Understanding Your Church’s Responsibilities
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) affects millions of U.S. citizens and businesses. It’s big legislation, and people are asking countless questions about the details. All the chatter aside, what’s relevant to you as church administrators is that the ACA carries an employee mandate – and you need to know what it requires of you. Properly administering health care coverage for your employees involves filing Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Which form you use depends on certain rules determined by the IRS. With ACS Financials, we’ve streamlined the process for you.
Enter Health Care Coverage Terms for Each Employee
On the Affordable Care Act tab, you can enter each employee’s health care coverage terms in the Health Care Coverage Terms for Employee grid.
Watch this video for more details:
Health Care Coverage Terms for Employees from ACS Technologies on Vimeo.
Enter Coverage For Covered Individuals
Within each employee record, you can also enter information about covered individuals on the Affordable Care Act tab in the Covered Individuals grid. Covered Individuals are the employees’ dependents who receive health care coverage provided by the employer.
Watch this video for more details:
Covered Individuals from ACS Technologies on Vimeo.
Mass Administer Health Care Coverage Terms For Employees
If you have a situation where all employees have the same health care coverage terms for the entire year, you can update all of their records at the same time. Under Payroll Setup, on the Affordable Care Act tab, you can mass assign, move, or delete health care coverage terms for employees.
Watch this video for more details:
Mass Administer Health Care Coverage Terms from ACS Technologies on Vimeo.
Run a Employee Health Care Coverage Terms Report
When you need to view health care coverage terms for all employees and covered individuals, you can run the Affordable Care Act Proof List report. It’s a customizable report that summarizes health care coverage for employees and covered individuals — you can even print a separate page for each employee.
When it’s Time to File with the IRS
During the year, you can enter your employee’s health care coverage information into ACS Financials. Then, at the end of the year, you can prepare to file your ACA information with the IRS. The good news is that you can electronically file your ACA information directly from ACS Financials.
We designed the ACS Year-End Guide to walk you through your ACS Payroll procedures at the end of each year. We’ve included ACA electronic filing information in the ACS Year-End Guide, and we encourage you to check it out.
If only this article could be your one-stop resource for everything you need to know and do in order to be compliant with the ACA. When it comes to those matters, ACS Technologies recommends that you consult with attorneys and accountants who are qualified to answer your questions about the ACA and guide you towards proper compliance.
In the meantime, here are some reliable sources to help you learn more about the ACA:
- https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/
- http://kff.org/infographic/employer-responsibility-under-the-affordable-care-act/ (This is a useful infographic that details employer responsibility under the ACA.)
- http://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Employers
- http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/healthreform/regulations/acaimplementationfaqs.html
Remember to check out the ACS online help documentation when you need it, or call us at 1-800-669-2509.
Jason Dailey is a technical writer for ACS Technologies.
