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Yes, but any investment earnings must be distributed as well and would need to go to a traditional IRA to further defer taxation.

Consider also what scope of work your service agreement provides, and whether it’s wise or unwise to do something beyond that scope.

If an author of a book partly AI-generated copied, even temporarily for the generative software, others’ works, one wonders about copyright infringement. Those who understand authors’ and publishers’ efforts might not support a book that infringes or otherwise harms an author’s economic, or even moral, rights.

There is a distinction between late deposits and crediting contributions to the wrong participant. Late deposits are tied to the company not timely transferring participant money to the trust. When looking at the payroll-by-payroll funding, if at anytime there was a shortfall, then that is a late deposit. If there were crediting of contributions to participants so that at times some participants were underfunded and and at times some participants were overfunded, then not only should the correct total contributions be credited correctly, but also that related investment earnings should be credited correctly. This may require funding if there is a net shortfall. Don't forget to look at participants who were affected by this mess and who have taken distributions from the plan. This definitely is not a trivial exercise and consider having the client sign an engagement letter prior to starting work.

The Federal Register is scheduled tomorrow to publish the IRS notice of PTIN user fees for 2026. It will say the "amount of the user fee as $10 per application or application for renewal, plus an $8.75 fee per application or application for renewal payable directly to a third-party contractor." There are 14 pages of history and legislation disclosing how the IRS arrived at the new number. The "big" news is a reduction in the PTIN user fee to $10 from $11. (Start planning now on how to use this windfall. 😀)

If you've got people who don't tie out, you're going to need the client to give you their amounts week by week. It might reveal an entire screwed-up week company-wide for you, though, so there's that silver lining, right?

Not sure how you would deal with this but I question a payroll system that has shortages and overages that can't be reconciled. Of course, I don't deal with this all the time so maybe it is not unusual but the accountant in me bristles at the notion... Note there are no de minimis exceptions for this type of error.

You need to contact the client about the differences and ask to see their payroll records so you can reconcile the deposits. If there are late deposits they go on the Form 5500 and earnings should be calculated.

We all have our war stories of skirmishes with the IRS and EBSA. We had a plan that went from a one-participant only plan with assets under $250,000 and no EZ filing to a plan that required a 5500. The 5500-SF showed it was an initial filing and had a beginning balance, and the client received a love letter from the IRS. We called the IRS and spoke with an agent who took down the information, submitted it for review, and the issue was closed. All in, we spent more time on hold waiting for an available agent when making the initial call than the time we spent speaking with the agent.

I have sometimes suggested an employer/administrator file a Form 5500 even when the rules excuse it for a small one-participant plan. With other potential advantages, which might include starting the running of a statute-of-limitations period and setting up other defenses: An expense to file an unrequired Form 5500 might be less than the expense of informing EBSA or IRS about why a report or return for an earlier year was not required. This is not advice to anyone.