Guides

• What Form 5500 shows and does not: plan-level totals, the schedules behind each section of a plan page, and the things the form never contains, such as individual balances.
• How to read Schedule C fees: direct and indirect compensation, the $5,000 line, service codes, and why the total is a floor.
• Why filings lag: plan years, the seven-month deadline, extensions, amendments and what "plan year 2024" means.
• Plan characteristics codes: every two-character pension code on line 8a with its official label.