What Hawaii Employers Should Prepare Before a WIMPER ProForma

A WIMPER ProForma is not a sales quote. It is a first-pass projection of whether the WIMPER structure may fit your Hawaii business, based on your actual payroll and benefits facts.

For Hawaii employers, that matters because the starting point is different from most states. Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act already requires many employers to provide health insurance to eligible employees. WIMPER Hawaii does not replace that coverage. It helps you evaluate whether a compliant Section 125 and Section 105 structure can sit alongside what you already provide.

The better your starting information, the more useful the ProForma conversation with Brandon will be.

1. Benefit-eligible employee count

Start with the number of W-2 employees who are benefit eligible.

For WIMPER Hawaii, the useful number is not just total headcount. Brandon needs to understand how many employees are likely eligible for the program, how many already participate in your health coverage, and whether there are classes of employees who should be treated differently.

For Hawaii employers, eligibility questions often start with the Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act. The Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations explains that the Act applies to employees who work 20 or more hours per week for four consecutive weeks, subject to the Act’s rules and exceptions. That does not automatically answer every WIMPER eligibility question, but it gives the local context for why Hawaii employers are usually already carrying health coverage infrastructure.

Bring a realistic employee count, not a perfect one. Brandon can help refine it.

2. Current health coverage setup

You should know which health plan or carrier you currently use, such as HMSA, Kaiser, or another approved Hawaii plan.

The WIMPER program does not replace your existing health coverage. It is designed to layer alongside it. Still, the current health plan matters because it helps confirm that you already have the employer benefits foundation in place.

Useful details include:

• Current health carrier or plan
• Approximate number of enrolled employees
• Whether coverage is offered to all eligible employees
• Whether you already use pre-tax premium deductions
• Whether you have dental, vision, FSA, HSA, or other cafeteria-plan benefits

This does not need to be a full benefits audit for the first conversation. It just needs to be enough to understand your starting point.

3. Payroll provider and payroll rhythm

The ProForma needs payroll context because WIMPER savings are tied to taxable wages and participation.

Bring the name of your payroll provider and your payroll frequency. For example, note whether you use ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks, Gusto, a local Hawaii payroll provider, or another system.

Useful details include:

• Payroll provider
• Payroll frequency
• Whether payroll is run internally or by an outside provider
• Approximate average wages or payroll bands
• Whether you have multiple locations, divisions, or employee classes

The ProForma does not require you to expose everything in the first conversation. But Brandon will need enough information to model estimated FICA recovery realistically.

4. Approximate wage and salary picture

Employer FICA savings depend on wages, participation, and plan structure. A headcount number alone is not enough.

If possible, prepare one of these:

• Approximate average annual wage for eligible employees
• Payroll summary by employee class
• Total payroll for benefit-eligible employees
• A de-identified census file if Brandon requests one

The goal is not to create a perfect actuarial model on the first call. The goal is to make sure the ProForma is based on real employer facts instead of generic assumptions.

Any savings figure should be treated as an estimate. Actual results depend on payroll, wages, participation, plan design, and implementation details.

5. Current Section 125 or FSA setup

Many employers already have some version of a Section 125 cafeteria plan, even if they do not call it that. If employees pay health insurance premiums on a pre-tax basis, there may already be a cafeteria-plan structure in place.

That matters because WIMPER uses a more complete Section 125 and Section 105 approach. Brandon needs to know whether the employer is starting from scratch or building on an existing pre-tax benefits setup.

Useful questions:

• Do employees currently pay health premiums pre-tax?
• Do you offer an FSA, dependent care FSA, or similar benefit?
• Do you have written cafeteria plan documents?
• Who currently maintains those documents?

Do not guess if you are unsure. Just flag it for review.

6. Implementation decision-makers

A WIMPER implementation usually touches finance, HR, payroll, and executive leadership.

Before requesting a ProForma, identify who will need to review the result. For a small business, that might be the owner and payroll contact. For a larger employer, it may include the CFO, HR director, benefits advisor, CPA, and legal counsel.

WIMPER Hawaii is an educational and implementation coordination surface. It does not replace your advisors. The employer should still review legal, tax, payroll, and benefits questions with qualified professionals who know the employer’s facts.

7. Your main reason for evaluating WIMPER

The best ProForma conversations start with a clear business reason.

Common reasons include:

• Reducing employer payroll tax cost
• Improving employee take-home pay
• Offsetting Hawaii’s high cost of doing business
• Adding useful supplemental benefits without disrupting the current health plan
• Evaluating whether existing benefits infrastructure can work harder
• Improving retention in a tight labor market

Brandon can explain the mechanics, but the employer should be clear about the business problem it is trying to solve.

What happens after the ProForma

If the numbers look promising, the next step is a fit review. That review should confirm eligibility, payroll compatibility, participation assumptions, documentation needs, and implementation timeline.

If the facts do not support moving forward, that is useful too. A good ProForma should help you avoid a bad fit, not force a decision.

For many Hawaii employers, the right first step is simple: gather your payroll and coverage basics, then ask Brandon to model the numbers.

Request a ProForma and use your actual employer data as the starting point.

Sources

1. State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, About the Prepaid Health Care Act. Used for Hawaii’s employer health-coverage context and the 20-hour-per-week reference.
2. Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 125, Cafeteria plans. Used for the Section 125 cafeteria plan framework.
3. Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 105, Amounts received under accident and health plans. Used for the Section 105 reimbursement plan framework.
4. Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 3121, Definitions. Used for FICA wage and tax context.
5. IRS, About Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. Used for cafeteria plan and qualified benefit background.

This article is educational information about employer benefit programs, not legal, tax, payroll, benefits, or plan-administration advice. ProForma projections are estimates based on employer-provided information and assumed participation. Actual results vary. Employers should confirm how any program applies to their specific facts with their own qualified tax and legal advisors.

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