Below is an example of how you might enter a 529 Savings Account in our US software. I will be using an example of a client's daughter who we will call Isabella. Note, this is only an example of how a 529 might be entered you will want to customize your entry to meet your client's needs.
Let’s enter Isabella’s 529 Account
- With the Dashboard selected in the top navigation:
- Click the plus button (+) bottom right.
- Select College.
- Select College Savings.
5. Owner: Select Isabella as the owner of the account as the account will be for her Education. Be sure to also deselect the checkmark next to her parent's name A checkmark should appear only next to Isabella’s name.
6. Account Name: Enter “Isabella’s 529”.
7. Type: Select 529
8. Balance $: Enter $3,600, the current balance of the at the beginning of the plan.
9. Cost Basis: $150 which was the initial deposit that started the account Tip: Cost Basis- the basis, as used in United States tax law, is the original cost of property, adjusted for factors such as depreciation. It's important to enter this for when the so that the software can calculate appropriate capital gains if the property is sold. The taxpayer pays/ taxes on a capital gain/ that equals the amount realized on the sale minus the sold property's basis.
10. Contribution Type: Select Amount
11. Contribution Amount: Enter $150
12. Frequency (the “Annually” dropdown): To the right of this field, select Monthly to indicate that this is a monthly contribution amount.
13. Select the Timing tab in the left navigation.
Your selection on the Timing tab will be used to schedule when contributions to this 529 account are to begin and end. Since Isabella's parents plan to make deposits to this account from now until retirement. Let’s begin with the start event.
14. Contributions Start: Select from the timeline an event to schedule the start of these contributions.
Either – Click the plan “Start” event icon and select “Set as Start Event”.
Or - Select the event icon for the "Start" event in the timeline and drag and drop the icon into the Contributions Start box above the timeline (as shown right).
15. Contributions End: Next, select an event to schedule the end of these contributions.
Either – Click the icon for "Isabella’s University" event and select “Set as End Event”
Or – Select the event icon for the "Isabella’s University" event in the timeline and drag and drop the icon into the Contributions End box above the timeline (as shown right).
With your contribution events now selected, click SAVE. This will take you back to the dashboard where you will be able to view that this account has been successfully added. (as seen below)
Note: That the software will automatically use a 529 account as the primary funding source for any college expenses in the plan.