Compliance Testing – Turn a Pain Point Into an Opportunity

Compliance testing is one of our 5 Moments of Truth, critical events during the year when you can highlight your value to plan sponsors.

1. Annual census
2. Compliance testing
3. Form 5500 and audit
4. Delivery of required notices
5. Measurement and strategic planning

Making sure a plan complies with 401(k) regulations can be a daunting task for a plan sponsor. And making corrections after compliance testing can take time and money.

Did your clients get the help they needed from their providers or third party administrators during their last testing period? Start a conversation about ways you can help by asking them these questions:

“Did your provider or TPA...”

• Talk with you about the compliance process and the deadlines?
• Complete the testing promptly?
• Provide easy-to-understand results?
• Take proactive steps to uncover discrepancies?
• Help you correct failures?
• Discuss or implement ways to improve future results?
• Accept fiduciary responsibility for the compliance testing process?

Offer Your Expertise

Clients whose answers add up to a negative experience may look to you for solutions. You can help by connecting them to providers or TPAs who go above and beyond to complete compliance testing.

Take the time to evaluate expertise and reliability. Look into the company’s length of time in business, credentials and customer reviews. Ask what checks and balances it follows during the compliance process. And assess the experience and qualifications of the team that carries out testing.

Partner with providers — like The Standard and our Elite TPA partners — that can give you positive answers to these questions:

• Can you describe a success story when critical thinking made a difference?
• Do you make a point of exhausting all alternative testing methods?
• What’s your track record for meeting or beating testing deadlines?
• Do you take fiduciary responsibility for the compliance results?
• Do you take fiduciary responsibility for corrections?

Your clients will appreciate your efforts to match them with a reliable partner — at compliance testing time and throughout the year.