The Pre-tax Elections File is used to add, update, or terminate employee pre-tax accounts in Forma to match changes made in your HR or benefits administration system. Updates to these files generally include new hires, qualifying life events (QLEs), or terminations.
How often should I send an elections file?
Your Forma team will help you decide how often to send elections files depending on your company's needs. Typically, we suggest sending files weekly. However, if you have over 1,000 employees, it's best to send them daily to keep the information current.
SFTP folder to process files
Upload HSA, FSA, LPFSA, DCFSA, Transit, and Parking elections files to the pretax/elections SFTP folder. These are US-only benefits.
Process elections files after the demographics file has been processed to avoid errors.
File Naming
- Test files: TEST_YYYYMMDD_pretax_elections.csv
- Finalized, production files: YYYYMMDD_pretax_elections.csv
(Where “YYYYMMDD” is the date you upload the file)
File Template and File Fields
Forma can only accept comma delimited (.csv) files.
Files must be valid UTF-8 encoded.
Review the Pre-tax Elections File section of the File Integration Guide pages 14-17 for a file template and data specifications.
FAQs
- Can I change the order of the columns? Yes, as long as the column name is correct and mandatory fields are included
- Can I include fields/data not outlined in the file specifications? Additional fields/data will not cause processing errors. However, Forma will not store the additional information in the system so it cannot be used for reporting.
- Can I exclude optional columns? Yes. You can choose to exclude the entire optional column or keep the column and leave the data fields blank if not applicable.