Prototype Plans

As an IRS-approved Mass Submitter, we provide complete prototype plan services for all type of entities, including banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions, employee benefit consultants, attorneys and CPA firms.

Prototype plans are pre-approved plans by the Internal Revenue Service under the Master and Prototype program. A Master and Prototype consists of a basic plan document and an adoption agreement. The basic plan document contains all the non-elective provisions. The adoption agreement contains the options which may be selected by elective provisions and options which may be selected by the adopting employer. A Master and Prototype may be standardized or non-standardized.

With our prototype plan preparation services, you have one source for the plan, supporting forms, IRS submission package, custom printing, and SPD booklets using either our Relius Documents system or our Service Bureau. Each supporting forms package can include a printed adoption agreement (through the Relius Documents system) along with all associated forms including the summary plan description, IRS and administrative forms, plan administrator’s guide, and plan index.

Whether you choose to sponsor our Mass Submitter plans or have us be the sponsor, you can eliminate the need to spend time on research, IRS interaction, and drafting SPD language . We even submit your prototype to the IRS on your behalf; you just pay the user fees!

Using our Corbel or PPD prototype can dramatically reduce your cost. A quick comparison of IRS user fees tells the story.

IRS User Fees For Approval Of A Prototype:

Mass Submitter Prototypes

$200 per Adoption Agreement

Minor Modifier Prototype

$650 per Adoption Agreement

Non-Mass Submitter Prototype

$9,000 per Adoption Agreement

This comparison doesn't factor in the significant time expenditure necessary to develop and maintain an individually-drafted prototype. With our prototypes, you can minimize user fees and simplify your pension practice.

Defined Contribution Volume Submitter

Our defined contribution "prototype formatted" volume submitter  (formerly the cross-tested volume submitter) includes both cross-tested and non-cross-tested allocation methods. This hybrid type of document looks just like a prototype but is submitted as a volume submitter. The document includes some provisions that are not permitted in prototype plans. For example, it allows multiple employer plans, non-safe harbor hardship withdrawals for elective deferrals, and the ability to offset allocations under the plan by contributions made to another plan.

In addition, the new "prototype formatted" volume submitter is offered in the same manner that our traditional prototype documents are offered (i.e., your firm will generally be the sponsor of the document). This allows you to make sponsor level amendments on your employers' behalf.

An employer using a volume submitter is entitled to the same reliance rules that apply to adopters of Non-Standardized plans. One difference between a prototype plan and a  volume submitter plan is that if modifications are made to the plan, then the employer may generally submit the plan for a determination letter using IRS Form 5307 (as distinguished from IRS Form 5300 which requires a much higher IRS user fee and is generally required if an employer modifies a prototype plan and submits it for a determination letter). However, if a volume submitter plan is submitted for a determination letter, then the sponsor of the volume submitter plan (typically your firm) would need to have an individual who can serve as power of attorney on IRS Form 2848 (generally an attorney, enrolled actuary, CPA or enrolled IRS agent).

The Corbel and PPD defined contribution volume submitter documents have received volume submitter approval. The cost is $2,500 for current defined contribution prototype sponsors, or $3,500 for non-sponsors. You can process supporting forms using our Relius Documents system or Service Bureau. Our supporting forms include employer customized, completed adoption agreements; summary plan description; administrative and IRS submission forms. 

Eight Reasons Why You Should Consider our Prototype Approach

Reduce or eliminate the IRS user fee(s)

Eliminate IRS requests for minor plan corrections

Ease of compliance with the continual plan update requirements

Minimize negative client response to the continual plan update process

Reduce client cost for plan updates while improving the economics of the practitioner's ERISA practice

Minimize the potential for plan drafting errors

Improve consistency of plan documentation

Ease of plan administration

Standardized Adoption Agreements

A Standardized Adoption Agreement may only include choices that cannot cause the plan to fail the minimum coverage requirements of Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 410(b) and the nondiscrimination requirements of Code Section 401(a)(4). Thus, if an employer operates the plan in accordance with the provisions of the plan, then the employer has automatic reliance on both the terms of the plan and the operational coverage and nondiscrimination requirements. Accordingly, determination letters for these plans are not routinely requested.

Non-Standardized Adoption Agreements

A Non-Standardized Adoption Agreement provides more flexibility than a Standardized Adoption Agreement. An employer using a Non-Standardized Adoption Agreement generally has reliance that the terms of the plan satisfy the Code, and will only have automatic reliance as to the operational coverage and nondiscrimination requirements if elections are made that ensure that the requirements will always be met. However, employers typically do not want to select those options (otherwise a Standardized Adoption Agreement would be used).

Non-Standardized Adoption Agreement provisions that are not available in Standardized Adoption Agreements include:

  • The ability to exclude classes of employees (beyond just union employees or non-resident aliens) including employees of other members of a controlled group of corporations or affiliated service group
  • The ability to require that, in order to share in allocations, participants be employed on the last of a plan year or complete a year of service during a plan year (a Standardized plan must benefit all participants except those terminating employment with less than 501 hours of service completed for the plan year)
  • The ability to exclude items from the definition of compensation such as commissions, bonuses or overtime (a Standardized plan must generally use total compensation)
  • The ability to have non-uniform allocation methods (such as cross-testing or different contribution rates for different members of a controlled group or affiliated service group).

Prototype Annual Maintenance Program (PMP)

The prices listed on the Prototype Order Form cover the prototype plan documentation ordered, plus the first year's annual maintenance fee. The $695 annual maintenance fee includes:

    • All IRS-required language modifications to the Prototype
    • Unlimited telephone technical assistance for the use of the prototype document for one contact of the SPONSOR or THE COMPANY
    • A coupon for 50% off two single registrations for any Relius Education technical seminar, Web-based seminar, or Advanced Pension Conference (maximum value of $200 per use) during the applicable maintenance plan year.
Support Services

Educational Programs - We conduct more than 150 pension educational seminars each year. These programs are designed specifically for plan administrators and plan sponsors. For more information about scheduled seminars click here.

Integrated Software Support - Relius Documents is a document generation solution to create prototype supporting forms packages. With system, you can prepare a customized supporting package for each client's plan, complete with filled-in adoption agreement, SPD customized to the plan provisions, participant election and administrative forms, and IRS submission forms 5300/5307.

Get your prototypes and customized supporting forms from a single source with Relius Documents.