Setting Up Company Level Contributions

Purpose

Contributions are amounts your company pays on top of salary: a 401(k) match, the employer share of insurance premiums, HSA funding. Setting them up ensures they are calculated in payroll, reported correctly on W-2s, and visible to employees on their pay stubs, so your people see the full value of what they earn. This step is mandatory on the payroll setup checklist.

Who can do this: Any user whose role includes the Payroll permission. This is usually the Employer Admin, but other admin roles can be granted the same access.

Prerequisites

• Create your Company Deductions first. Many contributions link to a matching deduction (a 401(k) match links to the employee's 401(k) deduction). The deduction must exist before you can link it.

Steps: Add a contribution

1. Open Company Contributions from the setup checklist, or from the Payroll Dashboard once you are live.
2. Click Add Contribution and name it (for example, "Company 401k Match").
3. Choose the calculation method:

1. If the contribution pairs with an employee deduction (a retirement match), link it to the deduction.
2. Optionally set a monthly limit and an annual limit.

If you are recording educational assistance you paid directly to a school or lender, choose the Educational Assistance Type (IRC Section 127) here (see below).

1. Set W-2 reporting where required (for example, employer HSA contributions). Box 12 reveals a label dropdown. Box 14a takes free text up to 8 characters. Required only when the contribution is categorized as "Other"; optional otherwise.
2. Optionally enable auto-assign to employees so new hires pick it up automatically.
3. Save. Your contributions appear in a list you can revisit and edit.

[Screenshot: Add Contribution form with calculation method options and deduction linking]

Field behavior to know before you save

• Link to Deduction (Yes/No, required) is locked after the contribution is added. Decide up front. Choosing Yes reveals a Company Deduction dropdown. The dropdown is also required whenever the method is Formula.
• Method is locked after add, and when the contribution is benefit-synced.
• Eligible Earnings appears as a display-only multi-select when the method is Formula or % of Gross Pay and the linked deduction is pensionable. It mirrors the deduction's own eligible earnings rather than being set independently here.
• Monthly Limit and Annual Limit ($, optional, non-negative) are hidden when the contribution is benefit-synced.
• Applicable for 2% S-Corp Shareholders (Yes/No, required) appears only when the S-Corp option applies to your company type. Locked after add.
• Educational Assistance Type (IRC Section 127) (optional: Tuition & Fees or Loan Repayment) sits directly below Annual Limit. It appears only when you add a contribution that is not linked to a deduction and uses Fixed $ or % of Gross Pay. It clears if you then link a deduction or switch the method. Choosing a type sets the W-2 Box to Box 14a and locks it (the label stays editable), and sets the 2% S-Corp question to No. A contribution cannot be both educational assistance and a 2% shareholder benefit. The type cannot be changed after the contribution is saved, and you can have only one active contribution per type. Leave it blank for any other contribution. UZIO applies the $5,250 annual limit automatically, separately from any Annual Limit you set. See Providing Section 127 Educational Assistance.
• Trump Account (Section 128) contributions: the employer contribution to a Trump Account is where W-2 Box 12 Code TA reporting lives. Code TA is contribution-only; the linked employee deduction never carries it. For Trump Account contributions the W-2 Box selection is not optional. The linked deduction displays as type "Pre-tax" on the deduction listing. See Setting Up Company Level Deductions. The W-3 Reconciliation Report gains a Code TA row for year-end reconciliation.

Where this contribution shows up afterward

• Employee records: assignable to employees, where the value, method, limits, and formula tiers can be overridden per employee (for example, an executive with a different match). See Overriding Deduction and Contribution Methods for Pension Benefits.
• Employer match prompts: when you assign a linked retirement deduction to an employee, UZIO offers to set up this match for them. It warns you if an employee's match would pay more than your formula allows. See Employer match prompts.
• Pay runs: calculated on each pay run and shown per employee in the Employer Contributions column of the payroll summary. Contributions are an employer cost, not a deduction from pay, so net pay does not change.
• Pay stubs: employees see the contribution on their pay stub.
• Money movement: UZIO calculates the contribution but does not pay the provider for you. This is also how you record educational assistance you paid directly to a school or loan servicer. Contributions appear under Your Liabilities on the payroll summary and in cost reports.
• W-2: the W-2 Box and label you set flow to year-end forms.
• General Ledger: map the new contribution in the GL setup if you mapped contributions individually. See Setting Up the General Ledger and Exporting Payroll Journal Entries.

Related articles

• Setting Up Company Level Deductions
• Setting Up Employee Payroll
• Overriding Deduction and Contribution Methods for Pension Benefits
• Health Premiums and HSA Contributions for 2% S-Corp Shareholders
• Providing Section 127 Educational Assistance: recording tuition or loan repayment you paid directly
• Year-End W-2s and Tax Documents: Box 12 codes, including Code TA