eSERS Contribution Report

The Ohio School Employees Retirement System (SERS) requires all public school employers to submit contribution reports electronically through the eSERS system. This mandatory reporting ensures accurate tracking of retirement contributions for non-teaching school employees, including bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, secretaries, and educational aides.

The Contribution Report in eSERS (Electronic School Employees Retirement System) is a standardized report employers must submit to the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) detailing retirement contributions for covered employees. It’s a routine reporting requirement that accompanies remittance of retirement contributions for both employees and employers.

The main purposes of the eSERS Contribution Report are to:

• Report retirement contributions withheld from employees and employer matching amounts for each pay period.

• Document covered compensation and other payroll details (like days/hours worked) relevant for SERS retirement credit and funding.

• Trigger the calculation of liabilities in the system so employers know what amounts are due and any balancing/payment to make via eSERS.

This helps ensure that individual members’ retirement accounts are credited properly and that SERS receives timely, accurate contribution data.

Menu path

From the Human Resources menu, select State. From the State - OH menu, select eSERS Contribution Report.

Submission period

• Due Date: Contribution Reports must be submitted no later than five business days after each pay date in eSERS.

• Late Reporting: Late submissions may incur monetary penalties (e.g., fixed daily penalty amounts per late business day).

Because contribution reporting connects directly to liability creation in the payment system, it’s crucial not only to submit on time but also to make sure the report is posted and error-free in eSERS — unposted or partially posted reports are treated as incomplete and may trigger penalties.

Selection rule

Employees are selected and reported based on the following criteria:

• Pay Date - Employees who have payroll records matching the specified pay date.

• Pay Frequency - Based on the contribution cycle options selected:

  • Weekly (W) - Contribution cycle code WKY

  • Bi-Weekly (B) - Contribution cycle code BWK

  • Semi-Monthly (S) - Contribution cycle code SMO

  • Monthly (M) - Contribution cycle code MON

  • Other - Contribution cycle code starting with OTH

• Pay Schedule Match - The employee's issue date, start date, and transaction date must match an entry in the Pay Schedule configuration.

• SERS Deductions - Only employees with SERS-mapped deduction codes are included.

Prerequisites

• Enter valid information in the following fields on the Human Resources Profile - State page: 

  • Use Calendar Days for Retirement Days

  • SERS County Code

  • SERS District Code

  • SERS Employee Rate

  • SERS Employer Rate

  • SERS Employer ID

• Enter valid information in the following fields on the Payroll Information - State Required page:

  • SERS Emp Stat

  • SERS Emp Date

• Configure the SERS pay code mappings and earnings codes on the Pay Codes page.

• Configure the SERS deduction code mappings on the Deduction Table page.

• Load the eSERS Pay Schedule for the applicable contribution cycles on the OH eSERS Contribution Report - Pay Period - Load page.

• Employees must have active SERS deductions assigned.

• Payroll processing must be complete, and the check history must exist for the pay date.

• Register new employees and reemployed retirees as SERS members using the eSERS Enrollment Report. If a contribution file includes someone not yet enrolled, it will trigger errors in eSERS that must be resolved before posting. Employers are responsible for timely and accurate enrollment so that retirement contributions can be processed properly.