Form 5500 filing, checked before it's filed.
Prepare Form 5500, 5500-SF, 5500-EZ and Form 5558, see every EFAST2 edit test explained in plain English, sign and e-file — from a web app, or straight from your own software through our API.
No password to choose: give your email, type the six-digit code we send, and you are filing. Free to start.
ClayDesk LLC, form year 2026 — full approval
Every Form 5500 series return, in one place
Our software is certified by the Department of Labor for form years 2024, 2025 and 2026. These are the returns you can file today.
Form 5500-SF
The short annual return for a plan with fewer than 100 participants, including Schedule SB for defined benefit plans.
Form 5500
The annual return for an employer’s health and welfare plan, with a Schedule A for every insurance contract — however many there are.
Late returns can be filed under the Department’s DFVC programme, with the box the programme requires. Coming next: Schedule H for funded welfare plans, and Schedule C for service-provider fees. We would rather name what is ready than imply a form is — tell us which you need and it moves up the list.
And the other filing a pension plan owes: its PBGC premium
A defined benefit plan pays the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation every year. Same plan, same EIN, same administrator — so it starts from the record you already hold here.
- Approved software — PBGC vendor code CLDK251, in every file we produce.
- The arithmetic done — flat-rate and variable-rate premiums from PBGC’s published rates for the year, each figure with its rate beside it.
- Checked before download — PBGC’s schema and the business rules My PAA applies.
- Honest about the last mile — PBGC has no submission API. You upload the file to My PAA and pay PBGC; we show the due date, the remittance line and every accepted way to pay. No paper checks — PBGC does not process them.
# 2026 plan year, single-employer, 60 participants Flat-rate premium 60 × $111 $6,660 Unfunded vested $1,250,000 × $52/$1,000 $65,000 Variable-rate, capped as entered $43,020 Net amount due $49,680 # Due 15 October 2026 · EIN/PN: 12-3456789/001 PYC: 01/01/2026
Pricing
One flat fee per filing, paid by card at the moment you file. Preparing, checking and previewing a return costs nothing — you pay only when it goes to the government.
Form 5558
$19
Up to 2½ more months to file. No signature needed.
Form 5500-EZ
$49
Owner-only and partners-only plans, with every government check run first.
Form 5500-SF
$99
Under 100 participants. Schedule SB for a defined benefit plan included.
Form 5500
$199
With a Schedule A for every insurance contract, however many.
PBGC premium filing
$79
Validated XML for My PAA, the premium worked out from PBGC’s published rates, and exactly how to pay.
What is never charged
Creating an account. Adding plans and colleagues. Preparing a return, running the checks, previewing the official form. Amending a rejected filing. Asking EFAST2 what happened.
Government fees
None for a Form 5500 series return. A PBGC premium is paid to PBGC directly, not to us — we show you the amount and every accepted way to pay it.
Filing at volume
TPAs and API customers with many plans: tell us your volume and we will quote it. No subscription, no per-seat charge, either way.
Card payments are processed by Stripe; we never see a card number. Fees are for the preparation and filing service and are not tax or legal advice.
How filing works
The same five steps whether you file one plan or a thousand.
Prepare
Answer plain-language questions, import a spreadsheet, or send data by API.
Check
Every active DOL edit test runs as you work, with the fix explained.
Review
A print-ready copy on the official government forms, before anyone signs.
Sign
Plan administrators and sponsors sign with their own EFAST2 credentials — invite co-signers by link.
File & track
We transmit to EFAST2 and follow the filing through to its final status and acknowledgement.
Built for the people who file
One engine, three ways in.
Web app
File a single plan without learning EFAST2. Clear questions, clear errors, a copy for your records.
Workspace
All your clients and deadlines in one pipeline. Bulk import, invite-to-sign links, batch transmission.
API
Validate and file from your own product. Idempotent requests, and a signed webhook carrying the government's verdict.
An API for Form 5500
For record-keepers, payroll providers and 401(k) platforms that want filing inside their own product.
- Validate without filing — the same schema and edit tests EFAST2 applies, returned as structured findings.
- File safely twice — idempotency keys mean a retry never creates a duplicate filing.
- Know what happened — the acknowledgement and EFAST2's own status on every filing you fetch, and a signed webhook the moment the Department accepts or rejects one.
- Test first — a sandbox against the government's own test system.
# Check a filing before it goes anywhere POST /v1/filings/validate { "form": "5500-SF", "form_year": 2026, "plan": { "ein": "12-3456789", "number": "001" }, "data": { … } } # 200 OK { "transmittable": true, "findings": [ { "test": "…", "severity": "WARNING", "field": "SF/TypePensionBnftCode", "explanation": "…" } ] }
Security and certification
Filing on someone's behalf is a position of trust. Here is exactly where we stand.
- Your PIN is never stored. Signers type their EFAST2 PIN at the moment of signing; it is used once and never saved, shown or printed.
- Signatures can't go stale. Any change to a signed filing removes every signature, with a warning first.
- Attachments are scanned for malware before anything is transmitted.
- You decide. Edit-test findings are explained, never hidden — and the decision to file stays with the filer.
Software IDs 100182784 (filing preparation) and 100182785 (transmission). The U.S. Department of Labor does not endorse or warrant any software vendor, product or service.
Questions
When can I file?
Now, for 2024 and 2025 plan years: 5500API is certified by the Department of Labor for those form years and files to the EFAST2 production system today, including 2025 returns on extension due October 15, 2026. Form year 2026 returns (plan years ending in 2026) can be filed from January 1, 2027, when EFAST2 opens that year.
Who signs the return?
The plan administrator and/or plan sponsor, using their own EFAST2 signer credentials, exactly as the Department of Labor requires. You can invite a co-signer by link; they see the filing and sign — nothing else.
Do I need EFAST2 credentials?
Anyone who signs a Form 5500 series return needs an EFAST2 account with the Filer Signer role. Form 5558 extensions need no signature. We'll walk you through it during onboarding.
Can I file with warnings?
Yes. The Department of Labor allows a filer to submit with edit-test findings if they choose. We show each one, explain it, and leave the decision to you.
Is this IFILE?
No. IFILE is the government's own free filing tool. 5500API is independent software from ClayDesk LLC, approved to prepare and transmit filings to the same EFAST2 system — with explained checks, multi-client workflows and an API.
How much does it cost?
One flat fee per filing, paid by card when you file: Form 5558 $19, Form 5500-EZ $49, Form 5500-SF $99 (Schedule SB included), Form 5500 $199 (every Schedule A included), PBGC premium filing $79. No subscription, no per-seat charge, no fee to prepare and check — you pay only when a return goes. TPAs filing at volume and API customers: tell us about your volume below.
Filing a lot of returns?
Tell us what you file and we will set your organisation up with you — plans imported, colleagues invited, API keys issued.
- A named contact from day one
- Launch pricing for early customers
- API sandbox keys for platforms