ROBS Professional Directory Tool
Direct answer: use this tool to identify the type of qualified professional to involve in a fact-specific ROBS issue and the official path for verifying credentials. It is not a referral marketplace, lead form, or ranking of named advisors.
The directory separates professional roles from ROBS provider companies. A provider may coordinate setup or administration, but plan sponsors still need independent verification and written scopes when legal, tax, valuation, payroll, or transaction questions are fact-specific.
| Professional role | When to use | How to verify | Sources and boundaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERISA or employee-benefits counsel Plan legal duties Needs: setup, audit, employees, exit | Use this role for plan qualification, fiduciary responsibility, prohibited-transaction analysis, employee eligibility issues, plan corrections, DOL or IRS examination response, and plan termination questions. Boundary: A ROBS provider may supply plan documents or administration support, but provider support does not replace fact-specific legal advice about fiduciary duties or prohibited transactions.
| Paths: state license, written scope.
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| Tax counsel, CPA, or enrolled agent Tax reporting and corrections Needs: setup, audit, tax, exit | Use this role for rollover tax reporting, corporate income tax, payroll tax, Form 1120, Form 945, Form 1099-R coordination, correction tax consequences, and owner-compensation tax questions. Boundary: A CPA or enrolled agent credential does not prove ERISA legal expertise; use tax professionals for tax scope and coordinate with benefits counsel for plan-law questions.
| Paths: state license, irs, written scope.
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| Independent appraiser or valuation professional Employer-stock valuation Needs: setup, valuation, purchase, exit | Use this role for initial employer-stock pricing support, annual employer-stock valuation support, material business changes, redemptions, business sales, insolvency, or worthless-stock analysis. Boundary: Credentials and valuation software do not make a valuation independent. The plan fiduciary still needs a prudent process and should evaluate conflicts, assumptions, methods, and engagement scope.
| Paths: credential body, written scope.
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| Third-party administrator or recordkeeper Plan administration Needs: setup, employees, audit, exit | Use this role for plan documents, eligibility tracking, participant records, nondiscrimination and top-heavy testing support, Form 5500 data, notices, loan and distribution administration, and recurring plan operations. Boundary: A TPA or recordkeeper administers plan operations within its contract. The plan sponsor and fiduciaries remain responsible for selecting and monitoring the provider and for making fiduciary decisions.
| Paths: written scope, credential body.
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| Corporate or securities counsel Corporation and stock documents Needs: setup, purchase, exit | Use this role for C corporation formation, bylaws, board approvals, stock issuance, capitalization table changes, shareholder agreements, securities-law questions, purchase agreements, investor entries, and stock redemptions. Boundary: Corporate counsel is not automatically ERISA counsel. Use corporate or securities counsel for entity and stock mechanics, and coordinate with benefits counsel when plan-owned employer stock is affected.
| Paths: state license, written scope.
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| Payroll and benefits administration professional Payroll and employee handoffs Needs: employees, tax | Use this role when the ROBS corporation pays wages, hires employees, coordinates payroll taxes, tracks benefits deductions, or needs payroll data for plan eligibility and contribution administration. Boundary: Payroll providers usually process data; they do not decide ERISA eligibility, plan design, prohibited-transaction issues, or reasonable compensation legal standards unless separately engaged and qualified.
| Paths: written scope, state license, irs, credential body.
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| Transaction professionals for business or franchise purchases Deal diligence and closing Needs: purchase, setup | Use this role for business broker, quality-of-earnings, lender, escrow, franchise, insurance, lease, environmental, or acquisition diligence work that affects the operating business being funded. Boundary: Transaction professionals evaluate or close the business deal; they do not verify that the ROBS plan transaction is compliant unless separately qualified and engaged for that scope.
| Paths: state license, written scope, credential body.
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Methodology, inclusion boundary, and no-recommendation rule
This directory includes professional role categories and official verification paths, not named professionals, rating widgets, paid placements, availability, fees, or recommendations.
Default order follows the typical ROBS lifecycle: plan legal, tax, valuation, administration, corporate stock, payroll, and transaction handoffs. Name sorting is alphabetical only.
A credential verifies only the credential's scope. It does not prove ROBS experience, independence, availability, price, suitability, or that another professional role is unnecessary.
The source set favors official regulators, tax agency tools, fiduciary guidance, government filing systems, and credential-body directories where the credential scope is exact. The page does not fabricate professional names, credentials, reviews, disciplinary status, fees, availability, or ROBS experience.
How to use the directory responsibly
Treat the directory as a triage step before outreach. The filters narrow the kind of professional and verification path to consider, but the final decision still depends on written scope, conflicts, credentials, and the facts of the transaction.
- Start with the issue: setup, employees, audit/correction, valuation, tax, purchase, or exit.
- Filter for the verification path you can actually complete: state license, IRS tool, credential body, or written engagement scope.
- Verify the credential directly with the official source. Do not rely on badges, selected praise, search snippets, or provider referrals alone.
- Ask for a written scope that distinguishes ERISA, tax, corporate, valuation, payroll, and transaction responsibilities.
- Coordinate handoffs. For example, a corporate lawyer may handle stock documents while ERISA counsel reviews plan-fiduciary issues and a valuation professional supports employer-stock value.
Public source notes and verification destinations
These sources are starting points for verification and source-bounded questions. They do not certify that any professional is appropriate for a ROBS engagement, and several point users to the regulator or credential body that controls the relevant status check.
- DOL fiduciary responsibility guidance : frames plan sponsor and fiduciary duties that provider support does not waive.
- DOL service-provider selection tips : supports written service, fee, conflict, and monitoring questions.
- IRS ROBS compliance project : explains why ROBS plan and employer-stock issues deserve careful review.
- IRS preparer credential guidance and IRS enrolled-agent verification : support tax professional verification within their stated scopes.
- NASBA state accountancy board directory and ABA state bar directory gateway : route users to state licensing regulators.