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401kROBSCheck eligibility

Provider matching explained

How ROBS Provider Match Scores Providers

ROBS Provider Match compares your selected answers with recorded provider traits. The score is a fit score for the answers you submitted, not a professional recommendation, quality rating, or finding that a ROBS transaction is appropriate for you.

By Dennis Shirshikov. Published July 20, 2026; updated July 29, 2026.

Formula

Base 55, weighted matches, 0.41 scaling, whole-point rounding, and a 96% cap.

Provider set

14 provider records exist; 13 verified providers are scored and displayed.

Privacy

The questionnaire does not ask for contact details or send leads to providers.

Direct answer

What the match score means

The match score measures how many of your preferences line up with verified traits for each provider. A higher score means the provider record fits more of the scored answers you selected. It does not mean the provider is safer, more compliant, less expensive in every case, or better for every founder.

Use the score as a short list for due diligence. Before acting, confirm eligibility of the retirement account, actual service scope, written fees, employee-plan support, valuation help, audit support, cancellation terms, provider availability, and whether ROBS itself is prudent for the business and retirement plan.

Inputs

What your answers affect, and what they do not affect

Scored answers

Seven answers can add points: business goal, rollover amount, expected employee count, setup timing, service priority, additional financing, and specialist support.

Eligibility-only answer

Account type is required, but it does not add or subtract score points. It only returns a caution for current-employer plans, Roth IRA or Roth-only savings, or 403(b), TSP, and eligible 457(b) balances.

Not collected

The tool does not ask for name, email, phone number, address, business name, franchise brand, exact retirement balance, or marketing consent.

Not used for ranking

Affiliate relationship, referral program status, provider name recognition, and provider slug do not add points. Slug is used only after score ties, to keep tied results in a consistent order.

Scoring

Formula, weights, rounding, cap, and floor

score = min(96, round(55 + earned weighted points × 0.41))

  • Base score: 55% for every verified provider before preferences are applied.
  • Possible weighted points: 100 across the seven scored categories.
  • Scaling: each earned weighted point adds 0.41 percentage points.
  • Rounding: scores are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point.
  • Maximum displayed score: 96%, even when the formula reaches 96 before capping.
  • Lowest displayed score for a scored provider: 55% when no scored trait matches.

Business funding goal

18 pts
Accepted answers
Start a business, buy a business, buy a franchise, or recapitalize a business
How points are earned
A provider earns these points when its verified traits include the funding goal you selected.

Rollover amount

12 pts
Accepted answers
Under $50,000, $50,000–$100,000, $100,000–$250,000, or $250,000+
How points are earned
A provider earns these points when its traits include the selected rollover range. No currently scored provider is marked as a fit for under $50,000.

Employee administration

12 pts
Accepted answers
Owners only, 1–10 employees, or 11+ employees
How points are earned
The score rewards providers whose recorded support fits the employee administration level you expect in the next year.

Setup timeline

8 pts
Accepted answers
Within 30 days, within 1–3 months, or still exploring
How points are earned
A provider earns these points when the selected timing preference appears in its verified traits.

Service priority

20 pts
Accepted answers
Price, full-service help, audit support, legal help, tax help, valuation support, or technology
How points are earned
This is the largest single category because it captures the kind of provider relationship the founder is trying to compare.

Additional financing

15 pts
Accepted answers
No added financing, SBA financing, equipment financing, or another funding source
How points are earned
A provider earns these points when its recorded scope fits the extra financing need you selected.

Specialist support

15 pts
Accepted answers
Standard administration, audit, legal, tax, valuation, or exit support
How points are earned
A provider earns these points when its traits include the selected specialist need.

Ranking

How providers are ordered and why reasons appear

Providers marked as unverified are removed before scores are calculated.

Displayed providers are sorted from highest score to lowest score.

If two providers have the same score, they sort by provider slug from A to Z.

Visible reason labels appear in scoring order and are limited to the first four matched categories.

If a scored provider has no reason labels, the result card falls back to “General ROBS setup and administration fit.”

Provider pricing and source links are displayed for due diligence, but price labels do not override the weighted score unless price was your selected service priority and the provider has that trait.

Examples

Worked score calculations

These examples use the current provider traits and the formula above. Each case states the earned-weight sum and checks the score again by treating 0.41 as the 41-point scoring band above the 55-point base.

Complete alignment

Provider and answers
Guidant Financial with startup, $250,000+, 11+ employees, 30-day timing, full-service priority, SBA financing, and audit support
Earned weight
18 + 12 + 12 + 8 + 20 + 15 + 15 = 100
Score check
55 + (100 × 0.41) = 96 before the cap; displayed score is 96%. The alternate check is 55 plus 41 scaled points, then capped at 96%.

Strong partial alignment

Provider and answers
Pango Financial with recapitalization, $50,000–$100,000, no employees, exploring timing, technology priority, no added financing, and valuation support
Earned weight
18 + 12 + 12 + 0 + 20 + 15 + 15 = 92
Score check
55 + (92 × 0.41) = 92.72, which rounds to 93%. The alternate check is 92% of the 41-point scoring band, or 37.72 points, plus the 55-point base.

Specialist alignment with one miss

Provider and answers
Aprio with business purchase, $250,000+, 11+ employees, exploring timing, tax priority, SBA financing, and tax support
Earned weight
18 + 12 + 12 + 8 + 20 + 0 + 15 = 85
Score check
55 + (85 × 0.41) = 89.85, which rounds to 90%. The alternate check is 85% of the 41-point scoring band, or 34.85 points, plus the base.

Narrow alignment

Provider and answers
Directed Equity with franchise, under $50,000, 11+ employees, 30-day timing, price priority, equipment financing, and exit support
Earned weight
18 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 33
Score check
55 + (33 × 0.41) = 68.53, which rounds to 69%. The alternate check is 33% of the 41-point scoring band, or 13.53 points, plus the base.

Provider universe

Which providers are in the data and which appear in results

The provider data currently contains 14 records. Thirteen verified records are scored and shown in results. ROBsAdvisor remains listed in the provider universe, but it is not displayed by the matcher while its operating status, pricing, and service scope remain unavailable from the last public check.

  • Guidant Financial
  • Benetrends Financial
  • FranFund
  • Pango Financial
  • My Solo 401k Financial
  • IRA Financial
  • Tenet Financial Group
  • Business Funding Trust
  • Accelefund
  • ROBSPRO
  • Aprio
  • Directed Equity
  • Nexus 401(k) by Talcott Forge
  • ROBsAdvisor

Provider traits are based on provider-controlled public service and pricing pages checked July 21–24, 2026. The tool does not refresh those pages during a match request. If a provider changes pricing, scope, ownership, website availability, or referral terms after those checks, founders should verify the current terms directly before relying on a result.

Privacy

What happens to your answers

The match flow uses answer options only. It sends those selected options to calculate immediate results and returns ranked providers plus any account-type caution. The current flow does not collect contact information, store a lead, send an email, call a CRM, or transmit answers to providers.

Because no contact details are requested, there is no provider follow-up consent in this tool. If a future version asks for contact information or offers provider outreach, the page should first disclose what is collected, who receives it, how consent works, and how a user can withdraw that consent.

Decision limits

What Provider Match cannot establish

A match score cannot establish legal eligibility, rollover availability, fiduciary prudence, tax treatment, valuation adequacy, prohibited-transaction risk, contract quality, staff competence, provider solvency, investment suitability, business quality, or future performance. It also cannot show undisclosed fees or services that are not visible on the reviewed public pages.

Founders should verify the governing retirement-plan rules, provider agreement, written fee schedule, employee-administration duties, Form 5500 support, valuation process, audit support, exit support, and business capitalization plan with appropriate legal, tax, benefits, valuation, and financing professionals before using retirement-plan assets in a ROBS transaction.

Sources

Public sources and dates to verify

IRS ROBS compliance project

Structure, compliance concerns, determination-letter limits, valuation, filing, and employee-access context.

Source selection details: Source Standards