Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Part VIII - Employer Reporting System (ERS) Internet User Instructions

Chapter 3a: How to Initiate Service and Compensation Reports

 Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments 

1

Enter Employee Data

Under the Forms menu, click BA-4. This brings up a screen where you enter the identifying 

information of the employee. Each BA-4 is a separate action. If the information you entered 

matches a record in the RRB database, the BA-4 screen will appear with the employee's service 

and compensation information pre-filled. Otherwise you will receive a message telling you there 

is no matching record as described below. 

No Matching Record

An employer cannot decrease service and compensation for an employee when there is no record 

that that employer ever reported service and compensation for that employee in that year. 

Therefore, we initially match the name and year that you entered, along with the BA number 

associated with your logon, to a record in our database. If a complete match is not found, a message 

will appear to that effect and ask if you want to continue with this account. If you choose to 

continue, you are limited to filing an increase. 

There are three basic reasons why there may be no matching RRB record.

Problem Solution

1. You typed employee SSN, name, or 

year incorrectly

Type over the incorrect information and 

resubmit.

2. The employee was omitted from the 

annual report and you are correcting 

the omission with a BA-4

Choose the continue option. The BA-4 screen 

will appear with identifying information prefilled.

Note: If you omitted a first-year employee, you may type the full surname on the BA-4 

screen. The name will not be posted to our master records until verified by SSA, but will 

appear correctly on this site and reports.

3. The original BA-3 report was filed 

under a BA number that does not agree 

with the BA number associated with 

your logon but is a related company

If this occurred because of a merger or 

acquisition, and it is an increase adjustment, 

select "Continue with this account." For other 

situations, telephone QRSC for advice.

Enter Service and Compensation Data

The BA-4 screen will display the RRB record for the employee you are adjusting. Use this 

information to determine the correct adjustment. First select increase or decrease by clicking the 

appropriate radial button. To increase or decrease service months, click the buttons for the 

individual months. Enter the adjusted compensation amounts in the 'Adjustment Amt' boxes. The 

system will calculate the new totals and display them under 'New Amt.'
Rail Employer Reporting Instructions

Part VIII - Employer Reporting System (ERS) Internet User Instructions

Chapter 3a: How to Initiate Service and Compensation Reports

 Form BA-4, Report of Creditable Compensation Adjustments 

2

Increase and Decrease Adjustment for Same Employee

You can process an increase and decrease adjustment for the same employee and year but you 

cannot process two or more increases or two or more decreases at the same time. It is expected 

that you will combine the multiple increases (or multiple decreases) into a single adjustment. When 

an adjustment already exists on the ERS system for the employee and year that you select, the 

system will alert to the existence of the prior adjustment. 

System Edits of Your Data

When you enter an amount in a BA-4 adjustment field and press the Tab key, the screen will 

calculate the new amount and display it. When you press the Update key, the screen will edit the 

amounts. You will receive an error message if the new amount is over the maximum (See note in 

Getting Started) or less than zero or the new Tier amounts are not in correct relation. When you 

close the error message, the cursor will be at the field that requires correction.

BA-4 Adjustment Outside Statute Of Limitations

Completion of this section is optional and applies only if the service and compensation year is 

more than four years prior to the current year. If the report year is more than four years prior to the 

current year and the report is being filed timely based on the payment date, indicate the type of 

payment by clicking the appropriate button. For a definition of the types of payments refer to Part 

IV.

Process Buttons

There are three buttons at the bottom of the BA-4 screen:

1. Update - click this to process the completed BA-4.

2. Reset - click this to clear your entries (pre-filled data will remain.)

3. Cancel - click this to exit the BA-4 process without filing a BA-4.

After a form has been updated, a user with approval authority will see two additional buttons.

1. Approve - click this to certify and file the BA-4 form with the RRB.

2. Delete - click this to delete the BA-4 form from the system. If a form is deleted, no record 

of it exists. The form cannot be recalled or re-instated. A user with Approval access, can 

change any data on a BA-4 but for security reasons, the BA-4 must be updated again before 

it can be approved.