Paychex Flex - Deductions Setup Guide for Employers
Last updated: April 15, 2026
To enable your benefits provider to manage payroll deductions on your behalf, you must first make sure that all benefits are configured appropriately in Paychex Flex. This will help ensure that employer contributions and employee deferrals are made accurately, and in a timely manner.
Please follow the guidelines below to update any 401(k), 401(k) Loans, 403(b) and S125 deduction 'Component Types' and 'Descriptions' in Paychex.
Please also confirm that for retirement deductions, there is only one instance of each Component Type in your Paychex account.
Paychex has a 20 character limit for Component Type Description
Traditional 401(k) - Deduction Codes
Component Type | Description | |
Employee deduction | 401k EE Pretax | 401k EE Pretax |
Employee deduction catch-up | 401k EE Catch Up | 401k EE Catch Up |
Company contribution | 401k ER | 401k ER |
Company contribution catch-up | 401k ER Catch Up | 401k ER Catch Up |
Roth 401(k) - Deduction Codes
Component Type | Description | |
Employee deduction | Roth 401k EE | Roth 401k EE |
Employee deduction catch-up | Roth 401k EE CatchUp | Roth 401k EE CatchUp |
Simple 401(k) - Deduction Codes
Component Type | Description | |
Employee deduction | 401k SIMPLE EE | 401k SIMPLE EE |
Employee deduction catch-up | 401k SMPL EE CatchUp | 401k SMPL EE CatchUp |
403(b) - Deduction Codes
| Component Type | Description |
Employee deduction | 403b EE Pretax | 403b EE Pretax |
Employee deduction catch-up | 403b EE Catch Up | 403b EE Catch Up |
Company contribution | 403b ER | 403b ER |
Roth 403(b) - Deduction Codes
| Component Type | Description |
Employee deduction | Roth 403b EE | Roth 403b EE |
Employee deduction catch-up | Roth 403b EE CatchUp | Roth 403b EE CatchUp |
401(k) Loan - Deduction Codes
Component Type | Description | |
Employee deduction | 401k Loan Payment | 401k Loan Payment |
S125 - Deduction Codes
Component Type | Description | |
S125 Medical deduction | POP EE Pretax | S125 Medical |
S125 Dental deduction | POP EE Pretax | S125 Dental |
S125 Vision deduction | POP EE Pretax | S125 Vision |
FAQ
What do I do if there is more than one instance of the benefit type?
In case there is more than one instance of the Component Type, please reach out to your Paychex representative to remove the duplicate Component Types and keep the most up-to-date one that is applicable to your current retirement recordkeeper.