What a ROBS does before either provider enters the picture
A ROBS, or Rollovers as Business Startups arrangement, moves eligible retirement-plan assets into a qualified retirement plan sponsored by a C corporation. The plan then purchases stock in that C corporation, and the corporation receives operating capital. The IRS describes the retirement plan as buying stock of the new C corporation and warns that operating failures can still create adverse tax consequences even if a plan document received a determination letter.[1]
The actors matter. The individual is not taking a personal distribution in a properly structured rollover. The retirement plan receives employer stock. The C corporation receives cash. The business owner still has plan, corporate, valuation, filing and fiduciary decisions to supervise.
When each provider is easier to diligence
This choice starts with what you can verify in writing, not with brand familiarity. The public record gives Benetrends more complete package detail and gives BFT narrower claims about fees and self-administration.
Pricing arithmetic and unknowns
Price the providers only from complete inputs. Benetrends gives enough public data for arithmetic; BFT does not give enough public data to calculate a first-year or three-year total.
Calculations are reproduced only where the provider gives all inputs. Rainmaker is $4,995 setup plus $155 per month: $4,995 + ($155 × 12) = $6,855 for year one, and $4,995 + ($155 × 36) = $10,575 for three years. Rainmaker (Roth) Advantage is a different Benetrends package: $9,995 + ($195 × 12) = $12,335, and $9,995 + ($195 × 36) = $17,015.[3]
Business Funding Trust does not publish the setup price, the optional professional administrator-help price, billing cadence, valuation fees, correction fees, exit fees or pass-throughs in the checked pages. No Business Funding Trust first-year or three-year total is computed. Silence is not zero.
Actors, tasks and service scope
The comparison below maps each task to delivered, coordinated or unknown based on the checked passages. Unknown is a due-diligence prompt, not a negative rating.
The Benetrends guarantee is useful, but bounded
The Benetrends guarantee supports a narrower conclusion than “audit risk is gone.” The PDF says current clients who follow the Engagement Agreement receive IRS or DOL inquiry-response help and IRS-audit-preparation help. Tax Court counsel is limited to a challenge that tries to disallow the plan solely because of active C corporation employer-stock investment and alleges that transaction is a prohibited transaction.[5]
The same PDF says the guarantee applies only if the client is current with Benetrends at the time of inquiry or audit, and it states Benetrends is a Record Keeper and is not Plan Administrator, Fiduciary or Trustee.[5] That means the owner still needs to understand who signs filings, who operates the plan, who monitors fees, and who handles employee eligibility, corrections and exit events.
Owner duties that neither provider page makes disappear
DOL guidance says retirement-plan fiduciaries must prudently select and monitor providers, ensure services are necessary, and decide whether costs are reasonable for the services provided.[2] For a ROBS-funded business, that diligence extends beyond setup price. Ask who handles participant notices, annual filings, valuation, testing, plan amendments, cybersecurity, records, employee data and termination files.
Business Funding Trust's page says an employee or accountant can use its no-cost administration kit to satisfy reporting required to keep the plan active.[7] That is not treated here as a provider promise to perform testing, filing or notice tasks. If you choose the kit route, the written materials need to map every task to a responsible person.
Practical scenarios
Use these scenarios to decide which questions to ask first. They do not make either provider the universal winner.
Contract questions to ask before deciding
Use the contract review to turn unknowns into named duties, prices and documents. Each answer should identify the actor, timing, deliverable and fee before you sign.
- Formation and money movement
- Who forms the C corporation, drafts/adopts the plan, opens accounts, coordinates rollover paperwork, issues stock and keeps the capitalization records?
- Annual administration
- Who prepares Form 5500/5500-EZ, 1099-R, 945, notices, amendments, restatements, testing, valuation updates and participant records?
- Fees and cancellation
- What is paid at signing, after funding, monthly, annually, at cancellation, for corrections, at sale, and at plan termination?
- Records and fiduciary role
- Who owns the records, what export is delivered if you leave, what cybersecurity standards apply, and who is fiduciary, trustee, recordkeeper or plan administrator?
Next steps
After comparing the public record, move to written quotes and professional review. These steps keep both providers on the same fact pattern.
- Ask Benetrends for a written Rainmaker or Rainmaker (Roth) Advantage quote that states every included and excluded cost.
- Ask Business Funding Trust for setup dollars, optional administrator-help dollars, billing timing and the complete kit task list before calculating any total.
- Compare both against the same facts: rollover amount, employee count, state, acquisition or franchise timeline, valuation events, outside financing and exit plan.
- Have an ERISA attorney, CPA, valuation professional or plan administrator review issues that the provider contract leaves with the owner.
FAQ
The FAQ repeats the decision-critical boundaries with nearby source links, while schema answers stay plain text.
Sources checked
[1] IRS ROBS compliance project
Official source re-opened July 31, 2026: a ROBS uses retirement funds to buy stock of a new C corporation; IRS checks ask about rollover/direct transfer information, participants, stock valuation and purchases, business information, Form 5500/5500-EZ and Form 1120; determination letters do not protect operational failures.
Open source[2] DOL: Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses
Official source re-opened July 31, 2026: plan fiduciaries prudently select and monitor providers, evaluate necessary services and reasonable costs, understand bundled/unbundled arrangements, and consider recordkeeping, accounting, legal, trustee, participant-information and cybersecurity practices.
Open source[3] Benetrends ROBS/RAPS cost
Provider source re-opened July 31, 2026: Rainmaker setup is $4,995 plus $155 per month administration; Rainmaker (Roth) Advantage Plan setup is $9,995 plus $195 per month; provider states incorporation, legal, administrative and state filing fees, minutes, bylaws, stock issuance/management, retirement-plan creation/customization, transfer coordination, stock appraisal, ongoing administration, recordkeeping, annual required reports and annual FMV help are included.
Open source[4] Benetrends ROBS 401(k) Funding
Provider source re-opened July 31, 2026: Benetrends describes the ROBS process as setting up a C corporation, designing a qualified retirement plan, transferring retirement funds into the new plan, and using plan funds to buy corporation stock; it also states in-house retirement-plan experts, no outsourcing, Audit Shield protection, ROBS+ and pre-qualification/financing language.
Open source[5] Benetrends Rainmaker Guarantee
Provider PDF re-opened July 31, 2026: current clients who follow the Engagement Agreement get assistance with IRS or DOL inquiry responses and preparation for IRS audits; Tax Court counsel applies only to a narrow employer-stock prohibited-transaction allegation; eligibility requires current-client status and procedures; Benetrends states it is Record Keeper and not Plan Administrator, Fiduciary or Trustee.
Open source[6] Business Funding Trust ROBS Program
Provider source re-opened July 31, 2026: BFT says it helps individuals fund a business using 401(k) or IRA money, describes ROBS as using retirement funds without early withdrawal penalties or taxes, says the business is personally or actively run by the owner or a family member, and says a 401(k) participant must be an employee of the business adopting the plan; unrelated filler is excluded. The IRS boundary supplies any structure and compliance qualification in this article.
Open source[7] Business Funding Trust fees
Provider source re-opened July 31, 2026: BFT says readers will not get hidden fees, says zero advance payments, offers a no-cost alternative, says it developed a no-cost plan administration kit for an employee or accountant to spend a couple hours satisfying reporting required to keep the plan active, and says professional plan-administrator help is available for an affordable fee; accessible text does not publish exact setup, recurring, valuation, audit, correction, refund, termination or exit dollars.
Open source