A Product of Cobra Solutions Inc.
Excessive administrative costs have deterred companies from pursuing cafeteria plan-type benefit programs for their employees. COBRA Solutions Inc. claims they can help companies cut those costs via their Cafeteria Plan Manager ® software program. This will enable companies and workers to enjoy the advantages that cafeteria plans offer.
Some advantages include:
What is it and how does it help HR professionals?
The Cafeteria Plan Manager ® is a Windows based program designed to assist with the implementation of one or more of the cafeteria plan components, as well as track, calculate and record employee´s benefit elections. HR professionals embarking on cafeteria plans for their employee population, or those in the midst of a terribly unorganized cafeteria plan should find such a program useful.
How does the software program work?
At the beginning of the program, A "Things To Do" list pops-up to assist you in setting up your cafeteria plan by requesting specific data. Once this is complete, the program offers three documents to help you move from ground zero to a fully operational cafeteria plan - quickly.
The three documents include:
§ Cafeteria Plan Document - governs the body of any plan
§ Summary Plan Description - explains the plan to employees
§ Enrollment Form - for employees to enroll in the program
In addition to these forms, the Cafeteria Plan Manager ® provides a Discrimination Test module. By answering a series of easy-to-follow questions, the program tests the way you´ve set-up your cafeteria plan to ensure compliance with Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Employees enroll in the program by filling out the required paper work, as stipulated by the Enrollment Form. After the enrollment period, the Cafeteria Plan Manager ® program is designed to help keep employees informed about their current account balances and selected benefits through a Plan Administrator function.
In the end, the program manages the flow of creating and managing cafeteria plans and generates a report for your company´s annual filing of Form 5500.
Product Selection Indicators
Competitors Others products in this space include:
§ TravisFlex for Windows - www.travisoft.com
§ Fast-Flex Pro Software - www.flexaccounts.com/
Limitations CSI, on their web site, indicates that, "After enrollment is entered for the year, the Plan Administrator just needs to INPUT terminations and changes in life status". JUST? Forrester Research has estimated that HR professionals spend 60%-80% of their time on administrative tasks - OUCH. In the era of Web accessible applications - also known as ASPs, IBS´s or Netbots, and employee self-service capability via the Web, IVR or Kiosks - what is this company thinking? Inputting employee changes will COST you time - be aware.
Price $US395.00
Scalability The number of users is limited to 5 at one time.
Support Online support is provided through CSI´s new Customer Care web site (www.csisupport.com), as well as through the telephone at (602) 831-6078. If you are going to use the web site for support, you´ll need to be using Netscape 3.0 or higher, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, since the site uses frames, cookies and Java scripts.
System Requirements: IBM ®-compatible personal computer; WindowsTM Operating System (3.1, 95, 98, or NT), 10 MB of hard disk space and 8 MB or RAM.
Tutorial The program includes a tutorial to walk you through every step.
User Friendliness The font in the program is fairly small, making some of the required fields difficult to read.
Overall Evaluation
As an employer I would demand Web accessible functionality for my managers and my employees (i.e. self-service), as this would cut administrative costs. As an HR professional, this would make me more strategic.
I recently heard a story about an HR professional becoming the HR V.P. of their department simply because they chose to make the move to Web accessible self-service applications. It freed them up from menial tasks and allowed them to focus on strategy.
If this product becomes Web-accessible, HR.com will be the first to let you know - stay tuned.
Nonetheless, this product meets its objectives.
About the Company
COBRA Solutions, Inc. (CSI), is a provider of software for the HR environment. With over 7,000 COBRA Administration Manager clients and nearly 10 years in the business, CSI now offers software to deal with administering a firm´s cafeteria plan. Visit them at www.cobra-solutions.com