Goal
Census season without the email chase. This guide shows you the end-to-end workflow: get payroll connected ahead of time, launch a census data collection project that requests data from every plan sponsor automatically, and let CX handle the reminders while you track progress in one place.
Prerequisites
Companies, plans, and client contacts are set up in CX, with contact roles assigned consistently (reminders and outreach send by role).
Plan sponsors have client portal access — see Inviting a Client to the Portal.
An email template for census outreach, and an annual questionnaire (APQ) template if you use one.
Step 1: Connect payroll before you launch (recommended)
Census collection goes much faster when payroll data is already syncing into CX. A few weeks before census season:
Open the Payrolls page and note which clients aren't connected yet.
Launch the curated Payroll Connection - (Pre-Census) project for those clients. It emails plan sponsors and asks them to connect payroll through the portal.
Track statuses on the Payrolls page as sponsors finish.
See Connecting Payroll Ahead of Census for the template walkthrough, and Setting Up Payroll for a Client for the full payroll setup workflow.
Step 2: Build the census project template
Set up one project template that does the collecting for you:
Create a project template dedicated to annual census collection.
Add client-facing tasks — update company information, complete the annual questionnaire, submit census data — and internal tasks for review and finalization.
Configure the questionnaire task so completed responses save directly to the project record.
Add an automated email task that notifies the plan sponsor when collection begins, sent to the right contact roles.
Add milestone log fields: census received, review complete, final approval.
Census Data Collection Projects walks through each of these steps in detail.
Step 3: Set the plan year
Check that the Plan Year data field on the project is set to the correct plan year.
Important: This is the most common setup miss. An incorrect plan year stores census data in the wrong annual record and affects reporting.
Step 4: Set due dates and reminders
Set due dates on the client-facing tasks.
Configure automated reminders before and after the due date, and choose the recipient roles. A 7–14 day interval to the Plan Sponsor or Primary Client Contact works well for most firms.
Reminders run once daily and spread large batches across days to protect deliverability — see Client Task Reminders for how the engine works.
Step 5: Launch and verify
Confirm the correct contacts are assigned to each plan.
Launch the project for the applicable plans — test with one plan first, then launch in bulk.
Verify the outreach emails went out and the client tasks appear in the client portal.
Expected outcome
Every plan sponsor has received a census request, their tasks are live in the portal, and CX follows up automatically until they respond. Questionnaire answers and census data flow straight into each project — and your milestone fields show exactly which plans are moving and which are stuck.
Related features
Census Data Collection Projects — the full template setup, step by step
Connecting Payroll Ahead of Census — the pre-season payroll push
Client Task Reminders — reminder schedules, roles, and troubleshooting
Tracking Compliance Task Completion — monitoring progress across all plans
Tips
Update the Plan Year field first thing each season.
Match reminder timing to your service expectations. Too many reminders, too early, frustrates clients.
Use milestone fields to spot slow plans early — don't wait until the deadline to find out who hasn't responded.
Reuse the template every year. Once it works, next season is a plan-year update and a launch.