What to budget over five years
For a straightforward owner-only ROBS, five-year cash planning commonly starts with a provider setup fee, 60 months or four renewal years of administration, annual corporate tax/bookkeeping/payroll support, state corporate maintenance, and some valuation support. Provider pages checked on July 31, 2026 support provider-administration anchors from $6,596 to $14,895 over five years before outside CPA, payroll, legal, valuation, state, and event costs.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
If rollover sources include basis, add the tracing work from after-tax retirement contributions and ROBS to the upfront budget.
Classify every invoice before treating it as a plan expense. DOL materials say plan fees may be paid by the employer, the plan, or both if the plan document specifies the method, and fiduciaries must evaluate whether plan-paid expenses are reasonable. IRS ROBS materials separately identify promoter fees, valuation, Form 5500/Form 1120 failures, and employee participation as recurring concern areas.[1][4][5]
Formula to reuse
Five-year budget = setup + recurring administration + valuation support + Form 5500/reporting extras + corporate tax/bookkeeping/payroll + state/corporate maintenance + employee charges + legal/amendment/event reserve.
ROBS mechanics and money flow before costs
A Rollovers as Business Startups arrangement moves eligible retirement-plan assets by direct rollover into a new qualified retirement plan sponsored by a C corporation. The qualified plan is a tax-favored retirement plan; its trust or custodial account holds plan assets separately from the corporation and the individual participant. The participant is the person whose retirement account is in the plan. A fiduciary is a person or committee with discretionary authority over plan administration or assets, and fiduciaries must follow the plan documents, act prudently, and evaluate reasonable plan expenses.[1][2][3][4][5]
The usual document and cash sequence is: form or use the C corporation; adopt plan and trust documents that permit employer stock; open corporate and plan trust/custodial accounts; complete a direct rollover from the prior retirement plan or IRA to the new plan; have the plan purchase employer stock in the C corporation at fair market value, meaning a supported price a prudent fiduciary can defend; issue stock records; then move the stock-sale proceeds into the corporate account for bona fide business use.[1][2][4]
Those distinctions drive the cost model. Provider implementation, plan administration, corporate tax work, payroll, valuation support, Form 5500 reporting, legal amendments, and employee administration may involve different service recipients, payers, documents, and timing. A quote that blends them into one monthly number is incomplete for five-year budgeting.
Five-year budget categories, timing, and payer
A five-year ROBS budget should answer three questions before the card set: what service is being bought, who is allowed to pay for it, and when the invoice appears. The cards below separate provider administration from outside tax, valuation, legal, employee, and event costs so the same line is not counted twice.
Exit is excluded from the ordinary five-year operating window unless a sale, shutdown, redemption, distribution, or plan termination is expected during those five years. If triggered, add final valuation, final Form 5500, Form 1099-R, tax advice, corporate closeout, and legal coordination as separate event lines.[3][4]
Published provider administration math
These calculations normalize first-party provider pages to the same 60-month horizon. They are administration benchmarks for a quote worksheet: pair each subtotal with outside professional fees, employee charges, valuation scope, and price-change terms before a buyer compares totals.
Inflation and price-change sensitivity matters because many provider pages state current or starting prices rather than a guaranteed five-year contract. A $149 monthly fee rising 5% after year two changes the recurring subtotal from $8,940 to $9,208: ($149 × 24) + ($156.45 × 36) = $9,208.20 if only one increase occurs after month 24; repeated annual increases would be higher. A complete quote states renewal terms in writing.
Reproducible five-year scenarios
These scenarios are bounded planning cases, not national averages or provider promises. Each card states the rollover input, provider subtotal, outside assumptions, result, and exclusions so a reader can replace the example amounts with written quotes and local professional fees.
How to normalize ROBS quotes without double counting
The shortest reliable method is to give each provider and outside professional the same fact pattern: rollover amount, state, C corporation status, employee census by year, payroll frequency, expected contributions, franchise or acquisition status, lending plan, valuation events, and whether sale or shutdown is likely inside five years. Then put every response into the same ledger.
Keep each service in one ledger line: Form 5500, payroll, bookkeeping, valuation, and amendment work each belong either in the provider subtotal or in outside scope once the included scope is specific enough. If a CPA, payroll company, valuation firm, or ERISA attorney performs the work separately, classify that invoice as outside scope and omit the duplicate allowance.
Amounts that require file-specific forecasts
Some amounts stay outside the standard five-year fee model because they depend on the company, employees, transactions, tax results, and exit path. Use the cards below as separate forecast categories after the provider subtotal and routine professional fees are known.
Five-year ROBS cost FAQ
These answers address the payer, reporting, exit, and uncertainty questions that most often change a five-year ROBS budget.
What is a realistic five-year ROBS cost?
Using provider pages checked on July 31, 2026, and explicit outside assumptions, a simple owner-only case models at about $14,100, a typical full-service case at about $33,000, and a more complex employee case at about $57,300. Treat those figures as budgeting scenarios with stated inputs rather than universal prices.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Can the retirement plan pay ROBS fees?
Some plan administration expenses may be paid by the employer, the plan, or both if the plan document and fiduciary process support that treatment. Setup, corporate, tax, legal, and promoter-fee items need invoice-by-invoice review; classify each invoice by service recipient, plan document, fiduciary process, and tax treatment before assigning the payer.[1][4][5]
Are Form 5500 costs always included?
Many ROBS providers describe Form 5500 support, and the quote needs to state whether preparation, signing, EFAST filing, Form 5500-EZ analysis, late filing correction, and final plan filing are included or separate.[1][3][8]
When do exit costs enter a five-year budget?
Use a normal operating budget when the plan is expected to continue. Add exit, redemption, final valuation, final Form 5500, distribution reporting, legal, tax, and dissolution costs when sale, shutdown, or termination is likely inside the five-year window.[3][4]
Why use scenarios instead of one national number?
Provider scope, state corporate costs, employees, valuation facts, plan design, business complexity, tax work, legal events, corrections, and price changes vary by file. A responsible model uses scenarios, formulas, and written quote normalization for a bounded planning range.[4][5]
Sources and verification
Last reviewed and provider prices checked on July 31, 2026. Update this page when a provider changes published pricing or scope, IRS/DOL filing guidance changes, or Form 5500, corporate tax, valuation, employee, or correction assumptions materially change. Primary IRS and DOL materials support legal, plan, fiduciary, reporting, payer, and valuation-duty statements. First-party provider pages support only the provider-published prices and described service scope attributed to those providers.
- [1] IRS ROBS Compliance Project
ROBS structure, C corporation stock purchase, IRS concern areas, Form 5500/Form 1120 failures, valuation, promoter fees, employee participation, Form 1099-R, and business-failure findings.
- [2] IRS Guidelines Regarding Rollovers as Business Start-Ups
Typical transaction sequence, case-by-case analysis, employer-stock valuation, nondiscrimination, prohibited-transaction development, and promoter-fee fact patterns.
- [3] IRS Operating a 401(k) Plan
Participation, contributions, vesting, nondiscrimination, disclosures, Form 5500/Form 5500-EZ, Form 1099-R, distributions, and correction responsibilities.
- [4] DOL Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
Written plan, trust, recordkeeping, fiduciary prudence, reasonable plan expenses, payer rules, service-provider monitoring, fidelity bond, prohibited transactions, employer stock, reporting, correction programs, and termination duties.
- [5] DOL Understanding Retirement Plan Fees and Expenses
Plan administration, investment, and individual service fee categories; bundled versus unbundled services; employer or plan payment; quote comparison; and ongoing fee monitoring.
- [6] Guidant Financial pricing
Provider-published 401(k) business financing setup price starting at $5,495 and plan administration starting at $149 per month.
- [7] Benetrends ROBS/RAPS cost article
Provider-published Rainmaker setup fee of $4,995 and $155 monthly administration fee, plus Rainmaker Roth Advantage pricing.
- [8] FranFund pricing
Provider-published $4,995 one-time setup fee, $165 monthly TPA fee, setup inclusions, Form 5500/1099-R/Form 945 support, valuation support, amendments, notices, and audit assistance.
- [9] Pango Financial common questions
Provider-published DreamSpark setup fee of $4,695, separate $3,995 flat-fee statement, $129 monthly maintenance fee, included setup items, C corporation requirement, eligible-employee statement, and valuation statement.
- [10] My Solo 401k Financial pricing
Provider-published $3,000 setup fee including first 12 months of support, $899 annual fee beginning in year two for first 10 participants, and $75 additional-participant charge.
- [11] Accelefund pricing
Provider-published $4,500 setup fee, $1,000 deposit timing, possible state-fee reimbursement, $1,000 partner add-on, $99 monthly administration, and approximate $100 annual fidelity bond.
Next step: make the quote comparable.
Before choosing a ROBS provider, request the five-year provider subtotal, excluded outside services, payer for every invoice, price-change terms, employee charges, and event fees in writing.
Compare provider scope