Participant Changes Their Deferral. Payroll Should Know Automatically.
PayKonnect's 360° integration adds a return data path — routing participant elections, deferral changes, and loan updates from the recordkeeper back to the payroll system. Eliminating the manual step that creates lag, errors, and compliance risk.
Technical Overview
Bidirectional data flow adding a return path to the standard 180° integration. When participants make election changes at the recordkeeper level, PayKonnect routes those changes back to the payroll system via direct API write-back (where the payroll platform exposes a write API) or via structured notification workflows (for systems without write API access). Handles deferral rate changes, loan initiation, loan repayment changes, and hardship distribution notifications.
The Pain Point This Eliminates
When a participant changes their deferral rate or takes a 401(k) loan, the payroll system needs to update withholding. Without 360° integration, a person must manually receive a notification, log into payroll, and make the change — introducing lag, errors, and compliance risk every time.
Who This Capability Serves
What Breaks Without 360° Integration
Picture this scenario: a participant logs into their 401(k) portal and increases their deferral from 4% to 8%. The recordkeeper updates their account. But the payroll system still deducts 4%. For one or two pay cycles, nobody catches it. Then there’s a discrepancy between what the plan shows and what payroll has withheld. Corrections are required. Possibly IRS correction procedures.
This is what happens when participant elections at the recordkeeper level don’t flow back to payroll automatically. It’s an extremely common problem, and it’s entirely avoidable with 360° integration.
Two Modes of 360° Return Flow
API Write-Back — Where the payroll system exposes a write API, PayKonnect sends election updates directly. The payroll system updates automatically; no human intervention required. This is the cleanest implementation and is available with Gusto, Paycor, and other modern platforms.
Structured Notification — For payroll systems without write API access (the majority of legacy and desktop systems), PayKonnect generates a structured notification containing precisely the fields the payroll operator needs: participant identifier, plan identifier, effective date, the old withholding instruction, and the new one. This is not a generic email — it’s a formatted update record designed to make manual keying as fast and accurate as possible.
SECURE 2.0 and the Auto-Enrollment Return Flow
SECURE 2.0 Section 101 requires new 401(k) plans to automatically enroll participants at 3% deferral, escalating to 10–15%. When a new plan is established or a new participant becomes eligible, the initial auto-enrollment election must reach the payroll system — and reach it before the next payroll run.
Without 360° integration, this is a manual coordination requirement. With 360° integration, the initial election flows automatically from recordkeeper to payroll. This is particularly important for retirement platforms that promise “automatic enrollment” as a feature — the automation only works if the payroll system receives the election without human intervention.
Learn more: How 180° and 360° Integration Differ | Provider Coverage | SECURE 2.0 Integration
Frequently Asked Questions
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