If you’re taking on a 401(k) administrator or collaborator role, you are considered an administrator. An administrator is an employer representative responsible for overseeing and managing the plan as a trustee, plan sponsor, primary benefit administrator, administrator, or finance role.

If you’re a new administrator, this guide can help you understand what to expect and provides introductory information on how to effectively manage a 401(k) with Guideline. Additionally, this resource can direct you to more detailed articles that expand on certain topics you may find insightful.

Your administrator dashboard is where you will manage your company’s 401(k) plan information. Check out this video for key features and navigation.

If you also contribute to the 401(k) plan as a participant, you can use the same username and password to log in. You’ll then be able to choose to enter your administrator or participant account.

If you’d prefer to have two separate accounts, feel free to contact us and we can create a unique log in for each.

To help manage and implement your company’s 401(k), there are five different plan administrator roles, each of which has various access permissions. You may decide to assign administrator roles to other HR or financial professionals within your organization.

Learn more about plan roles and permissions or how to add new admins.

How you manage your 401(k) plan at Guideline relies heavily on your payroll provider and whether we are able to connect with their system. Find your payroll provider here to determine your level of service.

For plans that use one of our integrated or sync payroll providers, Guideline will be able to automatically collect payroll details to process contributions, set up deferral rates, and manage your employee roster. Learn how our payroll integrations work.

​

If your company uses a payroll provider that does not integrate or sync with Guideline, you can still utilize a 401(k) plan at Guideline as a self-service solution. Learn about your responsibilities as a self-service plan sponsor.

Guideline requires a payment method on file for invoice payments and contribution collections. Learn how billing works or how to change the payment method for your plan.

In order for us to properly allocate employee contributions to participant 401(k) accounts, it is crucial that your company roster remains up to date. How you manage your roster will depend on which payroll provider you use.

When it comes to roster management, it’s important to understand how to:

At Guideline, all plans require an automatic enrollment feature. This means, within 30 days before the plan start date or when an employee becomes eligible, they will receive an email notification with their auto-enrollment date. If employees do not take action to either self-enroll or opt out by the prescribed deadline, they will be automatically enrolled in their 401(k) plan at Guideline.

Check out this guide to employee enrollment. We also recommend sharing information about auto-enrollment with your employees, so they know what to expect once they become eligible for your plan.

One of the most critical tasks 401(k) plan sponsors are faced with each year is compliance testing. Compliance testing is required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after year-end to ensure a company’s 401(k) plan does not unfairly favor owners and highly compensated employees and that the plan stays within IRS-required limits.

​

It’s important to understand how compliance testing works, as failing these tests could result in penalties and added costs. You may want to keep an eye on your Compliance dashboard throughout the year, so you can be prepared for corrections if your plan exceeds nondiscrimination limits.

Check out this video to learn more about your compliance dashboard.

If you offer a safe harbor or Starter 401(k) plan, you will automatically meet most nondiscrimination requirements, meaning your plan will be exempt from most of the required tests. Learn more about safe harbor plans and the types of safe harbor plans available at Guideline.

From time to time, we may ask you to review or complete certain tasks, such as approve plan changes, review company information, report employee compensation, or other important plan administration requirements.

Keep an eye on the “Tasks and notifications” section at the top of your administrator dashboard. We’ll also send you an email when tasks are ready for you to complete.

At Guideline, we want to make managing a 401(k) as seamless as possible. That’s why we’ve created hundreds of educational resources that both you and your employees can count on for answers to your questions.

Additionally, we offer live English and Spanish-speaking customer support to help answer specific plan questions for sponsors and participants.

​