A safe harbor match requires employee deferrals to trigger the employer contribution — employees who don't defer get nothing. A non-elective contribution gives 3% of compensation to every eligible employee regardless of whether they defer. Non-elective is simpler (no tracking of deferral rates) but costs the same for non-deferring employees. Match designs cost less if some employees don't defer.

Yes — this is very common. The employer match and profit sharing are separate contribution sources. For example, you might offer a safe harbor basic match (4% max) plus a cross-tested profit sharing contribution. Both are included in the annual budget. The 415(c) annual additions limit ($70,000 for 2025) applies to the total of all employer and employee contributions combined.

The budget you set here is the total annual employer cost target — combining match and profit sharing. Design(k) Pro will model the actual contributions per employee and show you the total cost. If it exceeds your budget, come back to Intent(k), adjust your match formula, profit sharing method, or budget amount, and re-send. This iterative loop helps you find the right balance between plan generosity and cost.

You can always come back to Intent(k), change your settings, and re-send. Design(k) Pro will pick up the new configuration. The pipeline is designed for iteration — most plan designs require 2-3 passes to balance goals, contributions, and budget.

No. Safe harbor is optional. Without it, the plan must pass ADP/ACP nondiscrimination testing each year. If the plan fails, HCE deferrals or contributions must be refunded or corrected. Safe harbor eliminates this risk but requires a minimum employer contribution. Use the Custom Formula option if you want a non-safe-harbor match — just know that ADP/ACP testing will apply.

Cross-testing (New Comparability) converts profit sharing contributions into equivalent benefits using age-based actuarial factors. Because older participants have fewer years to retirement, a given dollar amount converts to a larger equivalent benefit. This allows older owners to receive much higher contribution rates than younger staff while still passing IRS tests. It works best when there's a significant age gap between owners and employees. If ages are similar, the advantage shrinks.

The pipeline flows: Census(k) Pro (validate census) → Eligibility(k) (determine who's eligible) → Intent(k) (configure goals, match, PS, budget) → Design(k) Pro (model the plan and test compliance). Intent(k) receives eligible employees from Eligibility(k) via a secure data transfer, and sends the configuration forward to Design(k) Pro.

All census data processing happens locally in your browser. The only external call is the AI Configuration Review, which sends only your plan design choices (goals, match type, budget) and aggregate employee count — no names, SSNs, dates of birth, or compensation figures are ever transmitted. Click the Security button in the nav bar for full details.