Unlock 401(k) tax credits for your clients

Your clients may be eligible for up to $16,500 in tax credits on a new 401(k) — potentially covering 100% of plan costs. This guide covers eligibility requirements, claim process, and more.1

See our Privacy Policy to learn how we use and protect your information.

Grow with Guideline Pro

Guideline Pro is a platform for financial and benefits professionals like accountants, advisors, and HR consultants. It’s free to join and comes with tools and support — and of course seamless 401(k) plans for your clients. 2

Learn more about Guideline Pro
  • Dedicated relationship manager
  • Guideline Pro dashboard
  • Robust payroll integrations
  • Compliance testing
  • Low, predictable costs
  • Flexible plan design
Nancy McClellandThe Dancing Accountant
Having a single point of contact to answer any questions and help guide my clients is huge. With Guideline, we don't just get a relationship manager, we get a solutions provider.Client of Guideline. Views may not be representative of other clients.

Built for you and your clients

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    Accounting professionals

    CPAs, bookkeepers, and outsourced CFOs can easily help their clients offer a 401(k) and earn referral rewards. Learn more

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    Financial advisors

    Our platform empowers broker dealers and RIAs with a comprehensive dashboard and built-in billing. Learn more

  • Flying rocket. Simple icon.

    Benefits professionals

    HR consultants and brokers can enhance benefits packages with an affordable 401(k), plus earn referral rewards. Learn more

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    Business consultants

    We work with a variety of consultants. If you don’t see your role here, reach out to our team. Get started

Guideline at a glance

  • 50K+

    business clients

  • 3,000+

    Guideline Pro partners

  • $15B+

    assets under management3

  • Fintech 50

    Forbes 20224

Help your clients modernize their retirement plan

See our Privacy Policy to learn how we use and protect your information.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Guideline Pro?

Guideline Pro is a platform for financial and benefits professionals that’s free to join. As a Guideline Pro, you can offer your clients an easy-to-administer 401(k), plus get the tools to design, monitor, and manage all of their plans in one place.

Why join Guideline Pro?

Guideline Pro provides added value to you and your clients, at no additional cost. You have access to a dedicated relationship manager and a dashboard that lets you invite, monitor, and manage all of your clients’ plans in one place. In addition to a discount on your own firm’s 401(k) plan, you may even be eligible for referral rewards and client discounts.

Can I design a plan on behalf of my clients?

Yes you can. With your Guideline Pro dashboard, you can see all of your clients’ plans—completed and in progress. For new plans, Plan fiduciaries (including trustees, administrators, and investment committee members) can help design the plan, track progress, and streamline the approval process to get it up quickly.

Will I have a dedicated point of contact at Guideline?

Yes, you will be introduced to your dedicated Relationship Manager after you join Guideline Pro and connect to your free advisors dashboard.

What are Guideline’s key services?

Once a plan is set up, we take care of nearly everything including recordkeeping, investment management, government filings, and more. We integrate with 15+ different payroll providers and charge low monthly fees with no transaction fees.

What plan design features are available?

Clients can add certain eligibility requirements, profit sharing, vesting schedules, matching options, and more depending on the plan. However, some of these features, like eligibility, vesting, and allocation requirements, can’t be based on an employee earning a certain number of hours of service.

Why auto enrollment?

Auto enrollment is a required feature for all Guideline 401(k) plans. Auto enrollment can help improve IRS nondiscrimination testing results, help increase employees’ retirement readiness, and much more. With the passing of Secure 2.0, beginning in 2025, auto-enrollment will be required on almost all new 401(k) plans established on or after December 28, 2022. Learn more about auto enrollment

What are the investment options?

With Guideline, participants can create a custom portfolio from our fund menu or choose one of 6 different managed investment portfolios. Each portfolio is diversified with funds from low-cost providers giving them an average expense ratio under 0.07%5.When combined with a 0.15% account fee the estimated total cost of an active participant investing in one of Guideline’s managed portfolios can be under 0.22%5 — that’s about 7x less than the industry average.6

  • 1
    This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be taken as tax advice. Please consult a tax professional to determine what types of tax credits or deductions your company is eligible to claim.
  • 2
    All plans of related entities must be administered by Guideline in order to provide compliance testing.
  • 3
    As of August 2024
  • 4
    Forbes’ Most Innovative Fintech Companies of 2022
  • 5
    The estimated total AUM fee of 0.22% combines the average fund fees for Guideline’s managed portfolios of 0.07% with an assumed account fee of 0.15%. Alternative account fee pricing is available, ranging from 0.15% to 0.35%. Contact Sales at hello@guideline.com to learn more about exclusive pricing options available in Enterprise tier. This information is provided for illustrative purposes only and the actual total AUM fees will vary based on the portfolio and/or funds selected. Guideline’s managed portfolios have blended expense ratios ranging from 0.067% to 0.069% of assets under management. Expense ratios for custom portfolios will vary. These expense ratios are subject to change by and paid to the fund(s). View full fund lineup. The assumed annual account fee applied to assets under management is deducted on a monthly basis. See our Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information regarding fees.
  • 6
    This information is provided for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to be taken as investment or tax advice. Consult a qualified tax and financial advisor to determine the appropriate investment strategy for you. The average investment expense of plan assets for 401(k) plans with 25 participants and $250,000 in assets is 1.37% of assets, according to the 24th Edition of the 401k Averages Book, with data updated through September 30, 2023, and is inclusive of investment management fees, fund expense ratios, 12b-1 fees, sub-transfer agent fees, contract charges, wrap and advisor fees or any other asset based charges. Guideline’s managed portfolios have blended expense ratios ranging from 0.067% to 0.069% of assets under management. When combined with an assumed account fee of 0.15%, the estimated total AUM fees for one of Guideline’s managed portfolios can be under 0.22%. Alternative account fee pricing is available ranging from 0.15% to 0.35%. Contact Sales at hello@guideline.com to learn more about exclusive pricing options available in the Enterprise tier. See our Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information regarding fees. Expense ratios for custom portfolios will vary. These expense ratios are subject to change by and paid to the fund(s). View full fund lineup.

Guideline.com is owned and operated by Guideline, Inc. This website contains content from Guideline, Inc. and its affiliates, each a separate entity with different regulatory marketing requirements and standards. References to "our" or "we" on this website refer solely to Guideline RK, LLC unless otherwise specifically stated.

The information in this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be an offer, recommendation, investment advice, legal or tax advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. By using this website, you agree to Guideline, Inc.’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Use. Neither Guideline, Inc. nor its subsidiaries, are responsible for information provided by third parties. Information included herein from third parties is believed to be reliable however Guideline, Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of that information.

Guideline, Inc. is a technology company that provides an integrated platform to companies who seek to work with 1) Guideline RK, LLC ("Guideline") and/or 2) Guideline Investments, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser ("RIA"), both of which are wholly owned by Guideline Holdings, LLC. Guideline Holdings, LLC is wholly owned by Guideline, Inc. Neither Guideline, Inc. nor Guideline Holdings, LLC or Guideline RK, LLC is involved in securities activities and is not registered with the SEC or FINRA. Neither Guideline, Inc., nor any of its affiliates, is a bank.

Investment advisory services for Guideline’s 401(k) (when 3(38) fiduciary services are selected) and SEP IRA/IRA products are offered by Guideline Investments, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. For more information regarding fees and services, see Guideline Investments, LLC’s ADV 2A Brochure and Form CRS. References throughout this website to investment advisory services including but not limited to: investments offered, portfolios, managed portfolios, investment philosophy, assets under management (AUM), annual account fees expressed as a percentage of AUM, suitability questionnaire, 3(38) investment advisory management fiduciary services, robo-advisory services, and investment advice, unless otherwise specifically stated, are services provided by Guideline Investments, LLC. Investing involves risk and may lose money, including loss of principal. Investing is not guaranteed and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. The investment options offered by Guideline Investments, LLC are not FDIC insured.

Recordkeeping services for Guideline’s 401(k) and SEP IRA/IRA products are offered by Guideline RK, LLC. 3(16) plan administration services are also offered by Guideline RK, LLC and only made available to clients who utilize an eligible payroll provider. For more information on Guideline’s pricing, see here. Guideline uses a third-party to provide custodial services. Custodial fees are paid by Guideline.

Any graphs, charts, and other visual aids (collectively referred to as "image(s)") are provided for information purposes only. None of these images can of themselves be used to make investment decisions. No representation is made that these will assist any person in making investment decisions and no image can capture all factors and variables required in making such decisions.

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