ACA Reporting Common Errors and Warnings

Common errors and warnings found during ACA reporting within the ACA Wizard.

OVERVIEW

ACA errors are triggered by discrepancies in your data that will cause your submission to be rejected by the IRS. Warnings are triggered by discrepancies that may not cause a rejection, but requires review to ensure accuracy.
Namely will not allow you to submit your ACA forms to the IRS if you have an error. Forms may be submitted with warnings once you confirm your data is correct.
This article explains what each ACA Error and Warning you might encounter in the Wizard means, and how to resolve it.
You can also click this link to access a PDF version of the error and explanations for download.

COMMON ACA REPORTING ERRORS

ERROR MESSAGE: SUBMISSION GENERATED WHILE TAX YEAR STILL IN PROGRESS.

This error is displayed if you attempt to file using the ACA Reporting Wizard before January of the filing due date. Please wait until the end of the tax year before submitted your ACA forms.

ERROR MESSAGE: BUSINESS NAME DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN.

This error message is displayed if your company name contains a special character (@, #, $, %, &, etc.). The IRS doesn’t allow special characters on the 1094C, 1095C, 1094B, or 1095B.

To temporarily remove the special character from your doing business as (DBA) name in Namely, go to Namely Payroll > Company > General.

ERROR MESSAGE: CONTACT NUMBER DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN.

This error message is displayed if your company contact number doesn’t follow the 10-digit requirement. Please confirm your correct contact number and update by going to Namely Payroll > Company > General.

ERROR MESSAGE: CONTACT NUMBER DOES NOT MEET LENGTH REQUIREMENTS.

This error message is displayed if your company contact number is longer than the 10-digit requirement. Please confirm your correct contact number and update by going to Namely Payroll > Company > General.

ERROR MESSAGE: NAME DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN.

This error message is displayed if an employee’s name contains special characters (@, #, $, %, &, etc.). The IRS does not allow special characters in employee names.

To correct the error, please remove the special character from the employee’s first and/or last name.

ERROR MESSAGE: BUSINESS NAME EXCEEDS MAX LENGTH REQUIREMENT.

This error message displays if your company doing business as (DBA) name in Namely Payroll exceeds the 20 character limit imposed by the IRS.

To correct the error, temporarily shorten your DBA name by going to Namely Payroll > Company > General.

ERROR MESSAGE: ZIP CODE EXTENSION DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN. / ZIP CODE DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN.

These errors display if an employee’s zip code is missing a number or has an extra space at the end or beginning.

To correct the error, confirm the employee’s zip code and make any necessary corrections on the General tab of the employee’s profile page in Namely HCM.

ERROR MESSAGE: NAME IS LONGER THAN 20 CHARACTERS.

This error displays if the employee’s name is longer than the IRS’s 20-character limit.

To correct the error, shorten the employee’s first or last name on the General tab of their profile page in HCM.

ERROR MESSAGE: ADDRESS DOES NOT MATCH VALID PATTERN.

This error displays if an employee’s address is international. Employers are only required to file for U.S. employees.

To correct the error, confirm whether the employee should have a 1095 form generated. If so, you must remove any special characters from the employee’s address and/or update it to a US address.

ERROR MESSAGE: ADDRESS EXCEEDS MAX LENGTH REQUIREMENT.

This message displays if an employee’s address is longer than the 20-character limit imposed by the IRS.

To correct the error, shorten the employee’s address on the General tab of their profile page in HCM.

ERROR MESSAGE: PLAN WITHOUT A MV/MEC QUALIFICATION

This message displays if your company medical plans do not meet Minimum Value or Minimum Essential Coverage on the ACA Info Page.

Confirm with your broker whether the medical plans chosen within the ACA Info Page meet Minimum Value or Minimum Essential Coverage. If they don’t, you are not compliant with ACA requirements.

ERROR MESSAGE: ERROR GENERATING FORM 1095

This message displays if a terminated employee is generating a 1095 form with active elections.

To correct this error, terminate the employee elections within HRIS using the Termination Tool.

ERROR MESSAGE: U.S. STATE INVALID.

This error message displays if an employee has an international address. Employers are only required to file for U.S. employees.

To correct the error, confirm whether the employee should have a 1095 form generated. If so, you must remove any special characters from the employee’s address and/or update it to a US address.

ERROR MESSAGE: CITY IS MISSING

This error message displays if an employee has an international address. Employers are only required to file for U.S. employees.

To correct the error, confirm whether the employee should have a 1095 form generated. If so, you must remove any special characters from the employee’s address and/or update it to a US address.

ERROR MESSAGE: UNSUPPORTED WAIT PERIOD.

If you receive this error, your medical plan waiting period may be incorrect at the plan level.

To correct this error, please submit a case in the Help Community.

ERROR MESSAGE: UNSUPPORTED TERM PERIOD.

If you receive this error, your medical plan term period might not be End of the Month or On Termination on the plan level.

To correct this error, please submit a case in the Help Community.

ERROR MESSAGE: ENROLLMENT WITHOUT A MV/MEC QUALIFICATION. (PLAN ID XXX, START: MM/DD/YYYY, END: MM/DD/YYYY) (EMPLOYEE ID: XX), EMPLOYEE NAME: XX)

Employee is enrolled in a medical plan that is not active during the filing year.

Confirm the employee's election, and update the election to be mapped to the correct medical plan that was active during the filing year.

COMMON ACA REPORTING WARNINGS

WARNING MESSAGE: MORE THAN 50 RECORDS IN A FORM 1094(B) SUBMISSION. ARE YOU SURE YOU AREN’T REQUIRED TO FILE A FORM 1094(C)?

You’ll receive this warning if you are filing 1094(B) forms and have more than 50 full-time equivalents.

If you are filing as self-funded, please ignore this warning.

WARNING MESSAGE: VOIDED RECORD

Voided Record is a warning that shows up in the ACA Wizard with the applicable employee listed in parenthesis. The voided record does not mean that the 1095 is voided but that the employee has a voided medical election in Namely Payroll for themselves, their dependents, or both.

We advise you to confirm if the void is incorrect and if the employee and/or dependent have the correct medical election in Namely Payroll.
If the 1095 codes are correct, you can ignore the warning and move forward in the ACA Wizard to submit.

WARNING MESSAGE: DEMOGRAPHIC START DATE PRECEDES HIRE DATE.

You’ll receive this warning if an employee’s demographic start date (class start date) is before the employee’s hire.

Before proceeding, confirm if employee has had a change in class or is a rehire. If the employee has had a class change or is a rehire, you can ignore this warning. If not, please submit a case in the Help Community.

WARNING MESSAGE: DEMOGRAPHIC START DATE MATCHES THE END DATE.

You’ll receive this warning if an employee’s start date matches their demographic end date.

Before proceeding, confirm why the dates are the same, and if it needs to be corrected.

WARNING MESSAGE: ENROLLMENT PRECEDES HIRE DATE

You’ll receive this warning if an employee’s medical election has a start date before the their hire date.

Before proceeding, confirm the medical election start date and hire date are correct. If you need to correct the election start date, please submit a case in the Help Community.

WARNING MESSAGE: ENROLLMENT PRECEDES PLAN START DATE.

You’ll receive this warning if an employee’s medical election has a start date before the medical plan start date.

Before proceeding, confirm the employee's medical election start date and the medical plan start date are correct. If the employee's start date is incorrect, please submit a case in the Help Community. If the employee's medical election start date and the plan start date are correct, please ignore the warning.

WARNING MESSAGE: ENROLLMENT START DATE MATCHES THE END DATE.

You’ll receive this warning if an employee has a medical election with the same start and end dates.

Before proceeding, confirm why the employee has a medical election with the same start and end dates.

WARNING MESSAGE: SAFE HARBOR CODE CALCULATION EDGE CASE.

You’ll receive this warning if an employee is in a medical benefits ineligible class but has an active medical election during that ineligibility period.

Before proceeding, confirm that the employee's eligibility, and ensure that they have the correct class history within Namely Payroll.

WARNING MESSAGE: THE FOLLOWING EMPLOYEE(S) CAUSE THE MONTH OF [MONTH] TO BE 'NO': [EMPLOYEE IDS].

Review your options on the ACA Info Page, and confirm that the medical plans listed under the MEC & MV section did offer Minimum Essential Coverage and Minimum Value. If they did, please check the appropriate boxes in the ACA Info Page to confirm to the IRS that your plans did meet both requirements.

If your plans are checked to be meet both Minimum Essential Coverage and Minimum Value, please review the employees listed and confirm that their demographics are set up correctly. Ensure that the class the employee is in for the filing year is mapped to a medical plan. Or that the class the employee was in during the filing year, is supposed to be considered to be full time.

WARNING MESSAGE: ON THE 1094 PART III YOU HAVE RECEIVED A 'NO' FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.

This means you did not offer Minimum Essential Coverage for the whole year. Please double check your choices on the ACA info page to make sure this is accurate.

UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR

UNEXPECTED BEHAVIOR: I CAN'T CLICK THE NEXT BUTTON IN STEP 2.

You must download the 1095 report or the 1095 zip file, and the 1094, in Step 2 of the ACA Wizard in order for the Next button to become available.

For questions or support matters, please submit a case in the Help Community.