Overview
Once you lock a plan year's reconciliation, its figures are ready for the plan's Form 5500. One click on Autofill 5500 figures puts the reconciled balances, contributions, earnings, benefits, and transfers into the right boxes on the plan's 5500 filing. You review the filing instead of re-typing numbers you already reconciled.
Autofill only fills boxes that are empty. Anything your team already entered stays as it is. This guide is for TPAs who reconcile assets in CX and file the 5500 with Government Filings.
Key benefits
Reconcile once, file once. The figures you matched, reviewed, and signed off on are the figures that land on the return. No second round of typing, and no chance of a transposed digit between the two.
Works on every 5500 a plan files. Autofill supports the Form 5500-EZ, the Form 5500-SF, and Schedules H and I for plans that file the full Form 5500. That includes the 5500-EZ, which can't pull last year's return from the DOL.
Your entries are safe. Autofill never overwrites a box that has a value. If you typed a figure, or a figure came in earlier, it stays.
Clear about what it can't do. When autofill isn't available, the card tells you why in plain words, so you know what to fix.
Before you start
The plan year's reconciliation is locked. See Confirming and Locking a Reconciliation.
Every schedule's participant matches are confirmed.
You have write access to Retirement. People with read-only access can see the card but can't run autofill.
Your team has access to Government Filings.
Where to find the filing card
The filing card sits at the top of the Schedules tab of every reconciliation. Its title tells you where you are:
Form 5500 filing while the reconciliation is still open.
Reconciliation confirmed once you lock it.
Fill the 5500 from a reconciliation
Open the plan's reconciliation from Retirement > Reconciliation.
Lock the plan year if you haven't yet. Click Confirm Reconciliation, then Confirm Reconciliation in the dialog.
A message confirms "PY 2025 locked: the 5500 can now use these figures." The card's title changes to Reconciliation confirmed.
Look at the card.
- If the plan has no 5500 filing for the year yet, the card says "Start the PY 2025 5500 filing to offer it these figures." Click Start 5500 Filing. Government Filings opens. Start the filing there, then come back to the reconciliation. For help, see Filing a Form 5500 in Stax.ai CX.
- If the plan has one filing, the card names it and says the figures are ready:"Reconciled figures are ready for the PY 2025 Form 5500-SF. Autofill fills empty boxes from these figures, then from last year's return and the plan's details. A box that already has a value, typed or autofilled earlier, is kept, so clear any you want replaced."
If the plan has more than one filing for the year, choose one. See "Choosing a filing" below.
Click Autofill 5500 figures. The button reads Autofilling… while it works.
A message confirms the PY 2025 5500 was autofilled and that boxes that already had a value were kept.
Click Continue 5500 Filing. The filing opens in Government Filings.
Review the filled boxes. Fill in anything still empty, then validate the filing as usual.
You're all set! The 5500 now carries the figures you reconciled.
Tip: When you finish a plan, click Open next plan on the card to move to the next plan in your reconciliation queue.
Choosing a filing
A plan can have more than one 5500 filing for the same year, for example an original and an amendment. Autofill never guesses which one you mean.
When there's more than one, the card says "This plan has 2 PY 2025 5500 filings. Choose the one to autofill."
Open the Filing to autofill list. It reads "Choose a filing…" until you pick one.
Pick the filing. Each choice shows the form, its status, and when it was created, for example "Form 5500-SF amendment · drafting · created 10/01/2026".
The card checks that filing and shows whether it can take the figures.
Click Autofill 5500 figures.
Filings that were replaced by an amendment, and other forms like the 5558 extension or 8955-SSA, are not offered.
How autofill decides what goes in a box
Autofill only fills empty boxes. It fills them in this order, and the first source with a value wins:
What's already on the filing. Any box with a value is kept, whether a person typed it or an earlier autofill filled it.
The locked reconciliation.
Last year's return, when CX can find it.
The plan's details in CX, such as the plan name, plan number, and sponsor.
Because existing values are kept, running autofill a second time won't change a box that's already filled. To replace a figure with the reconciled one, clear the box on the filing first, then click Autofill 5500 figures again.
Important: A box with $0 in it counts as filled. If the reconciliation has no figure for a box (for example, a plan with no rollovers), autofill leaves that box empty instead of entering zero.
What gets filled
The figures follow the reconciliation's accounting method. An Accrual reconciliation fills accrual-basis contributions. A Cash reconciliation fills the record keeper's statement amounts. Line numbers below are from the 2024 forms.
Form 5500-EZ
What autofill fills | Where it goes |
Plan assets at the beginning and end of the year | Line 6a, Total plan assets |
Employer contributions (match, safe harbor, profit sharing, and other employer money) | Line 7a, Employers |
Participant contributions (pre-tax and Roth deferrals) | Line 7b, Participants |
Rollovers and transfers in | Line 7c, Others (including rollovers) |
Participant loans at year end | Line 9, the participant loans amount |
The 5500-EZ has no income or expense lines, so earnings, benefits, and fees are not filled.
Form 5500-SF
What autofill fills | Where it goes |
Plan assets at the beginning and end of the year | Line 7a, Total plan assets |
Employer contributions | Line 8a(1), Employers |
Participant contributions | Line 8a(2), Participants |
Rollovers | Line 8a(3), Others (including rollovers) |
Credited interest, change in value, and interest on participant loans, added together | Line 8b, Other income (loss) |
Distributions | Line 8d, Benefits paid |
Transfers in minus transfers out | Line 8j, Transfers to (from) the plan |
Participant loans at year end | Line 10g, the participant loans amount |
Schedule H (plans filing the full Form 5500)
What autofill fills | Where it goes |
Participant loans at the beginning and end of the year | Line 1c(8), Participant loans |
Employer contributions | Line 2a(1)(A), Employers |
Participant contributions | Line 2a(1)(B), Participants |
Rollovers | Line 2a(1)(C), Others (including rollovers) |
Interest on participant loans | Line 2b(1)(E), Participant loans |
Credited interest and change in value, added together | Line 2b(5)(B), Unrealized appreciation, Other |
Distributions | Line 2e(1), Directly to participants or beneficiaries |
Transfers in | Line 2l(1), Transfers of assets to this plan |
Transfers out | Line 2l(2), Transfers of assets from this plan |
Schedule I (small plans filing the full Form 5500)
What autofill fills | Where it goes |
Plan assets at the beginning and end of the year | Line 1a, Total plan assets |
Employer contributions | Line 2a(1), Employers |
Participant contributions | Line 2a(2), Participants |
Rollovers | Line 2a(3), Others (including rollovers) |
Credited interest, change in value, and interest on participant loans, added together | Line 2c, Other income |
Distributions | Line 2e, Benefits paid |
Transfers in minus transfers out | Line 2l, Transfers to (from) the plan |
Participant loans at year end | The participant loans amount (other than mortgages) |
Tip: On Schedule H, autofill puts all of the plan's earnings on line 2b(5)(B). If your record keeper breaks out dividends or realized gains, move those amounts to their own lines when you review.
What you still enter
Reconciliation knows what the plan holds and what moved in and out of participant accounts. Some boxes need information it doesn't have. You'll fill these yourself:
Liabilities. Reconciliation doesn't track what the plan owes. Enter liabilities, and CX calculates net assets.
Totals and roll-ups. Total income, total expenses, net income, and net assets are calculated from the lines above them.
Administrative expenses. The forms split fees into service-provider fees and other expenses (and Schedule H splits them further). Which line a fee belongs on is your call.
Corrective distributions and deemed distributions of participant loans.
Schedule H balance sheet by investment type, and total assets on Schedule H. The record keeper's file doesn't break assets out by investment category.
Schedule H dividends, rents, and realized gains, and contributions receivable.
Schedule I noncash contributions, mortgage loans to participants, and the specific-assets questions.
Forfeitures. They show on the Trust Report but don't have a matching 5500 box.
The Form 5500 itself and the Form 5558. These have no money boxes for a reconciliation to fill.
Anything the reconciliation didn't report. For example, if the record keeper's file has no loan balance, the participant loans boxes stay empty.
Important: Reconciliation brings in participant accounts only. The plan's own forfeiture, expense, and unclaimed-property accounts are not included, so total plan assets can be a little lower than the record keeper's stated plan total. Compare total assets to the record keeper's plan-level statement before you file.
When autofill isn't available
The card always tells you why. Here's what each message means and what to do.
Message on the card | What it means | What to do |
"Confirm this reconciliation to offer its figures to the PY 2025 5500." | The plan year isn't locked yet. | Finish the reconciliation and click Confirm Reconciliation. |
"Confirmed, but a schedule's participant matches are still unconfirmed, so the figures aren't offered yet." | A schedule's matches need confirming again, often after a file was added or replaced. | On the Schedules tab, open the schedule marked Needs review or Re-confirm and confirm its matches. If the plan year is locked, unlock it first, then lock it again when you're done. |
"The PY 2025 filing is already submitted, so it can't be autofilled." (or "already accepted") | The return has been sent to the DOL. | Nothing to do. To change a filed return, start an amendment in Government Filings and autofill that. |
"More than one reconciliation exists for PY 2025, so the filing can't tell which to use. Support needs to resolve it." | Two reconciliations exist for the same plan year. | Contact support. |
"The PY 2025 filing can't see this reconciliation yet. Refresh, or check the filing's plan and year." | The filing and the reconciliation don't line up. | Click Refresh. If it stays, check that the filing is for the same plan and plan year. |
"Couldn't check what the filing can take right now. Try Refresh." | CX couldn't reach Government Filings. | Click Refresh in a moment. |
"This filing's forms don't take reconciled figures." | The filing's form type has no boxes for these figures. The Autofill 5500 figures button is hidden. | Fill the filing by hand, or check that you picked the right filing. |
"You have read-only access, so you can't run autofill." | Your role can view but not change Retirement data. | Ask a teammate with write access, or ask your admin to update your access. |
"Filing status could not be checked" | CX couldn't load the plan's filings. | Click Open Filings to go to Government Filings directly, or try again later. |
If autofill starts but fails partway, you'll see: "The 5500 could not be autofilled. Some forms may already be filled: open the filing to check, then try again." Open the filing, check which boxes filled, and click Autofill 5500 figures again. Boxes that filled the first time are kept.
If you unlock afterward
Unlocking a reconciliation stops the 5500 from offering its figures until you lock again. It does not clear boxes that were already filled on the filing. Those values stay.
If you change figures while the plan year is unlocked:
Make your changes and lock the plan year again.
Open the filing and clear the boxes you want refreshed.
Come back to the reconciliation and click Autofill 5500 figures. The cleared boxes fill with the new figures.
Tip: Autofill doesn't validate the filing. After you autofill, open the filing and click Validate before you collect signatures.
Related articles
Confirming and Locking a Reconciliation
Trust Report, Balance Sheet, and Exporting a Reconciliation
Cash vs Accrual and Accrual Rules
Asset Reconciliation Troubleshooting and FAQ
Government Filings Overview
Filing a Form 5500 in Stax.ai CX