Even before Cody opened the doors of his IT management company, he knew he wanted to take great care of his team — both in the short term and the long term. “I’ve always wanted to be able to offer the best benefits available. I wanted our team to have Google-style benefits. I think benefits like paid time off and health insurance support the team today, and something like 401(k) takes care of my team over the long term — and I want us to still be a team over the long term.”

Cody had the vision. But he didn’t have unlimited time each day to spend on benefits administration — or unlimited cash. So he did what a savvy business owner would do, he sought advice from experts and began plotting milestones in the company’s benefits journey. His first stop? Gusto.

With Gusto, it was easy for him to rig up an unlimited PTO plan and enroll in health insurance. Once those benefits were rolled out, he went straight to his CPA to see if his business could afford to offer a 401(k) too. “I am honestly still shocked at how affordable 401(k)s can be. There is no reason not to offer one.” Now all Cody needed to do was find the right 401(k) provider.

“We started our 401(k) shopping process off by looking at a couple big name 401(k) companies — but they just felt old. Their technology and pricing felt old. And being a tech company, we can’t do old.”
Thankfully, he was introduced to Guideline — a modern, affordable, one-stop-shop that checked all of his 401(k) boxes including:

• A well-designed platform that’s easy for employees to use
• Safe Harbor 401(k) plans that help keep the company confidently compliant
• Hardship referral loans for employees
• Ability to offer profit sharing
• Low asset fees for employees — up to 7x lower than the industry average

The biggest win for Cody however, was Guideline’s robust, two-way integration with his payroll provider, Gusto. “Old school 401(k) providers get the payroll integration game wrong. They call it an integration, but you’re still uploading spreadsheets or entering data. Meanwhile, with Guideline, administering a 401(k) is almost completely hands-off. It’s a couple of clicks and you’re off and running.”

The other thing off and running? IZT Tech. Business is booming and Cody’s excited to be spinning one of his department’s off into a separate company. He would then have two companies, each with a Guideline 401(k) — ensuring all of his employees get access to meaningful retirement benefits.

“The team is doing phenomenally well so I’m going to explore Guideline’s profit sharing options with this next startup. It’s also a relief to know Guideline can tackle keeping both of my businesses 401(k) compliant for me too.”

For Cody and his tech-forward team, Guideline helped build a key piece of their employee-first benefits program. “Guideline is the ideal option for us. It’s a feature rich 401(k), and the product is still easy-to-use. I don’t have to spend time figuring out weird fee structures. And I don’t have to moonlight as a 401(k) expert because Guideline gives me the guidance I need.”