Update on Reliant Systems Transition

General Update
Good news! We have gone live with the new accounting system, which we have used since the beginning of the year. We are wrapping up the configuration of the new payroll system, which we will begin utilizing in March. Since the March 15th payroll will be the first to be processed out of the new software, there are a few key things to look for:

Federal Withholding
Federal withholding taxes are likely to be calculated differently in the new system. In most cases, the difference is expected to be minor, but if you have not filled out a new W4 form to update your withholding in the last few years, the difference in tax withholding could be significant. As a reminder, your federal tax withholding does not change what you actually pay in taxes; instead, it is an estimate that affects whether you owe money or receive a refund when you file your annual taxes. If you are concerned about your tax withholding, you can complete an updated W4 form and adjust your withholding for the rest of the year to rebalance.

Multiple Deposits
For the first few months under the new system, you will receive 1-3 deposits on payroll day. The reason for multiple deposits is that backpay payments and taxable reimbursements (which under the new policy will be known as Expense Recovery Bonuses or ERBs) will have separate payroll runs. Over time, we intend to merge these processes into a single deposit payment, but it may take several months to complete this integration.

Paystubs
Your pay stub will be emailed to your Reliant.org email address for the first few months. Paystubs will ultimately be available online, but not at launch. Please let us know by contacting your Program Team Liaison if you do not receive your pay stub via email.

Payroll Posting to Account Statements
Another significant change will be that payroll expenses will be charged to the month in which the wages were earned. To illustrate how this will look on your account statement, under the current system, if the payroll costs for the month of February were $3,000, then at the end of February, the account balance would need to be at or above $3,000 to pay the whole paycheck on March 15. We will now be posting the payroll costs for the paychecks on the 15th of a month as an expense to the previous month's account statement since that was the month when the wages were earned. 

So in this example, if available funds in February were precisely $3000, after paying those costs to the employee on March 15, then the expenses for the March 15 paycheck will be deducted from the account balance at the end of February, and the account balance on February 28 would be $0. This means that once we "close" the month and post payroll for the upcoming 15th payday, the previous month's ending balance will be a valid representation of available funds after deducting the payroll expenses related to that period.  If the balance shows $2,000, that is the excess balance available for reimbursements and future months' expenses.

Account Statement Timing
We apologize for the delay in closing December and January during this transition. January will be closed and be visible by March 3 or earlier. The new account statement system, to show February, will now be in Toolbox. February statements will be available by March 24th or sooner. After that, account statements will be back on schedule and available in the first two weeks of the month.

Other Changes or “Fixes”
There may be other changes or effects from the new payroll system that we cannot fully anticipate. While we are conducting extensive system testing, given the complexity and size of our payroll, comprised of 900+ employees across so many states and countries, it is possible that unforeseen exceptions could arise. For this reason, we request that you please give your March pay stub more than its normal level of attention and kindly let us know if something requires our attention.