Why filings lag

The most recent filing for most plans describes a plan year that ended between nine months and two years ago. Nothing is wrong with the plan or the data; the schedule is built into the law.

The timetable

1. The plan year ends. Most plans use the calendar year, so plan year 2024 ended on 31 December 2024. Some use a fiscal year; a plan year beginning 1 July 2024 is also "plan year 2024" and ended 30 June 2025.
2. The filing is due on the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends: 31 July for calendar-year plans.
3. Most large plans extend. Form 5558 gives two and a half more months, to 15 October. Large plans need an independent audit before filing and commonly use the extension.
4. The Department of Labor publishes its bulk files monthly, so a filing appears in the data some weeks after it is received.

A calendar-year plan's 2024 figures therefore typically became public in late 2025, and its 2025 figures will follow in late 2026.

Where things stand in this build

This build includes filings received through 24 Aug 2026. For plan year 2024, 71,744 plans with 100 or more participants are on file; for plan year 2025, 9,903 so far. Peer medians use plan year 2024, the latest year that is substantially complete. Each plan page shows the newest filing the plan has made, and states its plan year at the top.

Amended filings

A plan administrator can amend a filing at any time. The research files keep the latest version, so a figure on this site can change when an amendment arrives. Earlier years are re-read when the files are fully refreshed.

First and final returns

A new plan ticks "first return"; a plan that terminates or merges into another ticks "final return" and usually reports zero assets at year end. State-by-year pages count both. A plan that stops appearing without a final return has usually merged, changed its EIN, or fallen below 100 participants and moved to the short form.

Why a plan can be missing a year

Plan histories here show the years in which a plan filed the full Form 5500 with 100 or more participants. A gap usually means the plan filed the short form that year, filed under a different EIN or plan number without reporting the change, or filed late enough to miss the data release.