Bookkeeper and Payroll Administrator Rosa Collado, at Kidstown, shares her ACA experience with Viventium.
Client: Kidstown
Industry: Children’s Wear, Retail
Locations: New York, New Jersey

Viventium:  Rosa, what is your role in your company’s ACA process?
Rosa:  I am the bookkeeper, and I also do payroll via online entry in Viventium.  I’m responsible for the ACA filings which Viventium processes (1095-C, 1094-C) and I also handle benefits.

V:  Where are your stores located?
R:  We have altogether 7 Kidstown stores.  Two are in the Jersey Garden Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  It’s a big mall and the stores are on different floors.  We have 3 stores in the Bronx, 1 in Queens and 1 in Brooklyn.

V:  Approximately how many employees do you have?
R:  About 165, broken down into a few divisions.

V:   Who are your primary Viventium contacts for ACA purposes?
R:   My rep used to be Jovanni, and now I have a new person for everything, and I work with Martin for taxes.

V:  What ongoing steps do you take to maintain your ACA data?
R:  Well, besides offering insurance to employees, I don’t have to do too much because the system asks if you are offering insurance once you enter the application when you hire the employee.  It asks you for the benefit category when you are hiring the employee, so you have to enter it.

V:  How would you describe your ACA experience with Viventium?
R:   It was great.  Last year, toward the end of the year, I had a team of two ladies – Jennifer and Claire -  calling me all the time until I got it to perfection, and they walked me through every step.  Every time I was missing something, they would call me back and tell me what information was missing and where to look for it.  Since it was the first time, I didn’t have all the information, and when something was missing, they walking me through everything.  They sent me emails reminding me of the deadlines, too.

V:   What do you find easiest about your ongoing ACA tracking?
R:   First of all, I feel peace of mind since I know I’m in compliance with the law.  Let’s say I have an audit or anything, I know I can just look for the information and I’ll find it.  Most of my employees didn’t want to take the insurance, but I know I offered it to them.  You know you’re doing everything fine according to the law, and you know that the filing is on time, so that’s a plus.  You know that you did it right and that someone is reviewing it after you to make sure it’s correct.

V:  What do you find the most challenging about your ongoing ACA tracking?
R:  Maybe the beginning part when I had to enter the database of all the information -- the templates.  This year since I’m doing in online as I go along, I won’t need templates – I hope!

V:  Do you feel more prepared for the 2016 ACA year end than for 2015?
R:  Of course! I think I’m prepared, and Viventium has more knowledge about it too.  But even in 2015, I didn’t find it hard at all.  I had thought it was going to be harder than it was.  Plus, I’ve been offering the insurance the whole year to my employees, so I have all my paperwork on the computer.  When I get the insurance applications, if they don’t want to take it, I just click the waive button.

V:  What did you find the most helpful about Viventium’s ACA processing?
R:  I did like the emails that kept coming at year-end; that was very helpful.  I would keep sending them to the owners to show how long we had to finish.

V:  If you had any tips for other ACA users, what would they be?
R:  If they don’t have Viventium doing it for them, I would suggest that they do, because you feel more secure that you’re doing it right.

V:  Any other comments about your ACA experience with Viventium?
R:   It was easy. I heard from some of my friends and relatives that work in the same area and aren’t with Viventium that they had little problems, but I did not.  I didn’t have to put in extra time or days of work.   It was not hard.
V:  Thank you, Rosa, for your time and feedback.

If you have an ACA experience that you want to share, we want to hear it! Please email your CSR and we will reach out to you.

At Viventium, we are committed to helping you with the increased compliance requirements that have resulted from rapidly evolving legislation.  We aim to minimize your administrative burden across the entire spectrum of employment-related payroll, tax, HR, and benefits so that you can focus on the work that matters: running your business.  We provide you with this information as a way to amplify your understanding of the impact of regulatory requirements – but please do not construe this information as tax or legal advice.  By nature, this information is subject to revision and might not be the most up-to-date information available.  We encourage you to consult with the appropriate legal and tax advisors before making any decisions.

Topics: ACA