How do I manage my pre-tax commuter elections on Forma?

Setting up your benefit for the first time

If you’re enrolling in commuter benefits for the first time, you’ll see Transit and/or Parking accounts on the Benefits page of your Forma account, with an option to Get Started if you’re eligible to enroll.

Note that your eligibility is determined by your employer.

Elect contributions

You can enter the amount you’d like to contribute to your Parking or Transit benefit in the box on the right-hand side of the screen or move the scroll bar to the right to to update the contribution amount.

• The start date indicates when your monthly election will take effect
• The deadline for next month’s changes (enroll by) is the cutoff date to enroll in commuter benefits for the following month. 
• If your employer allows post-tax commuter contributions, any amount exceeding the pre-tax contributions maximum will be considered post-tax.

Review

Once you’ve finished making your commuter elections, click “Review Contributions” and confirm the details.

Funding frequency defines when you’ll receive contributions in your commuter account. If commuter accounts are payroll-funded, you’ll generally receive the funds on your employer’s payroll schedule. Funding will be reflected on your Forma account 1-3 business days after the deduction is made from payroll. In some cases, your employer may fund the commuter account on a specific date each month. 

• By submitting the request, you are making a binding election of the commuter benefit(s) indicated on the form and hereby authorizing your employer to use pre-tax income to pay for qualified commuter benefits to the extent permitted under federal law.
• Your compensation will be reduced by the amount you have elected under the commuter benefit(s) indicated on the form, continuing each pay period until it is amended or terminated.
• Contributions per pay period will be calculated based on your monthly election and your pay schedule.
• For example, if you are on a semi-monthly pay schedule with a $100 monthly election, you will be contributing $50 per pay period. You may change the Monthly Contribution amount, not the Contributions per pay period through Forma.
• For the change to take effect in the next month, the request must be submitted by the cutoff date determined by your employer. 

Submit

If you’re satisfied with the details of your commuter election, click “Submit”. You’ll see a confirmation page to let you know the request was sent.

Your request will be processed immediately, and you will see your Parking or Transit benefit under “coming soon” on the benefits page once it’s set up.

Important Pre-tax Forma card information

• If you don’t have a Pre-tax Forma Card already, you will receive a Forma Card for your commuter account(s). For more information on card issuing, refer to the article When will I receive a new pre-tax Forma card?
• If you are enrolled in an HSA only, you will need a new card issued to you.
• If you are enrolled in an FSA, LPFSA, or DCFSA, the same pre-tax Forma card can be used for your Transit and Parking benefit.

Changing commuter elections

If you already have a Parking or Transit benefit and would like to update your monthly election, log in to your Forma account, select “Benefits” from the top navigation bar, choose Transit or Parking, select “Manage Transit” (or “Manage Parking”) dropdown, and select “Edit my contributions".

Then on the next screen, select your new contribution amount, review it, and submit the request.

• Your change will not take effect until the new Start Date.
• After selecting your initial election amount and before the account start date, you can still make changes to your election by clicking on the arrow as shown below.

• If you make a change to your commuter election amount that starts on a future date, you will not see the updated amount reflected on your account until the change start date. However, you should receive an email titled "We've received your commuter benefits elections" that confirms you've successfully made a change.
• To stop contributing, enter $0 in the Amount box, move the scroll bar all the way to the left, or toggle off the benefit where it says "enabled".
• Funds you already contributed will still be available for use until the program ends or employment is terminated.