Fees from investment company

[Jilliandiz]

Client maintains a pooled profit sharing account with Merrill Lynch. The account gets hit with its usually quarterly investment fees. The employer ends up paying back the fees and writing a check to the pooled account to cover the cost. When completing the 5500 and participant statements, should I be showing the fees running through the pooled account and adjusting it through earnings....or should I not show that any fees ran through the plan since the plan fees are being paid by back by the employer.

Any suggestions, I'm hitting heads w/someone in my office on this issue, and frankly I don't even think it should be issue.

[Bird]

The fees are fees and the "paying back by the employer" deposits are contributions.

If the investment company bills the employer outside the plan and the employer pays the fees directly, that's another matter. But deposits to the trust, whether they are considered reimbursement or whatever, are contributions.