Register as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)

Background Information:

Process Name:

Register as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)

Role:

•      Employer (PEO)

Objective(s):

To register for an Unemployment Insurance account as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) using the Self-Service Portal.

 

Note: The SC System does not allow PEO’s to add clients to their profile when they register as a PEO. When they Register as a PEO – it is so they can submit their own wage reports for their Internal employees. In order for a PEO to add clients/do work as the PEO – they will need to register as an Agent in order to file wages and payments for those clients.

Before you begin:

•      The PEO has not registered for an Unemployment Insurance account and has Internal employees working in South Carolina.

What happens next:

•      SUITS assigns an Employer ID; determines liability status, including liability effective date and experience (tax) rate; creates an Employer account in the Self-Service Portal; and generates a message in the Employer’s Self-Service account: “Employer Registration Successful”.

 

How to do it:

#

User Action

System Response

Notes

1. 

Click the Self-Service link.

SUITS displays the Portal Home screen.

 

2. 

Click the Employers & Agents button.

SUITS displays the Employers & Agents Welcome screen.

 

3. 

Click the Employers link in the Register for an Account box.

SUITS displays the Welcome to the State Employers Registration Portal screen.

 

4. 

Make sure you have all the items/information needed to register.

 

 

5. 

Click the Next button.

SUITS displays Step 1 – Create an Account

 

6. 

Enter a User Name.

 

 

7. 

Click the Validate button.

•      If the User Name is available, SUITS displays Password fields.

 

•      If the User Name is not available, SUITS will display an error message. Enter another User Name and press Validate button to check availability again.

 

8. 

Enter a Password.

 

The Password must be at least 12 characters long, with one each of the following:

•      Capital letter.

•      Lowercase letter.

•      Symbol.

•      Number.

9. 

Confirm the Password.

 

 

10.

Complete the Select Security Question panel.

 

Security Questions are used for System security purposes and to retrieve forgotten credentials.

11.

Click Next.

SUITS validates the Password strength and that the Password entered matches the Password confirmed.

 

12.

 

SUITS displays the Login Information screen.

•      At this time the User can log off and log back on to the Employer Portal because they have established a User Name and Password. SUITS will save the partial registration for 30 days.

 

•      This is a good time to point out the Print button as well.

13.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Contact Information screen.

 

14.

Click the Add button.

SUITS displays the Contact Detail screen.

 

 

•      On this screen, enter the name of the person who should be contacted with questions about this account.

 

•      Please enter a Mailing Address rather than a PO Box.

15.

Select an item from the Contact Type dropdown menu.

 

 

16.

Enter a First Name.

 

 

17.

Enter a Last Name.

 

 

18.

Enter Address Line 1

 

 

19.

Enter Address Line 2 (if needed).

 

 

20.

Enter a City.

 

 

21.

Select an item from the State dropdown menu (defaults to South Carolina).

 

 

22.

Enter a Zip Code.

 

 

23.

Select an item from the Country dropdown menu (defaults to United States of America).

 

 

24.

Enter a Telephone Number.

 

 

25.

Enter a Fax (not required).

 

 

26.

Enter an E-mail Address.

 

 

27.

Confirm the E-mail Address.

 

 

28.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Contact Information screen. The screen displays the contact record you just added.

 

29.

Click the Add button and repeat the Add Contact steps.

 

To update the contact, select the checkbox associated with the record you want to modify, and click the Modify button.

30.

Click Next on the Contact Information screen  when you are satisfied with the Contact Information.

SUITS displays the Initial Questions screen.

This is Step 2 of the Registration Wizard.

31.

Enter your Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)*.

*FEIN is required. If you need an FEIN, click the here link.

 

 

32.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:
“Have you paid or do you anticipate paying wages to individuals, including corporate officers, for services performed in State?”

If you answered “Yes”, SUITS displays a set of additional questions.

 

 

 

33.

Enter the Date wages were, or will first be, paid in the state.

 

•      Liability is determined by answering “Yes” to at least one of the additional questions prompted when the User selects the Employment Type. The Liability Date is the date of first wages paid within the year liability was met, but the account is not liable until it meets at least one threshold.

 

•      If the Liability Threshold is a future date within the current quarter, the account status is set to “Pending – Future Liability” and the liability status is “In Agency Review”.

 

•      If the Liability Threshold is a future date beyond the last day of the current quarter, the account status is set to “Active” and the liability status is set to “Non-Liable Future”. 

 

•      What happens if an Employer registers and they have a liability in the past?

34.

Enter the Number of people who are currently being/will be paid for work performed in the State

 

 

35.

Select “Other” from Type of Employment dropdown menu.

 

 

36.

Answer any additional questions.

 

•      A “Yes” answer must be entered to at least one of these questions for the account to be liable.

•      If “No” is entered for all, the account status will be “Active” and liability status will be “Non-Liable”.

•      If “Yes” is entered to the FUTA Threshold, the Employer is liable from ‘dollar one’ of wages paid in South Carolina.

•      If “Yes” is entered to the Wage Threshold (have you paid $xxx of quarterly payroll) or to the Timing Threshold (have you employed x number of workers in 20 weeks), the User is prompted to enter a Date the Threshold was met. This date is validated against:

o  Date work was first performed.

o  Date of first wages paid.

o  Future-date business rules.

37.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Business Information screen.

This is Step 3 of the Wizard.

38.

Select an item from the Business Entity Type dropdown list in the Employer Information panel.

 

 

39.

Enter the Entity Legal Name.

 

 

40.

Enter the Trade or Doing Business As (DBA) Name (not required).

 

 

41.

Enter the date the business was formed or incorporated in the Formation/Incorporation Information panel.

 

 

42.

Select the state in which the business was formed from the dropdown list (default is South Carolina).

 

 

43.

Select your Preferred Method of Communication from the dropdown menu.

 

OPTIONS:

•      Email.

•      Text.

•      Mail.

44.

Click Next.

•      SUITS displays the Additional Business Information screen.

•      The Business Entity Type, Business Type, and FEIN are pre-populated on this screen.

 

45.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:
“Will this Employer act as a Professional Employer Organization?”

 

 

46.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:
“Is the PEO registering in South Carolina only to conduct business on behalf of clients?” (Answer “No” if PEO employs workers in the state.)

 

 

47.

Enter the PEO number from the Consumer Affairs Department.

 

 

48.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:
“Is this business registering because the FEIN has changed?”

 

 

49.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:  
“Is this business registering because of an acquisition, merger, entity change, or consolidation with another business or businesses operating in the State?”

 

 

50.

Enter a Number for the question:
“How many business locations are currently operating in the State?”

 

 

51.

Click the Next button.

SUITS displays the Business Address screen.

This is Step 4 of the Wizard.

52.

Enter the Address where work is performed in the State.
(Address Line 1; Address Line 2, if needed; City, State and Zip; Country; County; Phone; Email; Email Confirmation.)

 

SUITS will be paired with Melissa, an address validation software.

53.

Enter the Legal Address of the business.

 

OR

 

Select the checkbox if the Legal Address is the same as the Address where the work is performed.

The panel collapses upon clicking the checkbox.

 

54.

Enter the Mailing Address of the business.

 

OR

 

Select the checkbox if the Mailing Address is the same as either the Address where the work is performed, or the Legal Address.

The panel collapses upon clicking the checkbox.

 

55.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the NAICS Classification screen.

This is Step 5 of the Wizard.

56.

Select an item from the 1st Classification dropdown menu that best describes the function of the business.

SUITS populates the options within the 2nd Classification dropdown menu based on your selection from the 1st Classification menu.

 

57.

Select an item from the 2nd Classification dropdown menu that best describes the function of the business.

SUITS populates the options within the 3rd Classification dropdown menu based on your selection from the 2nd Classification menu.

 

58.

Repeat the steps and select an option from all the Classification menus.

 

 

59.

Enter the Description of the business in the free text box.

 

 

60.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Ownership Information screen.

This is Step 6 of the Wizard.

61.

Click the Add button.

SUITS displays the Owner/Officer Detail screen.

 

62.

Select an item from the Owner Type dropdown menu.

 

Depending on the type of business, the Owner Type (first field) in the Owner/Officer Information panel may already be populated. If not, the User must select the Type of Owner from a dropdown menu. The contents of the menu are populated based upon the type of Employer.

63.

Enter the First Name of the business Owner.

 

 

64.

Enter the Last Name.

 

 

65.

Enter the Social Security Number.

 

 

66.

Select an item from the Job Title dropdown menu in the Additional Information section.

 

 

67.

Enter the Percent of Ownership.

 

 

68.

Enter the Date of Ownership.

 

 

69.

Enter the End Date of Ownership (not required).

 

 

70.

Select the Yes or No radio button for the question:
“Is the owner or officer compensated for their services?”

 

 

71.

Enter the Owner/Officer Residential Address.

(Address Line 1, Address Line 2 if needed, City, State, Zip, Country, County.)

 

A Residential Address is required in order for the agency to know where to find/how to communicate with the business Owner, if needed.

72.

Enter the Telephone Number.

 

 

73.

Enter an Email Address.

 

 

74.

Confirm the Email Address.

 

 

75.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Ownership Information screen. The screen displays the contact record you just added.

•      Click the Add button and repeat the steps to add another Owner/Officer.

•      The following criteria must be met for Ownership:

o  Ownership percentage must = 100%

Or

o  3 Owner/Officers must be entered.

•      To update the owner, select the checkbox associated with the record you want to modify, and click the Modify button.

76.

Click Next.

SUITS displays the Review and Submit screen.

This is Step 7 of the Wizard.

77.

Click on each tab in the Employer Information panel to review the information you have entered.

 

To modify any of the information, click the Edit button within the tab.

78.

Read the Certification of Completeness and Accuracy statement and click the checkbox.

 

 

79.

Click the Next button.

SUITS validates the Registration Application and determines liability status.

 

80.

 

SUITS displays the Registration Completed screen.

 

81.

Read all the information on the screen.

The screen displays Liability Information as well as Employer Information.

 

This would be a good screen to point out the Print button.

82.

Click the Finish button.

SUITS displays the landing page of the Employer’s account.

The Employer’s landing page displays their Account Summary.  At this time, the Employer will have one unread message – an Employer Registration letter.

83.

 

SUITS generates a message in the Employer’s account: “Employer Registration Successful”.