Principal Gets DoL Certification

March 11, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Department of Labor (DOL) has given its seal of approval to the Principal Financial Group for the creation and electronic submission of Form 5500.

The Principal developed the reporting system to help retirement plan sponsors meet a new requirement that all annual Form 5500s be filed electronically starting this year.  According to a Principal announcement, the DOL named The Principal a certified vendor, which means plan sponsors can submit data directly to the DOL’s EFAST2 system.

“Being a DOL certified vendor means plan sponsors will experience a simpler, more seamless process for Form 5500 filing,” says Jacque Mohs, vice president—Retirement and Investment Services, The Principal.

The e-filing system is integrated with two other Form 5500 tools from The Principal:

• the new Consolidated Disclosure Tool helps large-plan filers (those with 100 or more participants) meet the eligible indirect compensation requirement mandated by the DOL.
• the Data Collection Tool has been updated and improved to help plan sponsors comply with the new requirement to file forms electronically. Plan sponsors can also now include outside assets electronically instead of adding them manually. 

The Principal has been a DOL-approved software vendor and transmitter for more than 15 years, according to the announcement.

"We’re proud of our long history as a DOL certified vendor,” says Mohs, “and we’ll continue to focus on tools that make it easier for plan sponsors to do business with The Principal.”

Nevin E. Adams
editors@plansponsor.com