About Us

Benefits Coordinators, Inc. provides professional ERISA Plan Fiduciary, Plan Trustee and Plan Administrator Services to both ongoing plans with viable Plan Sponsors as well as plans terminating due to plan sponsor hardships. Our services are typically provided when a Plan Sponsor needs to transfer legal liability for the retirement plan to an outside Plan Trustee, Plan Administrator and/or Independent Fiduciary. These circumstances can arise when a company is ceasing business operations, usually under a wind down agreement, the death of a sole owner, an Assignment for Creditors, Bankruptcy or if the Plan Sponsor has entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Labor.

We work with multiple types of ERISA qualified plans, such as defined contribution plans, including 401(k) profit sharing plans, money purchase profit sharing plans (MPPP), defined benefit plans, multi-employer plans (union), plans under a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor, plans under supervision of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and as Court-appointed Trustees for frozen VEBAS. Basically for plan terminations, what we do is assume legal responsibility for the retirement plan from the date of our appointment (either by Board Resolution, Fiduciary Services Agreement, or Court Order). Many of the services that the Plan Sponsor still needs to fulfill by law when the retirement plan terminates, will require that an individual is willing to assume personal liability and remain responsible for the Plan as the last point of contact, should there be post termination issues. Our contact information is publicly shown on all Form 5500s that we file on behalf of the plan.

Post-termination issues include required responses to any IRS/DOL correspondence including audits and terminated participant requests including information for QDROs and responding to Social Security Notices of Potential Private Pension. These responsibilities require access to participant records which we store. Understandably, when a firm closes, the key people in the company are focused on their next professional opportunities and are not looking to hold onto the past. 

Benefits Coordinators, Inc. is available to answer participant concerns immediately upon being appointed. In the case in which the plan is being terminated, our next step is to send out letters to all participants in the plan, including all forms and directions that the participants will need in order to transfer their account out of the plan and into their control. We provide both email and telephone support for any participant questions. Participants that have not responded will also receive a certified letter (sometimes called a “30-day letter”) letting them know the deadline to respond is within 30 days. We send out the required Summary Annual Report to the participants. We also respond to participant requests when they need confirmation of the plan’s tax qualified status for purposes of completing rollovers (some rollovers, particularly to another qualified retirement plan, require certifications). 

In addition to the post-termination services already described, Benefits Coordinators, Inc. provides services that third party administrators typically do not. These services include the oversight and execution of plan termination amendments, reviewing and signing the annual Form 5500s and Form 8955-SSAs, assuming responsibility for the determination of beneficiaries upon a participant’s death, review and implement QDROs and approve the method of correction should the plan not pass its annual discrimination testing. We perform address searches for missing participants and assume responsibility for the selection of the auto rollover IRA provider and enrollment of non-responsive participants in auto-rollover IRAs so the plan can close. 

We typically work with the existing third party administrator, and if the plan requires an annual audit, the existing auditor. Should the plan need an audit, but not already have a signed engagement letter with an auditor, we will solicit competitive bids and select an audit firm. We currently work with both large national and smaller regional audit firms. For audited plans, we will respond to audit requests, sign the engagement letter, representation letter and approve the audit. 

Sometimes a Plan Sponsor cannot pay all of the administrative expenses to close the plan but must instead pay expenses that are to the benefit of participants from the plan’s assets. Under those circumstances, we review the reasonableness of outside service provider’s expenses and direct the plan’s trust to pay the service provider. Use of the forfeiture account, either for paying plan expenses or the method of allocation to participants is also reviewed. Other services we provide are correcting errors and filing under the VCP/DFVC for late deposits of participant deferrals and late or missing Form 5500s. When a Plan Sponsor ceases business operations, it is still held liable by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service to perform all of the actions the legally responsible parties within the company must comply with in order to keep the plan tax qualified and to make sure that the assets of the plan’s trust are distributed to the participants in a manner that is in compliance with the plan document and all relevant tax and U. S. Department of Labor regulations. All plans that have not filed their final Form 5500 are required to have designated Independent Plan Administrator(s) and Plan Trustee(s) who have personal responsibility for the retirement plans.

The elements of legal responsibilities for the plan’s operations and decisions are not assumed by the third party administrator (“TPA”) but remain with the Plan Trustee and Plan Administrator. Upon our appointment, these legal liabilities are transferred to us, as we become the new Plan Trustee and Plan Administrator. An independent Plan Trustee which we become is not the same as a directed Plan Trustee which is typically a financial institution which assumes no liability and has only limited authority for the plan’s operation or closure. Ultimately it is the Plan Sponsor’s Board of Directors that is responsible for appointing a Plan Trustee and a Plan Administrator under the terms of the plan document. Should the plan not have appointments for those positions, the Board of Directors will be held responsible. This is an area in which our services can be invaluable. 

Benefits Coordinators, Inc. is a completely independent service provider and has no ties to other service providers. We are compensated strictly on a fee basis. We maintain Fiduciary and ERISA Bonding insurance. Benefits Coordinators, Inc. highly values direct communications with both plan sponsors and plan participants. You are invited to contact us with any questions you have regarding our services.