As a plan sponsor, you may need to review or share important documents or reports regarding your Guideline 401(k) plan. Luckily, these documents are easily accessible within your Guideline administrator dashboard.
You can find most documentation within the Resource Library, which you can access by clicking on your company name in the top right corner of your screen. Additionally, you can find a variety of plan reporting under the Report tab within the main menu.
Locating commonly requested documents and reports
Below is a list of commonly requested plan documents and reports and where they can be found.
Adoption agreement
Your plan’s legal document contains 2 parts — the adoption agreement and the basic plan document. The adoption agreement defines the specific optional features and provisions of your individual 401(k) plan.
Where to find it:
For plans that have signed the Cycle 3 restatement: Resource Library > Your Plan Information. Additionally, plans that have signed the Cycle 3 restatement can find the Trust Agreement included in Exhibit C of the Guideline Service Agreements.
For plans that have not signed the Cycle 3 restatement: The Adoption Agreement is incorporated into the Plan Document. There is no separate Adoption Agreement document or Trust Agreement for the plan.
Basic plan document, including restated or amended versions
Your plan’s legal document contains 2 parts — the adoption agreement and the basic plan document. The basic plan document contains the information about the 401(k) plan's features that cannot be changed. This document is the same for all plans using the same adoption agreement.
Where to find it: Resource Library > Your Plan Information
Please note that for plans that have not signed the Cycle 3 restatement, the Basic Plan Document will not apply as it is incorporated into the Plan Document.
IRS pre-approval letter
The pre-approval letter is issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and shows that the document, as drafted, meets all applicable requirements to be a qualified retirement plan for the benefit of employees under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 401(a). This letter is the same for all plans using the Cycle 3 restatement document.
Where to find it: Resource Library > Your Plan Information > Approval Letter
Summary plan description
This document provides a detailed overview of the plan in plain language, including how it works, what benefits it provides, and the plan’s procedure for filing a claim. This document will also be provided to all plan participants.
Where to find it: Resource Library > Your Plan Information
Form 5500
This form is a report of plan activity that must be filed for your 401(k) plan each year. If we are preparing your 5500, we will do so by the extended deadline. For more information, please see this support article.
Where to find it: Resource Library > IRS
Summary annual report
This report is a narrative summary of the plan’s financial status and summarizes the information on the plan’s annual report (Form 5500). This document will also be provided to all plan participants.
Where to find it: Reports > Annual Reports
Trust statements
These are quarterly and annual statements that reflect account activity and account balances. Note that only Trustees and Primary Benefit Administrators have access to these statements.
Where to find it: Resource Library > Account Documents
Plan year-to-date contribution reports
Administrators can create a custom contribution report
Where to find it: Reports > Contribution Reports
Select “Create custom report”
Next, enter your preferred date range, and click on “Run Report”
The report can be downloaded to a CSV file by clicking on “Download” in the upper right corner
Reports for plans switching service providers
If you’re moving your 401(k) plan to a different service provider, your new service provider will likely want to review your plan documents and certain reports. To streamline the process, we’ve compiled commonly requested documents and additional information below.
Prior year non-discrimination testing results
Compliance results are available in the Compliance section of your administrator dashboard. You may export results by saving the page as a PDF.
Participant balance report by source and address
We will provide this report to you in our final deconversion records.
Where to find it: Resource Library > Account Documents
If you need access to those details prior to completion of the deconversion process, you can generate a Participant Balance Report in the Reports section which details participant balances by source.
Loan reports
The Participant Loan Report is located in the Reports section of the administrator dashboard. We will provide further loan details in our final deconversion records, which are uploaded to the “Account Documents” section within the Resource Library of your administrator dashboard after the asset transfer has completed.
Participant census
Our records are built on, and directly informed by, the company’s payroll records. Please contact your payroll provider for help generating census records.
List of employees with hardship distributions
We will provide further hardship distribution details in our final deconversion records, which are uploaded to the “Account Documents” section within the Resource Library of your administrator dashboard after the asset transfer has completed.