For TPAs

We do the audit. You stay focused on administration.

When your clients hit the audit threshold, they look to you for a recommendation. We're built to be the firm you can confidently send them to — fast, organized, and never bouncing questions back to your team.

Become a Referral Partner Schedule a 20-Minute Intro

AICPA EBPAQC Member·ERISA Specialists·PEP-Fluent·24-Hour Response

01What we hear from TPAs

Most auditors create work for you. We're built not to.

They ask my client for the same census I already produced.

Every question they have for the sponsor comes back through me first.

They miss the 5500 deadline and I get the call.

Their staff doesn't know how PEPs work. I end up teaching them.

If any of that sounds familiar, you're not alone — and it's why we exist.

02How it works

Direct coordination. Defined handoffs. No surprises.

01 /Use what you've made

We use what you've already produced

Compliance testing, plan documents, contribution reports, SOC 1, census — if your work is good (and we assume it is), we don't re-derive it. We coordinate directly with your team at kickoff and don't ask the sponsor for things you've already given them.

02 /Right party, right question

Questions go to the right party

When we have a question for the TPA, we ask the TPA. When we have a question for the sponsor, we ask the sponsor. We don't route everything through you, and we don't ping the sponsor with questions only you can answer.

03 /Your reputation

We hit your deadlines

Form 5500 deadlines are your reputation. We work backwards from them, not forward from kickoff. If we tell you we'll deliver by July 15, that's the date.

04 /PEP fluent

We're PEP specialists

Multi-adopter testing, PPP fiduciary review, partial-year adopters, controlled group analysis — we built our practice around this. If you administer PEPs, you won't spend time educating us.

03Mutual fit

Good partnerships are reciprocal.

Referrals back

Reliable referrals

When sponsors come to us looking for a TPA, we send them to our preferred partners.

Visibility

Co-marketing

Joint webinars, content, conference presence where it makes sense for both teams.

Access

A direct line

Your team has a named contact at Pepper. Issues get resolved on the same business day.

Quality

Audit quality your name can stand behind

EBPAQC member, peer-reviewed, ERISA specialists. Your clients walk away saying you sent them to the right firm.

CPA independence rules prohibit us from paying for referrals. This is what we offer instead.

04Best fit

The TPAs we work best with.

Strong fit

You'll get the most out of us if…

  • You manage 50+ plans, especially with concentration in the 100–2,500 participant range.
  • You administer PEPs and handle multi-adopter complexity.
  • You're a regional or national TPA without a captive audit referral relationship.
  • Your clients have outgrown a generalist CPA firm's plan audit practice.

Not a fit today

We're probably not your firm if…

  • You need an auditor for ESOP, defined benefit, or health and welfare plans.
  • You require in-person fieldwork — we deliver remotely nationwide.

05Transparent pricing

Fixed fees you can quote with confidence.

ServiceFee
401(k) audit — under 500 participants$11,000
401(k) audit — 500–2,499 participants$13,000
PEP audit — ≤15 adopters$15,000
PEP audit — 16–100 adopters$20,000+

06Common questions

What TPAs usually ask first.

No. CPA independence rules prohibit it. We invest in co-marketing, joint content, and the operational reliability that earns us your next referral instead.
Named TPA contact at kickoff. Direct email or Slack channel for data and clarifications. We send you a copy of every sponsor-facing communication relevant to your work.
Plan documents, compliance testing, SOC 1, and census from you. Payroll, distributions, loan activity, and operational support from the sponsor. We define this at kickoff so nothing gets duplicated.
No. That's the point. We don't ask the sponsor for anything you've already produced.
Plan-level and adopter-level testing built into our workflow. We coordinate directly with the PPP and with each adopter's payroll source. We've structured our PEP audit practice around this complexity.
Four to eight weeks from kickoff. PEPs at the upper end, single-employer plans at the lower.

07Let's talk

Let's set up a 20-minute intro.

No pitch deck. No commitment. We'll learn about your book and you'll learn how we work.

Become a Referral Partner Send a Note Instead

Or write to partnerships@pepperauditors.com