance understanding the Plan’s definition of compensation, please contact your Nova account manager.

Gross Compensation*

Gross compensation includes almost all types of pay. For the purpose of completing this item, provide gross compensation for the entire year. Refer to Question 23 in the Plan’s Adoption Agreement for your plan’s definition of compensation. Please provide gross compensation to the penny without rounding. 

For S-Corporation owners, if the document does not exclude fringe benefits from compensation, the owner’s S-Corp. 125 premiums should also be included in gross compensation.

If you have a fiscal year-end plan (i.e. plan year end that is not 12/31), enter gross compensation paid during the plan year.

FAQs on Compensation

How do I know my plan’s definition of compensation?

The definition of compensation is in the Plan’s Adoption Agreement or plan document. If you are using Nova’s plan document, you can generally find the definition of plan compensation as follows:

• For 401(k) plans: In the Plan’s Adoption Agreement, see question 23. If you prefer, you may also find the definition of compensation in the Plan’s Summary Plan Description (‘SPD’) in article IV. Please do not refer to plan highlights or other brief summary of plan provisions because they sometimes do not have sufficient detail.
• For defined benefit/cash balance plans: In the Plan’s Adoption Agreement, see question 18.  If you prefer, you may also find the definition of compensation in the Plan’s SPD in article II. 

How do I find my Adoption Agreement or SPD?

Please log into PlanSponsorLink. You will find your plan’s Adoption Agreement and the Plan’s SPD under Plan Documents. If you need assistance, please contact your account manager.

I am a new client at Nova; or I am using a custom document. How do I find my plan’s definition of compensation.

For new clients, please contact your Nova account manager if you need assistance. 

For a custom document, you may wish to contact the party that prepared the plan document for you.

How do I get my payroll system to prepare a report of plan compensation?

Every payroll system is different, so we can provide only general information. You may need to contact your payroll provider for additional information. A few rules of thumbs:

• Your payroll system may have a report called “401(k) census” or “Standard 401(k) census”.  If available, this report usually includes the plan compensation amount – assuming the definition of plan compensation is set up correctly in the payroll system.
• Some employers retrieve the plan compensation for the year-end census with reference to their plan Adoption Agreement and the pay codes that they have established in their payroll system. As an example, if a plan’s definition of plan compensation is W2 compensation less bonuses, a report could be run that will pull both W2 compensation and bonuses from which you would take the difference between the two to arrive at plan compensation.

How do I know if plan compensation is set up correctly in my payroll system?

This is important and it is a good idea to check this periodically. Ideally this would be reviewed each time you add or remove a compensation code or type. If your plan is subject to the CPA audit requirement it is particularly important to stay on top of the plan compensation definition in your payroll system as this is a common issue discovered in CPA audits.

Generally, you will need to review your system to see where this is set up. You may need to submit a support ticket or contact your payroll provider’s customer service.

What should I do if I discover that my payroll system has had the wrong definition of compensation?

Please let your account manager know. Most of the time this is a relatively easy issue to resolve through a true-up contribution. However, the exact correction will depend on the nature of the error. In some cases, additional fees will apply to calculate amounts necessary for correction.

And, of course, correct the definition of compensation in the payroll system.

May I round up plan compensation to the nearest dollar?

No. Please report the amount to the nearest penny.

Should I limit plan compensation to the IRS compensation limit?

No. Please do not apply the IRS compensation limit. We will apply the IRS limit in our calculations and testing.

My plan excludes pre-entry compensation. For new entrants, do I report the entire year’s pay or the pay for just the portion of the year that the individuals were participants?

This can be tricky as some tests require that we include pre-entry compensation; while it is excluded for other tests. For employees with pre-entry compensation, you will want to report the plan definition of compensation for the entire year inclusive of pre-entry compensation. But then also report just the pre-entry compensation in the “Pre-Entry Compensation” column provided on the census template. If you are unsure how to calculate an employee’s pre-entry compensation, please reach out to your Nova account manager.

I have employees who were paid severance pay. Is this included in gross compensation and/or plan compensation? Should I show this anywhere else on the census?

Severance pay should be included in the “Gross Compensation” column, but NOT be included in the “Plan Compensation” column. Severance pay should also be reported in the “Severance Compensation” column of the census.

My plan has multiple definitions of compensation. Which definition do I report? 

On the census file, please report the definition of compensation used for calculating 401(k) and Roth deferrals.

I have a cash balance plan and a 401(k) plan. It is my understanding that you use the same census for both plans.  If the cash balance plan and 401(k) plan have different definitions of compensation, which do I report?

Please report the 401(k) plan definition. 

I am really confused. Can you just do this for me?

We offer additional types of enhanced support:

• Nova’s Client Relations team is available at no additional cost to answer questions about census submission. This team can be reached at clientrelations@nova401k.com or at (713) 881-9361.
• Nova’s sister company AFS offers a more comprehensive census submission support service for an additional fee. This is an ideal option for clients who want to outsource this responsibility and for clients who are incurring additional fees for late submission of data as the AFS fee for this service. For more information, contact Sandra Miller at (713) 881-9383.

W-2 Box 1 Compensation

Enter compensation from Box 1 of the W-2. DO NOT round compensation. Leave column blank if your plan is not a calendar year plan (12/31 plan year end).

Pre-Entry Compensation

For newly eligible employees that entered during 2022 – If your plan excludes compensation prior to the date a participant initially became eligible, enter the participant’s compensation prior to their entry date. DO NOT round compensation.

Pre-Tax Health/125 & Qualified Transportation/132f4

Enter the total of all employee paid pre-tax deductions under Section 125. This includes qualified transportation contributions from dependent care, insurance premiums, medical reimbursement accounts or HSAs. DO NOT round compensation.

Reimbursements, Allowances and Fringe Benefits

Not required for plans who do not exclude auto allowances, reimbursements or fringe benefits when applying employee salary reduction elections. Otherwise, total these amounts and enter into column. DO NOT round compensation.

Bonus

Not required for plans who do not exclude bonuses when applying employee salary reduction elections. Otherwise, list bonus amount into column. DO NOT round compensation.

Commissions

Not required for plans who do not exclude commissions when applying employee salary reduction elections. Otherwise, list commission amount into column. DO NOT round compensation.

Overtime Compensation

Not required for plans who do not exclude overtime compensation when applying employee salary reduction elections. Otherwise, list overtime amount into column. DO NOT round compensation.

Custom Excluded Compensation

If your plan excludes certain types of compensation that is not categorized as one of the prior compensation types, please enter the total of all other compensation for the plan year. DO NOT round compensation.

Severance Compensation

List any true severance compensation paid to terminated employees. This should not include the final paycheck compensation after the termination date. DO NOT round compensation.

Pre-Tax Salary Deferral

Enter the salary deferral amount shown in Box 12 of Form W-2 for codes D, E or G. INCLUDE CATCH-UP CONTRIBUTIONS. Do not round salary deferral amount.

Roth Salary Deferral

Enter the salary deferral amount shown in Box 12 of Form W-2 for codes AA, BB or EE. Include catch-up contributions. DO NOT round Roth salary deferral amount.

Employer Match

For 401(k), 403(b) and 457 Plans enter the total matching contributions made for the plan year. DO NOT round.

Safe Harbor Contribution

For Safe Harbor Plans only. Enter the dollar amount of any employe safe harbor contributions made during the year. DO NOT round.

Employer Contribution

For plans that contribute employer contributions other than an employer match or employer safe harbor contribution during the plan year. Enter the amount contributed that is applicable to the current plan year. DO NOT round.

After-Tax Contribution

Enter after-tax employee contributions. DO NOT round. Do not include Roth deferral amounts.

Owner

Enter a numeric value (1,2,3) for each individual who had ownership at any time during the plan year. Example: If John is the only owner, enter a 1 for John. If the owners are John, Jane and Kevin, enter a 1 for John, 2 for Jane and 3 for Kevin.

Ownership Percent

Ownership Percent (ex. 25.5% owner enter 25.5)

Spouse of Owner

For each Owner, we must identify family members attributed to them.  Enter a number to link spouses to the owner.  Example: 1 should be entered for both the owner and their applicable spouse. If another owner also has a spouse that is an employee, 2 should be entered for the spouse and owner.

Child of Owner

For each Owner, we must identify family members attributed to them.  Enter a number to link children to the owner.  Example: 1 should be entered for each child and their owner parent.  If another owner also has a child that is an employee, 2 should be entered for each child and the applicable owner parent.

Parent or Grandparent of Owner

For each Owner, we must identify family members attributed to them.  Enter a number to link parent or grandparent to the owner.  Example: 1 should be entered for each parent or grandparent and their related owner.  If another owner also has a parent or grandparent that is an employee, 2 should be entered for each parent or grandparent and the applicable related owner.

Officer

Check the box to mark the employee as an officer of the company. If you are using the Excel exported file, input a ‘Y’ for those individuals who were officers during the plan year.

Excluded Employee

Check box if employee is excluded from participating in the plan based off plan provisions. If you are using the Excel exported file, input a ‘Y’ for those individuals who were excluded employees during the plan year.

Job Classification

*If your plan excludes any classes of employees, this field is required and must be completed. * Your plan may exclude certain classes of employees or allocate contributions to different classes of employees. 

Company Division

If you track a location for employees, please add here.  Divisions can be any combination of letters and/or numbers

Union Employee

Check the box to mark the employee as a union member.

Address 1

Enter the first line of the employee’s address.

Address 2

Enter the second line of the employee’s address, if applicable.

City

Enter the city of the employee’s current address.

State

Enter the state initials of the employee’s current address.

Zip Code

Enter the 5 digit Zip Code of the employee’s current address.

Personal Email

Personal email address of employee

Work Email

Work email address of employee

Phone Number

Enter the personal phone number for the employee.  Do not include dashes or parenthesis.