Tap a party in the diagram to see its role, and what it deliberately does not do.
Center of the system
The Employee
Initiates
- Opens the investment account/contract with GLP
- Submits the Salary Reduction Agreement (SRA)
- Chooses contribution amount, pre-tax vs. Roth, and 403(b) and/or 457(b)
Never has to
- Calculate their own IRS contribution limits
- Coordinate directly between the district and the TPA
- Track payroll cutoff dates on their own
Everything downstream — the SRA, the MAC calculation, the payroll deduction, the remittance — exists to serve this one relationship. If an advisor loses sight of that, the mechanics stop making sense.
Employer
The District
Owns
- The written 403(b)/457(b) plan document
- The approved-vendor list (this is where GLP's "payroll slot" lives)
- Payroll — runs it, and remits withheld funds on its own schedule
Doesn't
- Pick investments or give investment advice
- Give tax advice
- Process the SRA itself — that's the TPA's job
Every district sets its own monthly SRA processing cutoff — they are not standardized across MRIC. Missing one pushes the deduction to the next pay cycle.
Third-party administrator
US OMNI & TSACG Compliance Services
Does
- Validates every SRA against IRS limits (the MAC calculation)
- Coordinates contributions across vendors within the plan
- Holds the "payroll slot" list of approved vendors
- Transmits approved deductions to district payroll
Doesn't
- Sell products or manage investments
- Advise the employee on what to contribute
- Self-certify GLP's compliance — that runs the other direction
GLP already occupies a payroll slot as an MRIC-approved vendor — new enrollments go straight through this system with no extra agreement required. An Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) only comes into play when money is moving from a non-approved outside vendor.
Investment vendor
GLP & Associates
Does
- Opens and manages the investment account/contract
- Works with the employee to select underlying investments
- Receives contributions once the TPA forwards them
Doesn't
- Touch payroll in any way
- Self-certify IRS limit compliance — the TPA owns that check
- Enroll anyone on its own — the account existing isn't the same as a funded contribution
The single most common rejected-paperwork cause: submitting the SRA before this account is actually open. The account has to exist first.
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GLP doesn't enroll anyone in a 403(b)/457(b) on its own. GLP opens the account. The contribution only exists once the TPA approves an SRA and the district's payroll system acts on it. Two separate systems, two separate failure points.