SHRM Conference Takeaways: Information, Education and Learnings

July 14, 2016

Sovos

Author

Sovos

This blog was last updated on June 27, 2021

Recently, we were at the SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition 2016 in Washington D.C. The three days offered HR and Benefits professionals all types of opportunities for learning, hearing from industry experts and a chance to network and share their experiences concerning the first year of mandatory ACA reporting. Based on this feedback, here are the main takeaways from SHRM we have to share with you:

Some payroll providers who chose to also try and handle ACA reporting did not meet expectations at all and using them was fraught with problems for companies. From customer service issues and sending out incomplete forms to employees to having to still invest a lot of manual effort to validate information line by line. Overall, many organizations were quite disappointed with using a payroll processor for ACA reporting. At Sovos, we have been specializing in tax information reporting for over 30 years and are the number one private filer of 10-series tax forms in the US.
There was a common misunderstanding around what “good faith” means for this first year of ACA reporting. Making a best attempt at filing forms and transmittal is not good enough. You must follow the IRS procedures as closely as possible and document your efforts to show your attempt to comply. There are steep penalties you can face for non-compliance.
On that note, there are still lots of questions about ACA reporting overall. Those that were charged with handing ACA reporting this year still have many questions regarding the process. At Sovos, we provide a wealth of information to HR, Benefits, and Benefits Broker professionals alike to help and educate on this complex requirement. Want to learn more? We encourage you to visit our education center and webinars for in-depth, easy to understand options.
Whether you are an HR professional or most of the ACA responsibilities are now being handled by your Benefits department, everyone is now realizing that data entry and manipulation takes a lot of time and ensuring this data is accurate and entered correctly is paramount. It is very beneficial to be proactive about ACA compliance, rather than reactive.

Overall, it was a great SHRM conference and we were happy to help people understand more about ACA reporting and achieving compliance using our Sovos ACA solution. We’ll definitely be back next year.

Sovos

Sovos is a global provider of tax, compliance and trust solutions and services that enable businesses to navigate an increasingly regulated world with true confidence. Purpose-built for always-on compliance capabilities, our scalable IT-driven solutions meet the demands of an evolving and complex global regulatory landscape. Sovos’ cloud-based software platform provides an unparalleled level of integration with business applications and government compliance processes. More than 100,000 customers in 100+ countries – including half the Fortune 500 – trust Sovos for their compliance needs. Sovos annually processes more than three billion transactions across 19,000 global tax jurisdictions. Bolstered by a robust partner program more than 400 strong, Sovos brings to bear an unrivaled global network for companies across industries and geographies. Founded in 1979, Sovos has operations across the Americas and Europe, and is owned by Hg and TA Associates.

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