FAQ 217: HCE--Prior year compensation - why is it zero?

Problem: I am trying to calculate current year's HCEs, using prior year compensation and top paid group. I have checked Prior Year Compensation and Top Paid Group on the top right part of the screen. The report shows zero prior year compensation (and therefore only codes the owners as HCEs) even though I have compensation in the prior comp and prior limited comp fields. What can you suggest I try? Thanks.

Solution: Prior compensation is stored in the employee's history screen. The "prior comp" field that you stored it in is for plans that are valued more frequently than annually and that's the current year to date compensation. To get the HCE determination to work properly, you will have to clear out the prior comp fields and load the compensation into last year's history record.