Microsoft Dynamics® GP and ACA Compliance

KB14-012

Yes. The payroll module of Dynamics GP has had features that, viewed with an ACA lens, make it compliance-friendly:

The ACA requires that all employee hours are tracked. Unlike what is required for other IRS forms, a clear distinction with the ACA is that tracking of hours is not by check date, it is by pay period transaction date. This is a big departure from W-2s and IRS Form 941, which hinge on check date. The way hours of service are credited to salaried employees in GP is consistent with what is now required under the ACA. Even the tracking of sick time and vacation time for salaried employees in GP Payroll is exactly as directed by the ACA. By crediting 40 hours of service per week for salaried employees, GP Payroll satisfies how the ACA advises that hours are tracked for salaried employees.

The ability to have non-dollar payroll transactions where an employee is credited with applicable hours is a huge features benefit that Dynamics GP payroll provides. This functionality overcomes many of the workarounds needed in meeting compliance for ACA tracking. It also enables companies to meet the new requirements without having to drastically change their payroll processes.

Dynamics GP maintains detailed transaction history that monitors hours within specific time frames. This level of detail is now crucial for ACA compliance. It is absolutely essential to have this level of data available for audit purposes. Whether it be for capturing hours associated with salaried employees (as discussed), or for precise tracking of employee hours, Dynamics GP Payroll has always met this challenge.

Dynamics GP also provides flexibility in how deductions can be set up that are well suited for ACA tracking and compliance. Companies that have offered health care coverage on a shared contribution basis with their employees have traditionally used a fixed amount for this deduction. With ACA expanding coverage to all full-time employees, companies must wrestle with the “affordable” requirements and safe harbors when applicable.

In Dynamics GP, the ability to set up deductions as a percent of gross wages will go far for companies wanting to ensure that employee contribution stays within the boundaries of affordability as defined in this legislation when specific safe harbors are used. Having choices on what methods to use in these calculations is important as it offers employers some protection on having to absorb a large percent of the health care coverage costs.

The law created some safety nets for employers to use in order to assure an employee pays a portion of coverage regardless of how many hours they actually work in their stability period. Deductions in Arrears is a feature in Dynamics GP that gives employers the vehicle to keep track of when an employee does not make enough during a pay period to meet his or her share of their self-only coverage.

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Last Review: 5/17/2022 – Revision: 2.0

Applies To: ACA Reporting Requirements, ACA Compliance solution

Categories: Great Plains

Keywords: GP, Compliance

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