ROBS Plan Specialists
ROBS plan consulting from CPAs who actually know ROBS.
Thousands of owners funded their business with retirement money through a Rollovers as Business Startups plan. Almost none of their accountants actually understand the structure. We do. Setup guidance, year-round compliance, and clean exits when it is time to get your money out.
What is a ROBS plan?
ROBS stands for Rollovers as Business Startups. It is an IRS-recognized way to fund a business with your own retirement savings: your 401(k) or IRA rolls into a new retirement plan sponsored by a C corporation you own, and that plan buys stock in the corporation. The corporation then uses the cash to buy or run the business. No loan, no early withdrawal, no penalty, as long as every rule is followed.
The catch is that a ROBS has to satisfy corporate tax law, retirement-plan law and payroll rules all at once, forever. That is why so many owners end up with books and filings that quietly drift out of compliance for years. It is also exactly the work we specialize in: ROBS plan consulting, accounting and exit planning.
Where are you in the ROBS journey?
Setting up, running, or getting out
You want to fund a business with retirement money
A ROBS lets you roll a 401(k) or IRA into your own C corporation and fund a business without loans or early-withdrawal penalties. We give you the honest math on whether it fits before you move a dollar.
You are running a business inside a ROBS
Your corporate return, payroll, plan filings and annual valuation all have to line up, every year. We keep the whole structure compliant so a small slip never becomes a six-figure tax bill.
You want to exit your ROBS cleanly
Selling, retiring, or just done with the structure? Unwinding a ROBS in the wrong order can put taxes and a 10% penalty on your entire balance. We sequence the exit so your money comes out clean.
What we handle
Full-stack ROBS plan support
ROBS plan consulting
Straight answers on setup, structure and whether a ROBS fits your deal at all.
ROBS-aware bookkeeping
Books built around the C corporation your ROBS requires, clean enough to survive any audit.
Corporate tax returns
Form 1120 prepared by a team that understands what a ROBS C corp can and cannot do.
Form 5500 support
The annual retirement-plan filing your ROBS owes the IRS and DOL, handled on time, every year.
Annual valuation coordination
Your plan needs a defensible yearly valuation of the company. We coordinate it and keep the file audit-ready.
ROBS exit & unwind planning
Share buybacks, plan termination, final filings and the rollover back out, in the right order.
The clean exit
Exiting a ROBS plan without a six-figure surprise
Whether you are selling the business, retiring, or simply done with the structure, a ROBS exit has to happen in a specific order. Here is the shape of a clean unwind.
Get a defensible valuation
Every clean exit starts with knowing what the plan’s shares in your corporation are actually worth.
Redeem the plan’s shares in the right order
The corporation buys back the stock your 401(k) holds. Sequence and paperwork matter enormously here.
Terminate the plan and file the final Form 5500
The retirement plan is formally closed out with the IRS and DOL, with every filing squared away.
Roll the money back out, penalty-free
Plan balances roll to an IRA or new employer plan, and your money is back to being ordinary retirement savings.
Get the order wrong and the IRS can treat your entire rollover as a taxable distribution, with a 10% penalty on top if you are under 59½. This is not a place to let a generalist learn on your dime.
The uncomfortable truth
Most accountants don't know what they're doing with ROBS
That is not an insult, it is just math. ROBS plans are rare enough that a generalist may see one or two in a career. We chose to specialize in them, because our clients use them and the cost of getting one wrong is enormous.
Most accountants have never seen one
A typical CPA touches one or two ROBS plans in an entire career. The structure mixes corporate tax, retirement-plan law and payroll in ways that punish guesswork. We work with ROBS plans every day.
The penalties land on the whole balance
ROBS mistakes are not small. A disqualified plan or a botched exit can trigger income tax plus a 10% penalty on your entire rollover, not just the piece that was handled wrong.
The rules touch everything you do
Your salary, who the corporation does business with, even how you eventually sell. A ROBS quietly constrains all of it. We flag the landmines before you step on them.
ROBS questions, answered
Frequently asked questions
ROBS stands for Rollovers as Business Startups. It is an IRS-recognized structure that lets you roll retirement money (usually a 401(k) or IRA) into a new 401(k) plan sponsored by your own C corporation, which then uses the funds to buy or capitalize a business. Done right, there is no early-withdrawal tax or penalty.
Yes. ROBS arrangements are recognized by the IRS and governed by ERISA. The danger is not the structure itself, it is running or exiting one incorrectly. Compliance failures can disqualify the plan and make your entire rollover taxable, plus a 10% penalty if you are under 59½.
A clean ROBS exit generally means valuing the company, having the corporation redeem the shares your retirement plan owns, formally terminating the plan, filing a final Form 5500, and rolling the plan balance back to an IRA. The order of operations is everything. Doing it wrong can turn the whole balance into taxable income.
Yes, and a sale is the most common trigger. The plan’s ownership stake has to be handled correctly inside the deal, ideally planned well before you go to market. We work alongside your broker and attorney so the ROBS side of the sale does not blow up the economics.
At minimum: a corporate tax return (Form 1120), an annual Form 5500 for the retirement plan, payroll filings for your W-2 salary, and an annual valuation of the company to support the plan’s stock value. Miss these and the plan drifts out of compliance.
Yes, in fact you generally must be a real W-2 employee of the corporation. The salary has to be reasonable for the work you do, paid through proper payroll, and never funded directly out of the rollover itself. This is one of the most common places ROBS owners get bad advice.
Maybe, but ask them how many ROBS plans they work with. Most generalist CPAs have seen one or two at best, and ROBS mistakes tend to surface years later in an audit or an exit. We handle ROBS plans every day and are happy to work alongside your existing advisors.
Get a straight answer about your ROBS
Book a free discovery call. We will tell you honestly where your plan stands, what it needs, and what a clean exit would look like, whether we work together or not.