Participants with an Account Balance

In regards to line 6g, if a plan that is filing on a cash basis, should it still include participants that have a receivable at the end of the year?  These participants would have a zero balance without the receivable. 

A participant is a participant if he has met the eligibility requirements of the plan and entered the plan on the entry date on or following the satisfaction of those eligibility requirements.  There is no requirement for there to be any accrued benefits or account balance as of that date or the following plan year end.

Count them.

I am not referring to that.  I am referring only to line 6g -- participants with an account balance.

What type of defined contribution plan is the plan? And what is the reason for the receivable?

Just a 401k plan.  It would be a profit sharing receivable.  Normally I would say it would be based on cash basis balance, but the more I look at the instructions, I start to interpet it in the opposite manner.

I would say to not include the receivables if you are doing your return on a cash basis.  Take this exaggerated example:

Plan has 20 participants.  A 3% SH plan was set up late in the year.  The one owner is the only one who deferred, and he deposited $1,000 by 12/31.  So, your closing balance is $1,015 after earnings.

But, you have a SH rec'able for those 20 people. 

Are you going to say there are 20 account balances for the $1,050?  It doesn't make sense.

FWIW Paychex and their ilk almost certainly have a computer fill this field with actual cash balances.

I'll take BG one step further.

suppose it is first year of profit sharing plan. so no one has a balance, the 5500 shows nothing but 0's for assets. (When I started in this fool business years ago I think people insisted you at least deposit $100 just to have some type of balance, etc)

I can vaguely recall Jethro Bodine running one of his calculations "Naught from naught is naught"

Back when I did balance forward 4k plans and now doing all ESOPs we would show the count with the receivables in people's balances.    

To BG's example we would show the rec'ble in the assets on the Sch I or H also.  

I get daily plans tend to think differently.   I think consistency might be more important.   I haven't seen an IRS agent get too caught up in this level of details.