How BenefitPlus Works

The simple version.

Each phase, in detail.

1. 01

   Day 1

   Your plan goes live

   Once the contract is signed, BenefitPlus generates your IRC Section 127 Educational Assistance Program plan document. The plan document includes your eligibility rules, contribution amounts, vesting schedule, and the required nondiscrimination provisions. It is executed digitally and becomes the legal foundation of your program.

   At the same time, your employer account is provisioned. You receive administrative access to your BenefitPlus dashboard. Your logo and branding are applied to employee-facing enrollment materials. Your first disbursement date is set.

2. 02

   Week 1

   Payroll integration and enrollment launch

   BenefitPlus integrates with your payroll system (Gusto, Rippling, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Workday, and others). Your payroll team approves a one-time connection. No ongoing manual reconciliation is required after setup.

   Enrollment invitations go out to eligible employees via email. Each employee receives a personalized enrollment link, a short explanation of the benefit, and a walkthrough of how to connect their loans. Federal loans can be added via MyStudentData upload. Private loans are added by servicer selection and account verification.

   Employees complete enrollment in under five minutes. Your dashboard shows enrollment progress in real time.

3. 03

   Each pay period

   Contributions flow directly to loan servicers

   When your payroll runs, BenefitPlus receives the contribution amount for each enrolled employee. Funds are held briefly in a compliant escrow account, then disbursed directly to the employee's loan servicer as an extra principal payment. No money passes through the employee's bank account. The employee sees the payment applied on their loan statement.

   Every contribution is logged with timestamps, amounts, and destination servicer information. The audit trail is exportable for IRS or internal review.

4. 04

   Ongoing

   Your employer dashboard

   Your dashboard shows, in real time:

   • •Participation rate (% of eligible employees enrolled)
   • •Total contributions this month and year-to-date
   • •FICA savings to the employer (7.65% of contributions)
   • •Upcoming disbursement schedule
   • •Individual employee records with contribution history
   • •Any failed disbursements (rare) with remediation actions

   Permission controls let you give benefits staff, payroll staff, and finance staff the right level of access. Regular reporting exports are available for your internal reviews.

5. 05

   Always on

   Maurice: Support on every screen

   Maurice, a trained student loan and benefits expert, is available on every page of the BenefitPlus platform through a widget. For HR and benefits administrators, Maurice handles the routine questions about compliance, plan design, payroll integration, and reporting. For employees, Maurice answers questions about their loans, taxes, and enrollment. For prospects still evaluating, Maurice explains pricing, Section 127, and how the platform works.

   Maurice reduces the load on your HR function. Routine questions get answered immediately; your HR team only gets escalated the nuanced cases that actually require judgment.

   Learn more about Maurice
6. 06

   Year-end

   W-2 reporting and nondiscrimination testing

   In Q4 of each plan year, two things happen:

   Nondiscrimination testing. Section 127 requires that plans not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees, and that no more than 5% of benefits go to 5%+ owners. BenefitPlus runs your plan against these requirements and flags any concerns before year-end. If adjustments are needed, you make them before the final plan year closes.

   W-2 handling. Qualifying Section 127 amounts within the $5,250 annual cap are excluded from Box 1 wages on the employee's W-2. Amounts exceeding $5,250 per year per employee are treated as taxable wages and reported normally. BenefitPlus gives your payroll team the exact per-employee figures and handling guidance.

7. 07

   Under the hood

   What's happening for compliance

   BenefitPlus maintains:

   • •Your plan document — generated at signing, updated when you amend
   • •Employee eligibility records — with dates of eligibility, enrollment, and any changes
   • •Contribution records — for every pay period and every employee
   • •Notification records — confirming reasonable notice to eligible employees as required by §127(b)(4)
   • •Nondiscrimination testing records — run annually
   • •Disbursement audit trail — for every dollar from payroll through escrow to servicer

   All records are retained for the IRS-required seven-year window plus the duration of the active relationship. Records are exportable in machine-readable format on request.

Frequently asked questions