ADP Retirement Services

Form 5500 – What You Need to Know to Prepare

As a Plan Administrator, you are required to file Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF (for smaller plans) on behalf of your company's qualified retirement plan to satisfy the annual filing requirements of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL).

These forms must be filed by the last day of the 7th calendar month after the end of the plan year. (i.e., if your plan year ends December 31st, the annual filing deadline is July 31st). Failure to file your Form 5500 by the deadline can result in substantial fines and penalties.

How to Prepare

Schedule Your Plan's Audit: If your plan had 100 or more participants at the beginning of the plan year, you will need to have an independent accountant audit your 401(k) plan and prepare a financial audit report. There is an exception if you filed a 5500-SF last year, and have less than 120 participants at the beginning of the year, you can still file a 5500-SF and do not need an audit. To assist you in this process, in May, ADP will make available an electronic 2016 5500 Audit Package. We will notify you when the Audit Package is available on the Plan Sponsor Website and include instructions for providing your auditor with access to the package.

Get Your EFAST2 Filing Credentials If this is the first year you will be filing a Form 5500 on behalf of a company, you need to get your EFAST2 Filing Credentials. Click here to go to the U.S. Department of Labor website to obtain your credentials.

Review your Schedule C EIC Disclosures: Schedule C of Form 5500 reports compensation your plan's service providers received during the year. Certain kinds of compensation (called Eligible Indirect Compensation, or "EIC") are eligible for simplified Schedule C reporting if you receive the right disclosures. ADP will use Eligible Indirect Compensation for simplified reporting to prepare Schedule C wherever possible. ADP will post your plan's 2016 disclosures to the message center of the Plan Sponsor Website prior to making available your Form 5500. It is important that you review the disclosures in advance of filing your 2016 Form 5500 as well as keep a record that you received them.

File for an extension, if needed: If you need more time to file your Form 5500 and Form 8955-SSA, you will need to complete Form 5558 Application for Extension of Time to file Certain Employee Plan Returns. Instructions for filing an extension will be provided on the Plan Sponsor Website.

Note: If your Plan is using your corporate tax extension form for your 5500 extension, you can indicate that directly on the Plan Sponsor Website.

Form 8955-SSA: If your plan reiqures Form 8955-SSA - Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with Deferred Benefits, you will be required to file it in addition to your Form 5500.

Reviewing Your Form 5500

Once you have received your email notification that your plan's 2016 Form is ready for review and filing, you will need to log into the Plan Sponsor Website and click on the 5500 link under TASKS. This link will be continually updated with your filing progress and status. You will also be able to view the 5500 filing checklist which will guide you through the filing process and provide you detailed instructions on next steps.

For More Information

ADP has prepared a number of on-demand training videos to help guide you through the Form 5500 review and filing process. To access the videos, simply click on the links below:

*Note: If 2016 is the first year your plan qualifies for an audit, your audit package may not be available until June.

Articles by Topic:

Improving Participant Savings Rates
Plan Sponsor Website Makes Plan Administration Easy
Form 5500 - What You Need to Know to Prepare
Catch-up Contributions
Regulatory Update
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