Conversion, Implementation, and Payroll Integration Roundtable 2026 Annual Meeting

Meet at Marriott Jacksonville Downtown to head over to River & Post

• Payroll platform features and usability — dashboard tools, self-service portals, mobile access, and AI integration
• Payroll/retirement plan data integration — contribution file submission workflows, data fields exchanged, and return file content
• Reconciliation and error correction — who owns it, how often errors occur, and how they are resolved
• Roth catch-up compliance — how organizations are operationalizing the SECURE 2.0 $145,000/$150,000 FICA wage threshold mandate
• HCM platform capabilities — breadth of functions, employee communication segmentation, and retirement plan engagement

• Eric Henon, EACH Enterprise
• Co-presenter TBA

• The solution we promoted, including adding a “Reached \$145K FICA wages” Y/N indicator to the periodic payroll feed
• How we drove adoption with plan sponsors and HCM/payroll providers in support of the preferred approach
• 2025 outcomes (including whether most firms relied on one-time annual files from recordkeepers)
• Whether we should update the preferred approach for 2026 ($150K threshold) and revise the EDI standards accordingly

• How to deal with volume and capacity in the micro/start-up plan segment
• Needs of Higher Education institutions through the transition
• Specificities of participant education and communication in the Healthcare sector
• Challenges and solutions in Large/Jumbo Corporate Market plan transitions
• Church, Tribal, and Government plans

Pooled retirement arrangements – including PEPs, MEPs, GoPs, and PEO-sponsored plans – promise scale, efficiency, and simplified administration. But their success depends on striking the right balance between customization and operational uniformity. 

Employers often want flexibility in areas such as eligibility rules, contribution formulas, vesting schedules, automatic features, and loan or distribution provisions. Providers, however, depend on standardized plan design to support payroll integration, data consistency, and administration across multiple adopting employers.

This session explores the key design decisions that shape that balance and examines how those choices affect onboarding, payroll and data integration, participant communications, and ongoing plan administration.

Together we will also explore some of the often-overlooked operational realities of pooled plans—including how payroll data structures can quietly drive compliance outcomes, why eligibility tracking across multiple employers may be one of the biggest hidden risks in pooled arrangements, and how providers increasingly rely on standardized plan design to preserve the scale advantages that make pooled plans viable. 

The discussion will also touch on the evolving role of payroll platforms and service providers as de facto gatekeepers of pooled plan adoption – often shaping plan design and operational choices as much as the pooled plan provider. 

• Excalibur Awards – review the conversion team nomination form, process, and calendar
• Word of the month