Products and Services Update – Q4 2018
Happy New Year! Before we close the book on 2018, let’s review another busy quarter of product updates and news across PrismHR.
Check out this preview video for highlights from the Q4 2018 Products & Services Update:
Choose any of the topics below to learn more.
Security Resources
In the past few months, there has been a significant increase in the number of reported payroll fraud attempts across the entire payroll industry. We strongly recommend that you take full advantage of all available PrismHR security capabilities immediately. We want to make sure you are aware of resources to help you keep PrismHR secure and ideally mitigate risk. PrismHR treats the security of the platform and your data that resides in it with the highest priority.
PrismHR Security Checklist
In 2017, 61% of all cyber attacks were aimed at small businesses.¹ And when cyber attacks are successful, 60% of small businesses are put out of business within 6 months of the attack.² It’s more important than ever to ensure you’re doing everything you can to protect your company and your clients from these threats.
View the PrismHR Security Checklist to learn more about these safeguards:
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Direct Deposit (ACH) Change Alerts
- Restrict IP Access
- Strong Passwords
- Proactively Run Audit Reports
PrismHR Security Best Practices Webinar & Guide
Cybercrime continues to rise, with numerous recent fraud attempts targeting PEOs and ASOs. Watch the webinar recording to get an overview of PrismHR’s security capabilities, including Multi-Factor Authentication and email alerts for ACH changes. Then check out the Security Best Practices Guide.
New Products & Features
Here are the most notable and exciting new products and features released in Q4. Read the Additional Updates section for more detail on all updates and enhancements.
Read the release notes for PrismHR Onboarding 1.1 to learn more about these updates and more. To learn how PrismHR Onboarding can help you bring on employees faster with a more modern and mobile-friendly tool, contact your Customer Success Manager (or email csm@prismhr.com).
In Benefits Enrollment, gender and tobacco-banded rates are now available in group benefit plans. Employees can also initiate life events right from Employee Portal.
Read the release notes for Benefits Enrollment 2.11 for more details on these updates and more.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is now available in Employee Portal. You can enable MFA for individual clients or globally. Enabling MFA offers an additional layer of security to verify a user’s identity and prevent unauthorized access to employee data. It’s a best practice that should be of heightened interest given the recent increase in payroll and direct deposit fraud attempts targeting HROs and worksite employees.
Read the release notes for Employee Portal 2.4 for more details on MFA and other enhancements.
In Payroll, we’ve added several in-demand features, including Allocated Tips functionality. You can also now bulk process W2 web access, allowing you to save time by making updates to multiple clients at once. For more on W2s, check out the replay of our webinar on year-end processing.
Additional Product Updates (By Role)
Benefits
Be sure to read about Benefits Enrollment 2.11, which features gender and tobacco-banded rates for group benefit plans and the availability of life events in Employee Portal. Also, check out Benefits Enrollment 2.10.1, which includes current rates displaying in the current benefits form and a new alternate base calculation option for disability plans. And PrismHR 1.13includes the addition of a one-time HSA match feature code.
HR
You’ll want to review PrismHR 1.13 which features mass update form W-2 access, form W-2 batch download, and reporting for tax register reconciliation, allocated tips and new hires. PrismHR 1.12.1 and PrismHR 1.13.1 include SBEA Form W-2/Form 1099 name control, the option to disable HR resolution emails, and a prompt to enroll new hires in PTO. And PrismHR Onboarding 1.2 features pay card and rehire support.
Implementation
Check out PrismHR 1.13 which features mass update form W-2 access, form W-2 batch download, reporting for tax register reconciliation, allocated tips and new hires, and Oregon transit tax code to box 14 of Form W-2s. PrismHR 1.12.1 and PrismHR 1.13.1 include SBEA Form W-2/Form 1099 name control, the option to disable HR resolution emails, railroad taxes, and tax deduction codes for the Washington Paid Family Medical Act. PrismHR Onboarding 1.2 features pay card and rehire support. And Employee Portal 2.4 includes quickstart tours to assist in configuring the Employee Portal.
IT
Take a look at PrismHR 1.12.1 which includes the option to select obsolete locations in data security, and Employee Portal 2.4 which includes the addition of MFA and an Employee Portal substitution variable. API 1.14 includes the createJobApplicant method now writing all values from the API to the system across all supported versions of the API, and users no longer need to specify the alternateCalc in the stateW4 object. API 1.15 includes employer contributions now showing in the employee payroll vouchers and support for pay cards. Pulse Release 73, Release 74 and Release 75 feature workflow channel and email template enhancements and expanded record level access for WC policies and legal entities.
Operations
Be sure to review PrismHR 1.12.1 and PrismHR 1.13.1 which include quarterly Express Plus Electronic 941 file return, SBEA Form W-2 & Form 1099 name control, updates to MasterTax interface parameters and a MasterTax version update.
Payroll
You’ll want to check out PrismHR 1.13 which features reporting for tax register reconciliation, allocated tips and new hires, and its enhancements include direct deposit sorting correctly, payments pending displaying check dates, easier data entry in WC classification rates, and tax overrides and deduction period alert in manual check entry. PrismHR 1.12.1 and PrismHR 1.13.1 include railroad taxes and tax deduction codes for the Washington Paid Family Medical Act, and PrismHR Onboarding 1.2 features pay card and rehire support.
Risk/Tax/Finance/Accounting
Take a look at PrismHR 1.13 which includes enhancements like new pay codes filter in pay code detail report and Oregon Transit tax code to box 14 of Form W-2s. PrismHR 1.12.1 enhancements include updates to regen data for accounting G/L detail download, report class information updated in payroll and client reports, option to select obsolete locations in data security, quarterly Express Plus Electronic 941 file return, and a MasterTax version update. PrismHR 1.13.1 features SBEA Form W-2 & Form 1099 name control and railroad taxes.
Additional Product Updates (By Product)
PrismHR Payroll, Benefits & HR
The Quarterly Release of PrismHR 1.13 includes improvements to WC rate templates entry, importing one-time deductions, new hire reporting, and bulk processing of Form W-2. It also includes manual check entry form enhancements such as an added ‘hours worked’ field and the ability to edit deductions/taxes. Allocated tips are now enabled, and allocated tips reports and calculation query on initialized and posted vouchers have also been added. Read the release notes here.
Maintenance releases included enhancements such as an option to disable HR resolution emails, prompt to enroll new hires in PTO, superbatch maintains filter settings and Data Retriever editing or renaming report templates. Additional updates include SBEA Form W-2 & Form 1099 name control, updates to MasterTax interface parameters, batch print 1099 forms, year end file specification updates for Pennsylvania and Oregon, and additional override for ACA processing. Read more in the release notes for PrismHR 1.12.1 and PrismHR 1.13.1.
Benefits Enrollment
Benefits Enrollment 2.11 includes an enhancement for service providers to indicate which Employee Portal components to include in life events changes. It also includes new functionality within benefit plans to accommodate gender and tobacco-banded medical, dental or insurance class plans. There is also a new offer type called “critical illness as life” for use with plans that are too difficult to convert to a tobacco-banded medical class. For more information, read the release notes.
Other updates include current rates and renewal rates now display in the current benefits form, new alternate base calculation option for disability plans, and updated information in FSA and HSA forms. Read the release notes for Benefits Enrollment 2.10.1 for more information.
Onboarding
The PrismHR Onboarding 1.2 release includes support for pay card and rehire onboarding, employee information PDF, dashboard reminders, and data issue protection and messages. For more information, read the release notes.
Maintenance releases include fixes like Symmetry tax forms now display when using the Safari browser, the select list field type is now available in the form editor layout tab, the W-4 forms for Oregon, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kansas have been updated, and several other fixes. Read the release notes for Onboarding 1.1.1 and 1.2.1 for more information.
Employee Portal
The quarterly release of Employee Portal 2.4 includes the ability for employees to initiate a life event for clients using PrismHR Benefit Enrollment, Multi-Factor Authentication, quickstart tours to assist in configuring Employee Portal, and much more. Read the release notes for more information.
The maintenance release of Employee Portal included several fixes, such as the Display Future Checks feature which is now working correctly, the Handicapped field has been renamed to Disabled, employees can no longer enter 0 as a fixed or percent amount for direct deposit, and more. Read the Employee Portal 2.3.1 release notes for more information.
API
The quarterly release of API 1.15 includes Employer Contributions now showing in the Employee Payroll Vouchers, support for pay cards, improvements to online interactive documentation, as well as various performance improvements and fixes. For more information, read the release notes.
The maintenance release included fixes such as the createJobApplicant method now writing all values from the API to the system across all supported versions of the API, and users no longer need to specify the alternateCalc in the stateW4 object. Read the API 1.14 release notes for more information.
Pulse
Pulse releases feature workflow channel and email template enhancements, expanded record level access for WC policies and legal entities, and more. Read the release notes for Pulse Release 73, Release 74, and Release 75 for more information.
HRPyramid
Recent updates include SBEA Form W-2 & Form 1099 name control, updates to MasterTax interface parameters, batch print 1099 forms, year end file specification updates for Pennsylvania and Oregon, and additional override for ACA Processing. For more information, read the release notes for HRPyramid Cloud 14.2 Service Pack 17.1 and HRPyramid 14.2 Service Pack 18.1.
Partnerships
MemberDeals
PrismHR is pleased to announce a new partnership with MemberDeals, entertainment discount provider. Your clients can provide their employees with discounts of up to 60% on a wide range of the most popular travel and entertainment venues. There’s no cost to you, your clients or their employees, and setup is fast and easy. This is a great way to help your clients increase their employee satisfaction and ensure greater client retention as a result. Visit the MemberDeals Marketplace page for more information.
State Tax Solutions
Many PEOs do not realize that they could be overpaying state and local taxes, and tax consulting firm State Tax Solutions can help you address this common problem. They provide guidance on tax regulations which often results in significant tax savings and refunds. This partnership represents a considerable money-saving opportunity for you since you pay no fee to State Tax Solutions unless they secure incremental tax refunds for you—refunds that in many cases are substantial. Visit the State Tax Solutions Marketplace page for more information.
New Offering From FinFit
Financial wellness partner FinFit has just launched a new product that meets a significant demand from your SMB clients and their employees: FinFit’s WageNow product gives employees access to their earned wages when they need them, without having to wait until payday. It’s easy to implement for you and effortless for your clients, with no set-up work or fees, and it eliminates the need to issue payroll advances. WageNow helps improve employees’ financial wellness, ultimately allowing you and your clients to retain more employees and recruit top talent. Visit the FinFit Marketplace page for more information.
Upcoming AgileHR Webinar: Talent Management Helps Employees Focus On What Matters
Streamlined talent management is vitally important to the success of your clients. AgileHR’s talent management solution provides your clients, both small and large, with flexible performance management that saves your clients a lot of time.
Join us for a webinar on Thursday, January 24th, at 2 p.m. EST to learn how AgileHR helps you offer streamlined talent management to your clients, providing a solution that is critical to the engagement, success, and satisfaction of their workforce.
PrismHR LIVE
Early Bird Registration is Now Open
Join us June 17-20 in Boston for PrismHR LIVE 2019, the industry’s largest technology conference.
This year’s PrismHR LIVE program gives you the opportunity to:
- Attend over 60 educational sessions around payroll and benefits, onboarding, security, sales and marketing, industry trends, and more!
- Meet face-to-face with PrismHR team members to learn the latest tips and best practices.
- Network with hundreds of industry peers across three days of content and three nights of networking events.
Early bird pricing of $1495 ends February 28.
Want more information? Visit the PrismHR LIVE website.
Questions? Get in touch.
Customer Support
Known Issues List
For the first time, PrismHR has published a list of known issues within the CRC. This list contains known issues from the December 2018 Quarterly Release and the subsequent Maintenance Release. For each item listed, we are including information such as the tracking number, description of the issue, and workarounds you can use until the issue is addressed. We are also updating this list regularly with the latest status, including an expected resolution time whenever possible. We plan to continue this practice and expand the list of known issues over time.
Sales & Marketing Resources
Are you or one of your colleagues looking for resources to help sell and market PrismHR technology? Sign up or login to the SEEDS portal today to view all the resources available for sales and marketing professionals.
We’re adding new content and tools to SEEDS weekly, so be sure to check back often to see what’s new. Below is a list of the latest resources in SEEDS.
Security Resources
Security is top of mind for customers these days, and we’ve produced several new items to help you communicate HR Cloud’s security features to your clients. The new HR Cloud Security page includes:
- A customizable datasheet template on HR Cloud’s data security
- Email templates you can use to promote and communicate multi-factor authentication (MFA) to your clients and their employees
New on the SEEDS Blog
The SEEDS blog is the place to see what’s new in SEEDS each and every time you visit, and to get the latest on trends and sales and marketing tips from the PrismHR team.
New blog posts include:
How “Is-Does-Means” Can Drive Better Conversations with Prospects
New Marketing Partners
We often get requests from customers for referrals to quality marketing partners to consult with on everything from graphic design to lead generation to marketing strategy. We’re building out a list of preferred providers and have added the first two to the new “Partners” tab in SEEDS.
GrowPayroll is a marketing agency dedicated to the Human Capital Management and Workforce Management industry, including PEO and ASO solution providers. GrowPayroll provides a wide range of marketing services, including consultation on marketing strategy, marketing automation and CRM setup and management, web design, and content marketing.
Christine Brooks Design provides a wide range of graphic design services, including collateral and content, signage, advertising and logo design.
Events
PrismHR participated in several NAPEO events in the 4th quarter. It’s always great to see customers and partners, and have the opportunity to discuss issues important to the industry.
NAPEO Michigan Leadership Council Forum
October 16, 2018
NAPEO 4th Quarter Board of Directors Meeting
November 4-7, 2018
NAPEO Texas Leadership Council Forum
December 4-5, 2018
Roadmap
The following roadmap section highlights where PrismHR will focus in the short term (first quarter of 2019) and offers a preview of future initiatives which are in progress or planned.
PrismHR
Reporting
Short Term
- Retro Pay Calculator (Time-sheet)
- New Import Functionality – Departments & Divisions
- Slavic 401k Import – PrismHR
- Planned Time Off Improvements
- ACH Processing in PrismHR
- Improve Payroll Notes
- HRP to PrismHR Port-Overs
Long Term
- Multiple Retirement Plan Support
- Paycheck Calculator Enhancements
- Superbatch Refresh
- Added Import Functionality, Continued
- Extra Check Handling
- Timesheet Enhancements
Short Term
- Update MTD, QTD, and YTD calc on standard and compact format versions of the Payroll Register Report
- New Invoice Variance Report
- Add Print Button to Invoice Approval Screen
Long Term
- Launch New Interactive Reports
- Report Navigation Redesign
- Convert Legacy Report Set Up Screens
- Convert Legacy Reports
Onboarding
Benefits Enrollment
Short Term
- Custom Form PDF Generation
- Custom Form Mapping to Any Fillable PDF
- E-Verify Support
- Advanced Workflow Settings
Long Term
- Productized Mapped PDFs
- Spanish
- Cross Hire
- Dashboard All Client View
- Workflow Maintenance – Proxy
- Batch PDF Download
- Kiosk
- Workflow Library – Submit by Category
Short Term
- New Form-Benefit Enrollment Plan Details
- Plan Dependency Functionality
- Notification Enhancements
- Business Rules Library
- Multiple Bugs
Long Term
- Flex Plan Dependencies
- FSA/HSA only OE and HSA without Medical
- More Notification Enhancements
- Take-on Client Tools
- Client Benefits Renewal Process
- Enrollment Applications
- Current Enrollment Form Revival
- Import Tools
Employee Portal
Pulse
Short Term
- Adding SMS Option to Multi-Factor Authentication Process
- Ability to Send Employee Alerts
- “Upcoming Birthdays and Work Anniversaries” Widget for Managers
- Estimate Future PTO for Employees/Managers
- Additional PTO Details for Employees/Managers
- Managers Editing their Employee’s Information
Long Term
- Org Chart and Employee Directory Functionality
- Team PTO Calendar
- Symmetry Integration for Tax Forms/Updates
- Pay Rate Changes and Employee Terminations (Manager Functionality)
Short Term
- Case Creation from the Employee Portal
- Sunset ClientSpace Classic
- Provide Additional Pre-configured Workflow Channels and Email Templates
- Increased Help Features
- Enhance Additional Module Features
Long Term
- Improve Data Flow/Integration Between PrismHR and Pulse
- Provide I-9 Expiration Notices
- Enhance Client Profitability Reporting
Compliance
API
Short Term
- Garnishments: State Tax Levy Enhancements, Federal Tax Levy Priority Order
- ACA eFile Updates
- Year End Processing Support
- New State W4 Integration
Long Term
- Build Out Minimum Wage Engine and Logic for 50 State Support
- Support for New W4 in 2020
- Escalation Heavy Focus
Short Term
- Year To Date on Payroll Vouchers
- Full I9 Support for Integration with 3rd party E-Verify Connectivity
Long Term
- Full OAuth 2.O Support
- A Domain-driven, RESTful API
- Full Support for PrismHR Security in the API (which employees each user is allowed to access)
*These roadmap statements represent PrismHR’s current intentions. PrismHR development plans are subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Any reliance on these statements is at the relying party’s sole risk and will not create any liability or obligation for PrismHR.
Have something you’d like to see in future updates? Please let us know at more@prismhr.com, and stay tuned for next quarter’s update!
See previous PrismHR Product and Services Updates: