The Compliance Problems We Solve. Repeatedly.
ACA enforcement is real. These scenarios represent the common failure patterns we see, and what happens when PenaltyShield takes over the process.
Multi-Location Healthcare Group Receives $380K Letter 226J
A healthcare employer with 340 employees across six states received an IRS Letter 226J proposing $380,000 in 4980H(b) penalties for two prior tax years. They had been using a payroll-integrated ACA module and assumed compliance was handled.
BEAM identified that their payroll system had been exporting inconsistent employment status fields. PRISM revealed incorrect Line 14 coding on 60+ employees across both years. WAVE confirmed the penalty exposure but also identified safe harbor defenses that had not been applied.
We built the response package, corrected the underlying filings, and submitted amended returns. The final assessed penalty was reduced by over 80%. Going forward, the employer migrated to PenaltyShield for all ACA compliance.
Regional Manufacturer With Fragmented Payroll Data Achieves Clean First Filing
A manufacturer with 210 employees across two payroll systems and a legacy HR spreadsheet had never successfully filed ACA returns without errors. Their prior vendor rejected the engagement after data review.
BEAM mapped three separate data sources into a unified ACA schema, identified 22 employees with conflicting status records across systems, and flagged one ALE group relationship that had not been accounted for in prior filings.
First clean filing in three years. All data quality issues resolved prior to compliance logic running. ALE group returns handled correctly across both EINs. IRS acknowledgment received with no errors or schema rejections.
Benefits Broker Adds ACA Compliance to Existing Book of Business
A mid-size benefits brokerage had 14 ALE clients asking for ACA compliance support. They lacked the internal infrastructure to deliver it and had lost two clients to a competitor who offered bundled ACA services.
We onboarded all 14 employers into PenaltyShield under a partner arrangement. BEAM handled data normalization from five different payroll platforms. LENS produced AIRWAVE reports for each employer before filing.
All 14 employers filed on time with no IRS errors. The broker retained 100% of the at-risk relationships and added ACA as a differentiated service offering. Two of the employers had WAVE-identified exposure that was corrected before filing.
Self-Funded Employer With 180 Dependents Gets Part III Right for the First Time
A self-insured employer with 95 employees and approximately 180 enrolled dependents had been filing Part III of Form 1095-C with incomplete dependent data, creating exposure for both 6055 and 4980H purposes.
BEAM mapped dependent enrollment data from the employer's TPA and reconciled it against employee enrollment records. PRISM generated complete Part III entries for all enrolled dependents, including coverage months and SSN validation.
First complete Part III filing with all dependent SSNs validated and coverage months correctly coded. TPA data reconciliation completed with a full audit trail. Zero IRS error notices received.
Restaurant Group Uncovers $220K in Hidden 4980H(b) Exposure Before Filing
A restaurant group with 280 employees believed their plan met affordability requirements based on verbal assurance from their payroll provider. No affordability calculation had ever been documented.
PRISM ran Rate of Pay safe harbor calculations on each employee classification. WAVE identified that variable-hour employees in three locations had premium contribution amounts that did not meet the affordability threshold for those plan years.
The employer prospectively corrected employee contributions before the filing deadline, eliminating the prospective exposure. Prior year risk was documented and safe harbor arguments were prepared. Estimated $220K in penalty exposure addressed before any IRS involvement.
Holding Company With 6 EINs Had Never Filed as an ALE Group
A holding company with six subsidiary EINs had each entity filing independently. No one had analyzed the controlled group structure. Several entities were close to but not over the 50 FTE threshold individually.
Combined workforce analysis confirmed ALE group status. PRISM handled the authoritative transmittal determination and filed a coordinated set of returns across all six EINs with correct 1094-C aggregate section data.
First correctly structured ALE group filing in the company's history. Potential IRS exposure from incorrect non-ALE filings documented. All six entities now operate under a single coordinated PenaltyShield compliance engagement.