Less work for your team. Not less audit.

We work alongside TPAs and recordkeepers. We make the audit easier on everyone who supplies documents, without making it any lighter: testing covers every participant, pay period, distribution, loan, fee and journal entry in the plan’s records, not a sample. Ledgerline is booking 401(k) and 403(b) plan audits for the coming season, starting December 2026.

A referral you can stand behind

A thorough audit that runs smoothly reflects well on whoever recommended it.

We ask for what you hold, once

Your team sees only its own items, and we work from the data you already maintain.

We'll never compete with you

We do one thing: the plan audit. Your administration and recordkeeping relationships stay yours.

What working with Ledgerline looks like for your team

  • Your own checklist. The plan sponsor invites you to the engagement, and you see only the items that are yours, not the whole plan’s list.
  • Less passes through you. When the sponsor connects its payroll provider, the census and payroll register come straight from the source instead of through your team.
  • Specific follow-ups. If the audit needs support for one participant, the request names the document and the person, rather than sending the list again.
  • Questions stay with the item. Every document has its own thread, so a question about the SOC 1 does not get lost in an email chain.
  • Not applicable means not chased. An item that does not apply can be marked not applicable with a reason, and nobody asks for it again.
  • Free reference tools. Our audit team maintains free, vendor-neutral tools and guides at 401kaudithelp.com, open to anyone.

The 13 items on a TPA’s checklist

The portal puts these on your checklist because the TPA is usually the one who gathers them. You produce some yourself; others normally come from the recordkeeper or the custodian, and anything that does not apply, such as a SOC 1 your firm does not have, can usually be marked not applicable with a reason.

Usually produced by your firm

  • ADP/ACP nondiscrimination testing
  • Top-heavy testing
  • 402(g), 415, 401(a)(4) and 404 testing
  • Support for any corrective distributions
  • Census supplement: hours, waivers, classes, HCE flags and entry dates that payroll does not carry (sometimes from the recordkeeper)
  • Your firm's SOC 1 Type 2 report, if it has one

Usually requested from the recordkeeper

  • The recordkeeper's annual report package
  • The recordkeeper's participant transaction history
  • The recordkeeper's SOC 1 Type 2 report
  • A bridge letter covering any gap between the SOC 1 period and plan year-end

Usually requested from the trustee or custodian

  • Trust or custodial statements
  • The ERISA 103(a)(3)(C) certification, for a plan using that audit
  • The custodian's or trustee's SOC 1 Type 2 report

Which of your clients’ plans are a good fit?

  • 401(k) and 403(b) plans that need an audit: 100 or more participants with an account balance on the first day of the plan year, including plans having their first audit and plans filing late.
  • ERISA 103(a)(3)(C) or full scope, whichever the plan uses.
  • Not a fit: defined benefit plans, health and welfare plans and ESOPs. We audit 401(k) and 403(b) plans only.

How an engagement runs, from your side

  1. The sponsor signs the engagement letter in the portal and invites you.
  2. You upload your items to your own checklist, on your own time, and mark anything that does not apply.
  3. We test the plan’s records. If something needs support, you get a specific request on the item it relates to.
  4. We read the draft Form 5500 before the report is dated, and the sponsor receives the signed auditor’s report for the filing.

A fee your client knows before signing

The fee is fixed, set by the number of participants with an account balance, and agreed in the engagement letter before work starts. Your client can see the fee for their own plan, read from its last Form 5500 filing, on our pricing page.

Independent of everyone, including you

Our independence is owed to the plan, so we test the work of every provider, yours included: we recompute the nondiscrimination testing and compare it with your results, and we read your SOC 1 report. When something needs correcting, we tell the plan sponsor, and the correction is yours to make.

What we don’t do

We do not administer plans, run nondiscrimination testing, or prepare or file Form 5500s, and we do not make corrections ourselves: an auditor who fixes something cannot then audit it.

Frequently asked questions

What will Ledgerline need from a TPA?

Thirteen items come to the TPA's checklist. The TPA usually produces the testing results, corrective distribution support, census supplement and its own SOC 1, and gathers the rest from the recordkeeper (year-end package, transaction history, SOC 1 and bridge letter) and the trustee or custodian (statements, the 103(a)(3)(C) certification and its SOC 1).

Does Ledgerline prepare Form 5500s or administer plans?

No. Ledgerline does one thing, the plan audit. Plan administration, testing, Form 5500 preparation and filing, and correcting anything the audit finds stay with the TPA or the plan's other providers.

Which plans does Ledgerline audit?

401(k) and 403(b) plans with 100 or more participants with an account balance on the first day of the plan year, under either an ERISA 103(a)(3)(C) audit or a full scope audit. Ledgerline does not audit defined benefit, health and welfare or ESOP plans.

How does Ledgerline work with the TPA during an audit?

Through a secure portal. The sponsor invites the TPA, who sees a checklist of only the TPA's items, uploads them, and gets any follow-up as a specific request on the item it relates to.

Will the sponsor's other contacts see our documents?

Each person invited to an engagement sees only the checklist for their own role. The plan sponsor can see the whole engagement.

Talk to us about your clients’ plans

A short call is enough to walk through how an engagement runs and what your team would see.

Book a callHow a Ledgerline audit works