Run Benefit Calculator - ProAdmin 320

The Benefit Calculator will perform defined benefit calculations for plan members. This feature is available when ProAdmin is in the special Calculator mode. When you click Calculator under the Execute menu or the $image\ebx_1125100668.gif$ task bar item, the Benefit Calculator window is displayed.

Select Plan is a multi-choice field of all the System Plans available, where the System Plan defines the plan benefits and calculation assumptions. Select the system plan that you want to reference. For the Benefit Calculator to run, valid System Plans must be set up within the ProAdmin desktop mode.

The Data section offers two alternative methods of providing the participant’s data: either a database or an XML document. You may also review and modify the data prior to executing the calculation.

If you select the Use Database radio button, the Person ID is the identifying number or code that will be used to select the participant data from a database. The button allows you select the member from the list of Person IDs that are on the database. You can also set other criteria for selecting members. For example, if you don’t know the member’s ID (typically the social security number), but you know the name, you can specify that you want to use name to select the member. Clicking the Database button for the first time brings up the Person ID Lookup Parameters dialog box which allows you to Select the Table and Fields to be used when selecting a Person ID. Select the Table, a multi-choice field that shows all the tables in the database that are linked to the Benefit Calculator (i.e., to ProAdmin), which holds the field(s) you want to use in selecting a participant from the database. The list of Fields contained within the selected table are displayed. Check the field(s) you would like to see displayed when selecting a participant from the database, and click OK.

Once the selection criteria has been set, the Select Person ID dialog screen will be displayed. The first column displayed contains the field identified within the Database Linkage as the Person ID. This column will be labeled with the field name of the Person ID. If additional fields were selected in the prior step (or through the Lookup Specs button), the values in these fields will be shown in additional columns next to their respective Person ID. Select the desired record or click Lookup Specs to modify the table and/or fields used to select a participant.

If you select the Use XML File radio button, a File name must be entered that identifies the XML document. If no path is specified, the file is assumed to be in the client directory. To navigate to the particular folder and file, click the button. If the folder is the client directory, the file name will be displayed without a path.

The Populate calculation items on load or refresh checkbox allows you to fill in the calculation inputs by extracting them from the XML file. If this box is checked and data is being loaded or refreshed from an XML file, the Calculation Type as well as applicable fields based on this calculation type, such as decrement type, termination date, commencement date(s) or override salary inflation and cash balance interest crediting rate items will be extracted from the XML file and ghosted on the dialog box.

The button allows you to see all calculations that have previously been run and saved. For each calculation that has been run and saved, the Saved Calculations dialog shows Person ID or XML File, the User ID of the user who ran the calculation, the sequence number (Seq #), the Calculation Type ("Estimate", "Final" or "D/A/S" for Dates/Age/Service calculations) and the Run Date and time the calculation was run. You can select an entry and click the Select button to run a calculation again. Clicking the Exit button will take you to the Benefit Calculator dialog without selecting a saved calculation.

If checked, the Review data box allows you to review the data before the calculation is run. When you select to run (or re-run) the calculation, the Data Review dialog(s) will be presented. You may scroll through and make changes as desired. Data elements that have been modified will be highlighted in blue for review. Clicking the OK button will then execute the calculation.

The Calculation Type section has three choices for the type of run. Different items on the dialog box will be ghosted or not depending on which type you select.

Estimate calculates estimated benefits for a specified type of decrement based on one Termination Date and one or more Commencement Date(s)/Age(s). Choose the type of decrement from the multi-choice field; the available choices are "All", "Term./Retirement", "Death" and "Disability". When reviewing results, keep in mind that retirement contingencies supersede termination; therefore, if "All" or "Term./Retirement" is selected as the decrement type, and the participant is eligible for both retirement and termination benefits, only the retirement benefits will be shown.

Final calculates final benefits for a specified type of decrement based on the Termination Date and one or more Commencement Date(s)/Age(s). Choose the type of decrement from the multi-choice field; the available choices are "Term. /Retirement" (for termination or retirement), "Death", or "Disability".

Dates/Age/Service calculations require you to provide a Calculation Date. The date format is typically mm/dd/yyyy, but it is dependent on your computer’s regional settings. On the Saved Calculations dialog, this calculation type is denoted as D/A/S.

Termination Date: is specified for estimated and final calculations.

Commencement Date(s)/Ages(s): are specified for estimated and final calculations. You can enter as many dates and/or ages as desired, using spaces to separate the dates and/or ages. For example, a valid entry would be: 55 65 12/31/2010.

The Override salary inflation assumptions with box is available for Estimate calculations. If checked, enter the value (e.g., 3.5 for 3.5%) to be used as an override to the otherwise salary inflation projection assumptions.

The Override cash balance crediting rate with box is available for Estimate calculations. If checked, enter the value (e.g., 5 for 5%) to be used as an override to the otherwise cash balance crediting rate projection assumptions. Note that the percentage entered only overrides the basic rate from a table; it has no impact if a constant crediting rate is specified for the benefit formula component. Also, this override is applied before any date-based overrides, minimums, maximums or age- based rate adjustments specified in the benefit formula component.

The run split button $image\ebx_988908655.gif$ allows you to select which data to use as you run the calculation. The language on the button indicates the state of the data and the calculation. There are several possible alternative states for the button:

Load data & run indicates that no data has been previously saved. If you click on this button, ProAdmin will load data from the external source and attempt to complete the run. When this is the default option, the split button will not contain another select-able option, but there will be a ghosted choice to Run with saved data.

Refresh data & re-run indicates that a calculation has been run and saved. If you click on this button, the saved data will be ignored, fresh data will be loaded from the external source, and ProAdmin will complete the new run. When this is the default option, clicking on the split arrow will also make available the Re-run with saved data option.

Re-run with saved data indicates that a calculation has been run and saved. If you click on this button, ProAdmin will use the saved data from the completed calculation to re-process a new run. If data edits have been made using the Review data option, Save the the calculation results to preserve them. When this is the default option, clicking on the split arrow will also make available the Refresh data & re-run option.

Once the calculation completes, a message box displays indicating whether the calculation was successful. You can print the processing messages contained in the box by clicking on the Print button, or they are always available at a later time. After you click on the OK button the Calculation Results will be displayed. The Calculation Results consolidated view include a Calculation Worksheet, Summary Results, Output Definition Results, Processing Messages, Inputs and Detailed Results.

In the case of calculations that have not or can not be run (due to either system or user-defined errors), the Calculation Results will display the inputs to the calculation, as well as Processing Messages.