Many TPAs Charge Full Document Fees for Restatements

Volume submitter documents are the most often used plan document (84%) followed by prototype documents (60%) and custom documents (21%), according to the survey from TPA Resources LLC.

Among those TPAs using volume submitter documents, nearly half (48%) are most often charging a full plan document fee for the upcoming required restatement. Another 41% charge a discounted fee and 11% charge an annual maintenance fee.

Among those most often charging a full plan document fee, the average fee is $1,300. Among those most often charging a discounted fee the average discount is 30%.

Among those using prototype documents (60% of respondents), half most often charge a full plan document fee, 38% a discounted fee and 12% an annual plan maintenance fee. For those that most often charge a full document fee the average fee is $1,175.

More than 80% of TPAs that use custom documents (21% of total) charge a full plan document fee, and the average is $1,450.

The survey also finds more than 80% of respondents rely on an opinion letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), while another 17% both request separate IRS approvals and rely on the IRS opinion letters. For those that do at least sometimes request separate IRS approvals, 70% charge an incremented fee for that service. When charged separately, the average fee is $425.

The survey was conducted online from late June through mid-July. Respondents include 57 TPA business owners or managers. Nearly half of all respondent firms report serving greater than 500 plans; the average was 650.

A downloadable copy of the survey results, including relevant charts, is available to subscribers of TPAresources.com here. More information about the firm is at http://www.tparesources.com.