In PERSI (Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho), a transmittal file is a report that employers submit to report payroll-related to retirement data for each employee covered under the plan. It includes wages, hours worked, and contribution amounts for a specific pay period. This file is required for every payroll cycle. 

 

Purpose

• Reports employee and employer contributions to the Base Plan and/or 401(k) Choice Plan.

• Updates PERSI on wages and service credit for each employee. 

• Ensures proper crediting of service time and contributions. 

• It is used by PERSI to calculate retirement benefits. 

 

 

How and when it's used

• Submitted through PERSI's employer portal (Arrivos) (https://employers/persi.idaho.gov)

• Usually generated automatically from your payroll system.

• Must be submitted shortly after each payroll run (this is a legal requirement to stay compliant). 

 

 

Why it's important?

• Drives pension eligibility, service credit, and benefit calculations. 

• Ensures correct and timely funding of retirement accounts. 

• Missing or inaccurate transmittals can lead to penalties, underfunded accounts, and errors in employee retirement records. 

 

 

Best practices

• Reconcile contributions with payroll each cycle. 

• Always submit transmittal files in the correct sequence (after enrollment and class/status change files). 

• Use PERSI's file format specification to avoid errors or rejections. 

 

 

The PERSI transmittal file is included in the 2025.08 release. 

 

---

Setting up PERSI transmittal file

1. Open Connect Payroll > State Reports > State Retirement Report. 

2. Use the Definition menu to select State Retirement Report (ID) - PERSI Payroll Transmittal File [Caselle Master].

3. Verify the File Transmission is set to Payroll (Transmittal). 

4. Set up the state reporting options. 

• Click to select the State Reporting tab > Options tab, and then enter the following information. 

• Employer code: This is the same as the 2024 State Retirement Report (ID). The employer code is a unique numeric identifier assigned by PERSI to each participating employer (such as a school district, city, county, state agency, or special district). 

• Pay cycle schedule name: Enter the frequency and type of payroll cycle the employer is reporting. It tells PERSI whether the payroll being reported is monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, depending on how the employer pays its employees. 

 

5. Skip the state reporting setup. 

The state reporting setup has been selected for the PERSI transmittal file. 

 

6. Set up the pay codes. 

Include pay codes for 

• Hourly wages that count toward PERSI eligibility. In most cases, include the pay rate and hours.

• Salaried compensation contributing to eligibility. Pay rate is optional, no hours needed. 

• Non-standard pay, for example, allowances, not affecting eligibility. No hours, pay rate is required if it's greater than or equal to zero. 

• Earning types. Zero (0) requires explanation. X must be flagged non-pensionable with appropriate attributes. 

 

To set up retirement pay codes: 

• Click to select the State Reporting tab > Fields tab. 

• Click Add/Remove Pay Codes . 

• Select the pay codes that are tied to the employee that need to be included in the file. 

• For each pay code, select the pay codes that make up Compensation, Other Pay, Non-pensionable Compensation, Contributions, Hours, Unused Sick Leave Balance, and Remittance Amount. (The columns to the right of the pay code.)

 

7. Set up the export file settings for the transmittal file. 

• Click to select the State Reporting tab > Export Settings tab, and then fill in the following information. 

• File name: Include the path and file name. Example: d:\myfiles\ID PERSI Payroll Transmittal MMYY.txt

 

8. Save the adjustment report as a new report definition. 

• Click Save  (CTRL+S).

• In the Save as new report box, enter the report definition name. (For example, PERSI Payroll Transmittal File 2025)

 

 

---

Generating transmittal file

1. Open Connect Payroll > State Reports > State Retirement Report. 

2. Select the report definition for State Retirement Report (ID) - PERSI Payroll Transmittal File.  

Verify the following information: 

• Report dates: Enter the reporting date range that includes the records being adjusted. 

• Include: Select Report and State File or State File. 

 

3. Set up the state reporting fields. 

You need to include only those pay codes that are relevant to the transmittal.  

To set up pay codes: 

• Click to select the State Reporting tab > Fields tab. 

• Click Add/Remove Pay Codes . 

• Select the pay codes that need to be included in the transmittal. 

• For each pay code included in the transmittal, select the pay codes that make up Compensation, Other Pay, Non-pensionable Compensation, Contributions, Hours, Unused Sick Leave Balance, and Remittance Amount. (The columns to the right of the retirement pay code.)

 

4. Review the converted report data. 

• Click to select the Review tab. 

• Review the report data. (Check for missing employees, remove employees that do not need to be included, and verify pay code amounts.)

• When the report data is accurate, continue to step 5. 

 

5. Click Preview (CTRL+Q) to generate the transmittal file. 

 

---

Filing transmittal file

1. Login to the PERSI Employer Portal. (https://employers.persi.idaho.gov) 

2. Select Reporting. 

3. Click Prepare Regular Transmittal. 

4. Upload the transmittal file. 

5. Review and submit. 

• Correct any flagged issues. 

• Once the flagged issues are cleared, you can submit the file for processing. 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2025 Caselle, Incorporated. All rights reserved.