For pre-tax accounts funded per pay period (Parking, Transit, and Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA)), contribution amounts are typically submitted to Forma via a file sourced from your payroll system. Forma advises prioritizing your payroll system as the primary source of truth, whenever feasible, and ensuring that contributions are deposited according to your payroll schedule.
Alternatively, if regular file submission is not feasible, you have the option to activate Forma's auto-deposit feature. This feature automatically deposits employee contributions into their pre-tax account(s) according to your company’s pay schedule or a specified date (e.g., the 1st of each month).
Important: HSA contributions cannot be funded with auto-deposit. HSAs have to use a contribution file.
What is an auto-deposit calendar?
Auto-deposit calendars define the timing that employee and/or employer deposits will be made to certain pre-tax accounts. Calendars can be assigned to DCFSA, Parking, and Transit accounts to automatically deposit money.
How do I set up an auto-deposit calendar?
Prior to the start of the plan year, Forma will work with your team to create auto-deposit calendars. Forma will request the following information:
- Name - will display in the “auto-deposit” column on the pre-tax Account Report
- Recurrence
- Weekly: 52 or 53 deductions per year (4-5 deductions per month)
- Bi-Weekly: 26 or 27 deductions per year (2-3 deductions per month)
- Semi-Monthly: 24 deductions per year (2 deductions per month)
- Monthly: 12 deductions per year (1 deduction per month)
- Start Date: First contribution date to begin auto-deposit
- End Date: Last contribution date to stop auto-deposit
Typically, recurrence coincides with your pay schedule. However, a notable exception arises when setting up a monthly auto-deposit calendar for Parking and/or Transit plans, as you may prefer employees to access these funds at the start of each month. Should the auto-deposit calendar not align with your usual pay schedule, there exists a risk of forfeiture of these funds should an employee terminate before the subsequent payroll deduction.
When assigning an auto-deposit schedule to an annual DCFSA plan, the start date should coincide with the first payroll date and the end date should coincide with the last payroll date of the plan year. If you’re interested in continuing to use auto-deposit in the next plan year, work with your Forma team to set up a new calendar.
When assigning an auto-deposit calendar to a monthly Parking or Transit plan, ensure that the start date aligns with the first payroll date, and set the end date far into the future. This allows for the ongoing use of the same auto-deposit calendar across multiple plan years.
- You can only set up one auto-deposit calendar per plan type. If you have different pay groups who are all enrolled in the same pre-tax plan, select one recurrence to assign to the plan.
- You can assign different auto-deposit calendars to different plans. For example, a monthly auto-deposit for your Transit account and a semi-monthly auto-deposit for your DCFSA.
- You can set up an auto-deposit calendar mid-year, but auto-deposit cannot be processed retroactively. For example, you decided to enable auto-deposit in May. Contributions from January to April must be processed through the contribution files.
- You can disable auto-deposit mid-year. Please discuss with the Forma team in advance to set up an end date. Contributions after the end date must be processed using contribution files.
How are auto-deposit dates determined?
Based on the Recurrence, Start Date, and End Date, Forma will automatically create an auto-deposit calendar with predetermined dates.
If you provide Forma with the actual payroll dates, we can align the scheduled auto-deposit dates accordingly.
Recurrence options:
- Weekly: Same day as the Start Date every week (ex: every Tuesday)
- Bi-Weekly: Same day as the Start Date every two weeks (ex: the 2nd and 4th Tuesday)
- Monthly: Same day as the Start Date every month (ex: the 5th of each month)
- Semi-Monthly
- Scenario 1: If the “Start Date” is from the 1st to 14th
- 1st Deposit date = “Start Date”
- 2nd Deposit Date = “Start Date” + 15 Days
- 3rd Deposit Date = the same day as the Start Date the following month
- 4th Deposit Date= the same day as the 2nd Deposit Date the following month
- Example: 2026-01-06, 2026-01-21, 2026-02-06, 2026-02-21
- Scenario 2: When “Start Date” = 15th
- 1st Deposit Date = “Start Date”
- 2nd Deposit Date = Last day of the month
- 3rd Deposit Date = 15th the following month
- 4th Deposit Date= Last day of the following month
- Example: 2026-01-15, 2026-01-31, 2026-02-15, 2026-02-28
- Scenario 3: When “Start Date” is from 16th to 31st
- 1st Deposit Date = “Start Date”
- 2nd Deposit Date = “Start Date” the following month -14 days
- 3rd Deposit Date = the same date as the Start Date the following month
- 4th Deposit Date= the same date as the 2nd Deposit Date the following two months
- Example: 2026-01-21, 2026-02-07, 2026-02-21, 2026-03-07
- Scenario 1: If the “Start Date” is from the 1st to 14th
For more information on weekly and bi-weekly recurrence, refer to the article Considerations for weekly and bi-weekly auto-deposit schedules
Who will receive auto-deposited funds?
On predetermined auto-deposit calendar dates, the amounts listed in the ‘Employee Pay Period Election’ and ‘Employer Pay Period Election’ fields on the Elections File will be added to the corresponding account(s). Auto-deposit only applies when:
- The employee is not terminated
- The employee’s account status is active
- The account start date is on or after the auto-deposit date
- The account end date is on or before the auto-deposit date
- The contributions have not exceeded the monthly limit (applicable to Transit and Parking) or the annual limit (applicable to DCFSA).
Forma will use the information in the ‘Pay Period Election’ fields on the auto-deposit date to determine the contribution amount. Note that the ‘Pay Period Election’ amount is updated immediately after an election record is successfully processed.
It is important to send consistent pay period election amounts and to send any updates prior to the auto-deposit date. For example:
- Auto-deposit is enabled for DCFSA and Transit with a semi-monthly recurrence on the 15th and 30th of each month.
- Ben is enrolled in DCFSA and Transit and he contributes $100 to each account per pay period.
- Ben has adjusted his Transit election amount to $300, with the change set to take effect in May following his update at the end of March. Come May, his Transit pay period election should be sent as $150.
- Because no updates were made to his DCFSA election, this ‘Pay Period Election’ amount should continue to be sent as $100.
- After April 30, update the Transit ‘Pay Period Election’ amount from $100 to $150. This can be sent to Forma any time prior to the next auto-deposit date on May 15.
- NOTE: An election file sent prior to April 30th with an updated Transit ‘Pay Period Election’ amount of $150 will update the account immediately, so $150 will be deposited instead of $100 on April 30th.
When will auto-deposits begin?
The first auto-deposit will take place on the start date of the auto-deposit calendar for employee’s whose accounts were created during open enrollment or prior to the plan year start.
For employee accounts established mid-plan-year, auto-deposits will be processed on the first scheduled auto-deposit date following either the employee’s account start date or the account creation date, whichever occurs later. Delays in the election file could result in missed deposits, as auto-deposit does not operate retroactively. For example:
- John enrolled in Transit beginning in May.
- There is a monthly auto-deposit calendar enabled for Transit, scheduled on the 5th of each month.
- The election file with John’s transit record was processed on May 6. John will miss the May 5 auto-deposit, so will have to wait for the next auto-deposit on June 5th.
We recommend sending an Elections File 2-5 business days ahead of the auto-deposit date. This will help to avoid account funding delays.
At the end of the plan year, the total auto-deposit amount should equal the employee's annual election. It is your responsibility as the employer to make sure the amounts match.
On the last auto-deposit date, the system will make any final adjustments needed. The final auto-deposit amount may vary from the amount listed in the ‘Pay Period Election’ field on the Elections File.
How do I update the auto-deposit amount?
The auto-deposit amounts for Transit and Parking accounts can be updated at any time. To make changes, update the Employee and/or Employer Pay Period Election amounts in the Elections File before the next scheduled auto-deposit date.
For DCFSA accounts, auto-deposit amounts can only be changed mid-year if the employee experiences a Qualifying Life Event (QLE) and submits a new election.
⚠️ Important: If auto-deposit is enabled, do not send a separate contribution file