Maya King, an analyst with the myCalPERS technical support team at CalPERS, told attendees that each employer should designate a system access administrator to manage user accounts and contact information and to ensure authorized users have the access needed to run payroll and Cognos reports.

Why it matters: employers rely on myCalPERS for payroll reporting and member records; errors in access or reporting can delay retirements, generate arrears assessments or require time-consuming corrections.

King described key support functions and quick troubleshooting steps employers can try before contacting CalPERS: clearing the browser cache and cookies, using an up-to-date browser, and relying on a system access administrator to reset forgotten passwords for their staff. King also said a dedicated web page contains step-by-step guides and resources for system access administrators.

CalPERS also maintains a testing environment that mirrors the production system. “This testing environment is a mirror of our live environment,” King said, adding the test environment is refreshed monthly. She recommended employers use the test environment to run large adjustments, enrollment uploads or other file submissions “in a safe space without any impact to your actual data.” King explained there are two test-environment links — one for users who already have test accounts and a second for accounts created after a monthly refresh — and that users should watch for a yellow banner identifying the environment.

On reporting tools, King said CalPERS offers more than 70 Cognos reports accessible through a Cognos report catalog that includes descriptions, access-role requirements and preview samples. She advised employers to examine report notes (marked with an asterisk) because those may affect results and to coordinate with county offices of education when report data are maintained at the county level. She also suggested exporting a report to Excel to produce a streamlined, custom view.

For help, King directed employers to CalPERS’ technical support inbox and the contact center for inquiries.