For CPAs

When a client's health plan shows up in your work

A steep renewal, a Schedule A question, or a benefits line that does not match payroll is often the first time a CPA sees the health plan. I work behind the firm and the CFO. I do not step into tax or attest work.

Updated Nov 5, 2026. By Matt Ragudo.

For CPA clients with 50 to 500 employees.

Start working with Matt For fractional CFOs

Where it shows up in the firm’s work

Health plan cost rarely arrives as a benefits question. It shows up while you are in the return, the payroll records, a Section 125 plan or a MERP, or the Form 5500. The renewal went up. The benefits expense does not tie to the invoice. Schedule A lists commissions the client has never seen in dollars.

You do not need a second specialty. The parallel for fractional CFOs is for fractional CFOs. This page is the same idea from the CPA’s side of the table. Background is on about Matt Ragudo.

How I work behind the firm

I stay on the health plan. You stay on tax, attest, and the client relationship. I will not take a tax position, sign an attest report, or talk to the client as if I were the firm.

A read of the company’s public Form 5500 filings can come before any engagement. It uses only the public record. Form 5500 search is how a filing is opened. Schedule A broker pay is how the commission lines read.

What the client approves, and what you keep

The client approves the engagement letter and signs the broker-of-record letter. The transfer usually takes about a month. The Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, and it is written from the carrier's own data. You remain the one the client calls about the numbers.

How pay works, with no referral fee

Pay is carrier commission, often set in the rates the carrier files with the state. Every dollar paid on the contract is disclosed in writing, in dollars and per employee, before the plan goes through, for the current plan and every option quoted. There is no referral fee to the firm. The longer version is how I'm paid.

The size band is employers with 50 to 500 employees. The Renewal Control Plan is the name of steps 2 to 7 for employers with 100 or more employees. Employers with 50 to 99 employees get the same seven steps without that name. How the switch works is on switching brokers.

Call (808) 358-1477 or email aloha@mattragudo.com.

Questions people ask

When should a CPA bring this up?

When a client with 50 to 500 employees flags a steep health renewal, a Schedule A line that does not match the benefits expense, or a Section 125 or MERP question that turns into a plan-design question. You do not have to become the benefits person.

Do you do tax or attest work?

No. The health plan is the lane. Tax returns, attest work, and payroll-tax positions stay with the firm.

Is there a referral fee?

No. Pay is carrier commission, often set in the rates the carrier files with the state. Every dollar paid on the contract is disclosed in writing, in dollars and per employee, before the plan goes through, for the current plan and every option quoted. Nothing is paid to the firm for the introduction.

What can you read before an engagement?

A read of the company’s public Form 5500 filings. Email the company name to aloha@mattragudo.com after the client says okay. The read uses only the public record. How to open a filing is on Form 5500 search.

What does the client get after the broker-of-record letter?

The client approves the engagement letter and signs the broker-of-record letter. The transfer usually takes about a month. The Plan Report follows that signed letter and the transfer, and it is written from the carrier’s own data. You keep the client relationship.

I built and sold a health insurance agency: grew it to 60 agents in about 3 years, then sold it. Licensed insurance agent since 2014: Texas license 2501238, NPN 17369817.

Send the company name when the client says okay.

A read of the company’s public Form 5500 filings can come first. It uses only the public record. The Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month, and it is written from the carrier’s own data. Call (808) 358-1477 or email aloha@mattragudo.com.

Start working with Matt For fractional CFOs

Questions first? Email aloha@mattragudo.com or book a 30 minute call.

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