Form 5500 plan intelligence
Every retirement plan on file, three years deep
Search(k) reads every Form 5500 and 5500-SF the Department of Labor has published for form years 2023 onward: over a million plans, each with every year it has filed. Find a plan, read it across its years, see where it sits against its peers, and get two senior reads and a conversation to hold with the sponsor.
1Pick a lookupThe left rail: plan or sponsor name, a place, an industry, or a service provider. Each returns every plan’s newest filing.
2RefineSize band, 401(k) / 403(b), form type, Plan Ran(k) score, and whether to include final filings. The refine row applies to every lookup.
3Open a planClick a row. The plan view shows the newest filing with a pill for every plan year on file; switch years freely.
4Read it across timePlan timeline puts the years side by side with charts and what changed; Write the overview adds the TPA’s and the advisor’s reads.
5Carry it forwardOpen in Bench(k) takes the EIN across; Copy link gives a link that opens this plan directly.
Before you search
The landing console shows the market at a glance, the newest filings on file, the plans you opened last (kept in this browser only), and the largest sectors. Clear and start over brings it back.
Four ways in
Find the plan, the place, the sector or the provider
PLPlan or sponsorType a plan name, an employer name or a nine-digit EIN (with or without the dash). Words are matched as prefixes, so cascade dent finds Cascade Dental. An EIN with one plan opens it straight away; an EIN with several lists them.
GEPlaceA state on its own, a city within a state, or a five-digit ZIP code. Largest plans first; sort by any column header.
INIndustryThe NAICS sector reported on the filing, everywhere or in one state. The plates show plan counts; click one to list its plans.
SPService providerPick a role: the TPA as named on every filing the build could map, or a Schedule C role (recordkeeper, TPA, auditor, trustee, advisor, investment advisor, broker, legal, actuary). Ranked by plan count; click a provider for its plans. Names are as filed, so one firm can appear under several spellings.
CPCPA firmAccountant firms from Schedule H (plans that file an audit), by plan count, with a computed firm type: Big 4 by name, national 10+ states, regional 3-9, local 1-2. Click a firm for the plans it audits.
PEPEP & MEPPlans that filed Schedule MEP: pooled employer plans, association retirement plans, PEO plans and other multiple-employer plans. Open one for its participating employers (name, EIN, share of contributions, aggregate balance, as reported on Part II), or type an employer to find which plan lists it.
Every results table has Export CSV (the rows on screen, 25 to 100 per page, with a link back to each plan) and a page-size selector. The participating-employer list exports too.
Results
Each row is one plan’s newest filing: the Plan Ran(k) ring, plan and sponsor, location, the plan year of that filing (red FINAL tag for a final return), participants and assets at year end, industry and size band. Click any column header to sort; the totals cap at 10,000 for speed, so narrow a broad search with the refine row.
Refine row
SIZESize bandBy active participants at year end: 1-10 up to 5001+. The same bands Plan Ran(k) scores within.
KIND401(k), 403(b), otherFrom the plan characteristic codes on the filing: 2J for a 401(k) feature, 2L or 2M for a 403(b) arrangement, everything else is other.
FORMForm type5500-SF is the short form most plans under 100 participants file; Form 5500 carries the schedules.
FINALFinal filingsExcluded by default. A final return reports a plan closing out and is not scored; include them when you want to see what has closed.
One plan, every year on file
What the plan view shows
The plan year pills switch everything below them to that year’s filing: the stat band, the scorecard, the compliance lights and the peer cohorts. The newest form year is still being filed across the market, so a plan whose latest filing is an earlier year shows that year.
BANDStat bandParticipants at year end (with active and start-of-year counts), assets at year end with the change from the start, employer and employee contributions with the per-active-participant figure against the direct cohort’s median.
RINGPlan Ran(k) ringThe score 1-10, with the arc filled to the score. A grey ring is an unscored filing (a final return).
METERScorecard metersThe four components as deciles within the size band: employer contribution per active, participant contribution per active, account balance per active, plan age. Ten segments; lit segments are the decile.
LIGHTCompliance and design lightsAs reported on the filing. See the legend below.
PEERSPeer cohortsFive cohorts from the same form year: same industry and size band (the direct peers), same industry in the same state, same industry, same size band, all plans. Medians per active participant over plans reporting a positive value.
FACTSFact stripAddress, industry, size, plan year dates, effective date, provider as named, signer, phone, all as filed.
SERVEWho serves this planSchedule C providers by role with compensation as reported, the Schedule H accountant with opinion type and audit scope, and, for a multiple-employer plan, the button to its participating employers. Form 5500-SF carries no Schedule C.
The lights
GreenA reported no on an event (late deposits, corrective distributions, party in interest, loss, benefits not provided), or a fidelity bond reported.
RedThe filing reports the event, as a historical fact for that plan year. Red never means the plan is in trouble now.
AmberCorrective distributions reported, with the amount.
BlueA design code on the filing: automatic enrollment (2S), QDIA (2T), 401(k) feature (2J), brokerage window (2R), pre-approved document (3D), participant loans.
DimThe filing carries no answer, or the code is not on it. Dim is never a no.
A filing reports; it does not prove. No code says anything about contributions: code 2K reports a 401(m) arrangement, nothing about amounts. Per-participant averages divide by active participants at year end and move sharply when that count is small.
Side by side
Every plan year, what changed, and the story
The timeline puts every plan year on file in columns: people at the start and end of the year, active count, assets at the start and end, employer and employee contributions, distributions, the per-active figures, Plan Ran(k), form type and provider. Three charts above it: participants at year end, assets at year end, and money in and out (employer in, employee in, distributions out).
Findings, by fixed rules
20%ParticipantsTotal participants at year end moved 20% or more and by at least 3 people, either direction.
20%Assets downYear-end assets fell 20% or more between filings.
20%Money outDistributions exceeded total contributions by 20% or more of the assets the plan started with.
50%Average contributionsEmployer or employee contribution per active participant moved 50% or more and at least $500.
0/1Employer started or stoppedEmployer contributions went from none to reported, or reported to none.
10%ContinuityThe next year’s start-of-year count differs from the prior year end by more than 3 people and 10%. Exact ties hold for fewer than two thirds of plans, so a small gap is normal.
The rules were calibrated on roughly 750,000 consecutive filing pairs so that a finding is a change worth a sentence, not noise. Within range means no rule fired, which is itself a reading. The story below the findings is written with the overview and tells the years in plain words.
Written on request
Two senior reads and a conversation you can hold
Click Write the overview on the plan view or the Overview tab. It reads the plan’s filings across the years on file, the changes and findings, and the newest filing’s peer cohorts, and writes in about a minute. It is kept, so the next person who opens the plan gets it at once; Write it again rewrites it. Each address may write a limited number per day; opening one already on file is free.
SHAPEThe shape of the planSix lights computed from the filings, no model: people, assets, money in versus out, employer contributions, provider, compliance as reported.
ADVISORThe advisor’s readWhat a senior advisor makes of the plan: the view, the figures with their years, what it may mean for the sponsor as possibilities, how to walk in.
TPAThe TPA’s readWhat a senior administrator sees: form type, design codes and the work they imply, the contribution pattern, distributions, compliance answers by year, what to confirm with the plan’s own TPA.
CHARTSMoney in and out, and peersContributions and distributions by year; the plan against its direct cohort’s medians per active participant.
STORYYear by yearThe plan told conversationally, a short paragraph per year, figures woven in.
TALKThe conversationAn opening you can say to the sponsor that ends with one question they can answer from experience; follow-ups with what to listen for and why it matters; the return to goals.
DOWhat to doFour to six steps for the advisor, each before, in or after the meeting, each with the TPA, the recordkeeper, the payroll provider, the sponsor or the advisor alone, each tied to a figure on the filings.
VERIFYVerify laterRecords to confirm, each with the right role, only in support of an agreed next step. Never a homework list for the sponsor.
The rules it writes under
Only the filings and the peer cohorts; no outside statistics. A filing reports, it does not prove: the reads say what is reported and what is not, never why. No plan characteristic code establishes anything about contributions. Possibilities are named as possibilities, never as a story about the business or the workforce. The sponsor is never interrogated about the data and never instructed. An answer that breaks these rules is refused and rewritten before you see it.
1 to 10, within the size band
How Plan Ran(k) is scored
Every scored filing is placed in deciles against the other plans in its size band for the same form year, on four measures, and the deciles are weighted into a score from 1 to 10. Small plans are compared with small plans; a 12-person plan never competes with a 12,000-person plan.
40Employer contribution per active participantEmployer contributions divided by active participants at year end.
30Participant contribution per active participantEmployee contributions divided by active participants at year end.
20Account balance per active participantAssets at year end divided by active participants.
10Plan ageWhole years from the effective date to the plan year end.
Compliance deductions
Reported late deposits, failure to provide benefits, a party-in-interest transaction and no fidelity bond each take one point; a reported loss from fraud or dishonesty takes two. Scores stay between 1 and 10. A final return is not scored. While the newest form year’s filings are still arriving, every score is marked provisional; the deciles settle when the year is complete.
Size bands
1-10, 11-25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-250, 251-500, 501-1000, 1001-5000 and 5001+ active participants at year end (the total count when no active count is reported).
Where the figures come from
Form 5500 and 5500-SF, as published by the DOL
Every filing the Department of Labor has published through EFAST2 for form years 2023 onward, Form 5500 (with Schedule H and Schedule C where filed) and Form 5500-SF. The sidebar shows the form years loaded, the plan count and the data stamp. A plan’s newest filing is flagged and is what search results show; every earlier filing is on the plan view, the timeline and the overview.
YEARForm year and plan yearThe form year is the DOL form the plan filed on; the plan year is the period it covers. A short plan year filed twice keeps the later-ending period.
ARRIVINGThe newest form yearStill arriving: the DOL publishes filings as they come in, and the newest year is incomplete across the market until well after its deadline. The data refreshes monthly.
PEOPLEParticipant countsTotal participants are active, retired and separated people with a balance. Active participants are the reported category, not employees deferring. Form 5500-SF carries start-of-year and end-of-year totals.
MONEYDollar fieldsAssets at the start and end of the year, employer and employee contributions, distributions, as filed. A missing figure is blank, never zero. Asset growth is never an investment return.
CODESPlan characteristic codesLabeled from the DOL instructions (for example 2S automatic enrollment, 2T QDIA, 2J 401(k) feature, 2L and 2M 403(b)). Codes say what the filing reports about design, nothing about amounts.
PROVIDERService providerThe TPA or administrator as named on the filing (Schedule C, or the SF preparer), mapped by the build. Names are as filed.
NAICSIndustryThe business code the sponsor reported, grouped into NAICS sectors. A company name does not validate its industry.
PEERSPeer cohortsComputed from every scored filing in the same form year: medians over plans reporting a positive value, adoption rates as shares of plans. The code 2K share is never a share with any kind of contribution.
Questions
FAQ
Why does a plan show plan year 2024 when it is 2026?
Its 2025 filing has not been published yet. Form year 2025 filings are still arriving; the plan shows its newest filing on file and gets the new year on the next monthly refresh.
Why is the score marked provisional?
Deciles are computed within the form year. While that year is incomplete across the market, the deciles can move as filings arrive, so every score carries the provisional mark until the year settles.
I searched a name and got nothing.
Try fewer words or the sponsor’s legal name as filed; prefix words work, so part of a word is enough. If the name search finds nothing, the page falls back to a contains search. An EIN is the surest route.
Why are there two spellings of the same provider?
Providers are listed exactly as the filings name them, and sponsors spell them differently. Click each spelling for its plans.
What does a dim light mean?
The filing carries no answer for that item, or the code is not on it. Dim is never a no and never a yes.
Does the overview see anything outside the filings?
No. Only the plan’s filings, the computed changes and findings, and the peer cohorts from the same filing universe. No surveys, no outside statistics, no web.
Why did the overview refuse and rewrite?
Every answer is checked before you see it: it must be complete, the reads must be views rather than questions, the opening must end with its question, and it may not use language the filings cannot support. A failed check is rewritten once automatically; if it fails again you see the reason and can try again.
How many overviews can I write?
Each address may write a limited number of new overviews per day; opening one already on file does not count. The limit resets daily.
Why does a small plan show no providers?
Form 5500-SF carries no Schedule C, so only the TPA the build could name is on file. Schedule C providers, the accountant and audit detail come with Form 5500 filers.
What is the firm type on the CPA lookup?
Computed, not filed: Big 4 by name; national when the firm audits plans in 10 or more states, regional in 3 to 9, local in 1 or 2. It changes as the data refreshes.
Can I link someone to a plan?
Yes. Copy link on the plan view, or build one: searchk.ai/?ack_id=…, ?ein=…&pn=…, ?ein=… for every plan of a sponsor, or ?q=… for a search.