To help manage and implement your company’s 401(k), there are 5 different plan administrator roles, each of which has various access permissions. Please note that these roles must be assigned to individuals and not job titles.
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Here are the permissions and responsibilities for each role, and how to assign or change the collaborator for your Guideline plan.
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The plan trustee holds the highest level of access to a Guideline 401(k) plan and is, ultimately, responsible for the plan at the company. This individual also serves as a plan fiduciary.
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The trustee has visibility into all plan documents and is the only role capable of approving and signing plan amendments and government filings, such as the Form 5500.
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Additionally, this individual has access to the online portal for the plan’s custodial account, Benefit Trust Company (BTC), through the Settings section of their administrator dashboard. A copy of your quarterly Trust Statements from BTC are also available to the trustee in the Account Documents section of the Resource Library.
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The trustee is the only individual who can designate the primary benefit administrator. However, the 2 roles could be held by the same person.
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A trustee must be designated for every plan. In the event you need to change the trustee, you must submit documentation to Guideline, known as the Trustee Change Packet. For more information about making this change, please see our trustee change FAQ.
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The PBA has similar permissions as the trustee with some exceptions. For example, the PBA can request plan changes, but cannot approve them. The PBA can add and remove collaborators and has visibility into all plan documents, including quarterly BTC Trust Statements provided within the Guideline dashboard but does not have access to the BTPassport portal.
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Additionally, the PBA gets notifications about Form 5500-related tasks and has the ability to approve the form itself. Please note, if there is no specifically designated PBA, then the trustee is considered to fill both roles.
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Only the trustee can change the PBA through the Plan Settings page within their administrator dashboard.
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Admins receive notifications about pending tasks and can view some plan documents. While this role can request plan changes, they must go to the trustee for approval.
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Admins do not have the ability to add, edit, or remove other collaborators or update their permission levels or profile details, however, they can update the plan’s Roster.
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You can find information about how to add/remove an Admin here.
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A finance collaborator receives notifications about upcoming bank withdrawals for contributions, invoices, and other plan financial details. They can request plan changes, which must be approved by the trustee. Finance collaborators do not have the ability to add, edit, or remove other administrators/collaborators or update their permission levels or profile details.
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You can find information about how to add/remove a Finance collaborator here.
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A finance admin has the same level of permissions as both the Admin and Finance collaborators.
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Not sure what type of collaborator you are? Check out this article for more information.

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