EBS believes that the fees we charge need to be fair.  Charging too low will ultimately result in poor service.  Charging too much is just wrong.  In summary, we want our service fees to be an amount that gives the client the most for the dollars they are spending, but properly compensates us for the services we are providing.

We also want our fees to be levied under a fee policy that is easily understood, allows clients to accurately include this cost in their budgeting, and does not require excessive resources on our part to manage.  We believe that our "billing policy" achieves these goals.

Our annual services are billed using a "retainer basis".  This means that we issue the entire billing for that year under a single bill on the first day of the year.  The client then has the choice of either paying the entire fee within the next 90 days, or pay this fee using 4 equal installments, that are paid within the 30 days that follow the 1st day of each calendar year quarter.  This timing reflects that part of our service is completed during the year, while the balance is completed shortly after the close of the year.

Our service fee schedule use a "base charge" and an "eligible employee charge".  We developed the values of these billing components given the expected unit of work the plan itself represents, and the unit of work each person represents.  For the eligible employee count we use the value as reported on Form 5500, which is the actual count of people under the plan as reported to the government.  It is important to note that our service is a form of accounting.  The size of the trust fund has no impact upon our work.

Development of a fee schedule for a specific plan must account for aspects such as type of plan, type of allocations, and "account recordkeeping platform".  (The latter does have a very significant impact upon the level of work needed for a specific plan.)  Once all aspects of a specific plan are accounted for, we can define the annual fee schedule for that plan.  Fee schedules are typically not changed for several years.  In fact, we have clients that use the same fee schedule they used since 1992!

We believe our fee levels are very, very competitive.  We have plans using schedules that are as low as $500 plus $20 per eligible employee.  On the high end, we have clients using $1,500 plus $40 per eligible.  Again, the specifics of your Plan will determine what fee schedule applies to your Plan.

As final comment on fees, a look at fees for the mandatory EGTRRA Restatement may provide valuable insight.  We saw competitor quotes that ranged from $1,500 to $3,000.  Our standard fee for this service was $975 on 1/1/2009.  We think those numbers tell an important story.