# ERISA: plan document, SPD and Form 5500 > The plan document, the SPD, the fiduciary duties, and Form 5500 — including the small welfare plan exemption Northwind's plan uses. Source: https://lopifi.com/learn/erisa-plan-document-spd-form-5500 Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com) --- **What does ERISA require of a small employer's health plan?** The plan document, the SPD, the fiduciary duties, and Form 5500 — including the small welfare plan exemption Northwind's plan uses. The moment Northwind's health plan started, it became an [ERISA](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/erisa) plan. ERISA governs a private employer's benefit plans — health and retirement alike — and starts with one rule: every plan is established and maintained under a written instrument that names at least one fiduciary. > “Every employee benefit plan shall be established and maintained pursuant to a written instrument.” — [ERISA §402(a), 29 U.S.C. §1102(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1102), The plan document and its named fiduciary Plan document (The written terms, and the named fiduciary) → SPD (To each participant within 90 days) → Fiduciary duty (Operated by its terms, in participants' interest) → Form 5500 (Unless the small plan exemption applies) What an ERISA plan carries, from adoption to the annual return. The carrier's certificate of coverage describes the insurance; it is often not a [plan document](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/plan-document) on its own. A [summary plan description](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/summary-plan-description) is owed to each participant within 90 days of becoming covered, and a new plan has 120 days after becoming subject to ERISA to hand it out. > “within 90 days of becoming covered by the plan.” — [DOL EBSA — Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/reporting-and-disclosure-guide-for-employee-benefit-plans), What a plan must file and hand out, and when: SPD, SAR, SBC, Form 5500 ## Fiduciary duties Whoever exercises discretion over the plan — Northwind, and in practice the founder who runs it — is an [ERISA fiduciary](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/erisa-fiduciary). The duties are old trust law: act solely in the interest of participants, for the exclusive purpose of paying benefits and reasonable plan expenses, with a prudent expert's care, diversifying investments, and following the plan's own terms. In a health plan that mostly means picking and monitoring the carrier and the broker carefully, and sending the employees' withheld premiums where they belong on time. > “a fiduciary shall discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries” — [ERISA §404(a)(1), 29 U.S.C. §1104(a)(1)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1104), Fiduciary duties: loyalty, prudence, diversification, the plan's terms *[Figure: audit trail]* A fiduciary's best defense is a record of each decision and why. Illustrative. ## Form 5500, and who skips it The plan's annual return is [Form 5500](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/form-5500), filed electronically through EFAST2 by the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends — July 31 for a calendar year — with up to 2½ more months on Form 5558. A welfare plan with fewer than 100 participants at the start of the year is exempt if it is unfunded, fully insured, or both, with employee contributions forwarded within three months. A 401(k) is a pension plan, and files. > “which covers fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year” — [29 CFR §2520.104-20(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2520.104-20), The small welfare plan exemption from Form 5500 > “File this form to apply for a one-time extension of time to file:” — [IRS — About Form 5558](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-5558), Form 5558, extension of time to file the Form 5500 series **Northwind — No 5500, still an ERISA plan.** Northwind's plan is fully insured, the premiums are paid from its general account, and it has two participants. It files no Form 5500. It still needs a plan document and an SPD, and both employees should have the SPD by the end of 90 days. - **Within 90 days of coverage** — To each new participant (SPD) - **July 31** — Annual return through EFAST2, unless exempt (Form 5500) - **By July 31** — Up to 2½ more months, filed by the original due date (Form 5558) - **Within 9 months of year end** — The summary annual report, a narrative of the 5500, for plans that file (SAR) A calendar-year plan's ERISA year. — [DOL EBSA — Form 5500 Series](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/employers-and-advisers/plan-administration-and-compliance/reporting-and-filing/form-5500), Form 5500 and 5500-SF, filed electronically through EFAST2 ## Where this lesson's rules come from - [ERISA §402(a), 29 U.S.C. §1102(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1102) — The plan document and its named fiduciary (statute) - [ERISA §404(a)(1), 29 U.S.C. §1104(a)(1)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/1104) — Fiduciary duties: loyalty, prudence, diversification, the plan's terms (statute) - [DOL EBSA — Reporting and Disclosure Guide for Employee Benefit Plans](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/publications/reporting-and-disclosure-guide-for-employee-benefit-plans) — What a plan must file and hand out, and when: SPD, SAR, SBC, Form 5500 (agency) - [29 CFR §2520.104-20(a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2520.104-20) — The small welfare plan exemption from Form 5500 (regulation) - [DOL EBSA — Form 5500 Series](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/employers-and-advisers/plan-administration-and-compliance/reporting-and-filing/form-5500) — Form 5500 and 5500-SF, filed electronically through EFAST2 (agency) - [Form 5500 (2025)](https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/employers-and-advisers/plan-administration-and-compliance/reporting-and-filing/form-5500/2025-form-5500.pdf) (PDF) — Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan (for information only — filed through EFAST2) (form) - [IRS — About Form 5558](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-5558) — Form 5558, extension of time to file the Form 5500 series (irs) - [Wikipedia, “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Retirement_Income_Security_Act_of_1974) — ERISA (reference) - **Track:** [Health & benefits](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/benefits) - **Lesson:** Lesson 7 of 10 — 9 min - **Terms taught:** [ERISA](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/erisa), [Plan document](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/plan-document), [Summary plan description](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/summary-plan-description), [ERISA fiduciary](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/erisa-fiduciary), [Form 5500](https://lopifi.com/md/glossary/form-5500) - **Previous:** [COBRA, and state continuation coverage, Benefits · Lesson 6](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/cobra-for-small-employers) - **Next:** [ACA reporting: Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, Benefits · Lesson 8](https://lopifi.com/md/learn/aca-reporting-forms-1094-c-1095-c) - **The course:** https://lopifi.com/md/learn