CPAs who provide consulting services in retirement planning take note: employers can now set up a 401(K) retirement plan on the Internet at ez401k.com.

Ez401k.com markets itself as an efficient and inexpensive alternative to traditional 401(k) planning. With the cost to set up a company retirement plan at $401, ez401k.com gives businesses a savings in fees of $1,500 or more. A watch on the ez401k.com home page lets an employer see exactly how long it takes them to design a plan and print out announcements for employees. Ez401k.com says this entire process should take less than five minutes when using the site.

A self-serve function is also available for plan participants who can use the site to invest money in as many as 50 mutual funds, track their accounts, trade investments and download enrollment forms.

Robert Steinhorn, founder and president of ez401k.com, says ez401k is most attractive to small- and medium-sized companies with up to 200 employees. At one time, Steinhorn was a consulting actuary with Kwasha Lipton, Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse, now all a part of PricewaterhouseCoopers.