How Much Do Employee Benefits Partners Earn?
By Brent Huling, independent agent · Last updated: October 20, 2026
In the SIMERP partner program, partners earn $15 per enrolled employee, per month in recurring residual income. One 100-employee client pays $1,500 a month ($18,000 a year); one 500-employee client pays $7,500 a month ($90,000 a year); and ten average clients total roughly $180,000 a year. There is no cost to join and no setup fee — the income is a flat $15 for every enrolled life, every month the client stays on the program.
What determines how much a benefits partner earns?
Three things, and only three: how many employer clients you introduce, how many full-time employees those clients average, and what share of them adopt the program. The math never changes — enrolled lives × $15 a month — so a partner’s income is just their book, multiplied out.
A broker with 20 business clients averaging 25 employees each, who gets 70% of them to adopt, is looking at 350 enrolled lives: $5,250 a month, $63,000 a year. The same math is why the program rewards the advisors with the biggest existing books — the relationships are the asset, and they’re already built. You can run your own combination in the partner revenue calculator.
How does partner income here compare to one-time commissions?
Most products an advisor sells pay once, at the sale. Residual income pays every month for as long as the client stays on the program, on 12-month client contracts. The practical difference is compounding: every client you add stacks on top of the income from the clients already on the program, instead of resetting you to zero at the start of each month.
Where does the money come from?
From the savings the program creates. SIMERP is a benefits program built on Sections 125 and 105 of the tax code that recovers roughly $640 per eligible employee per year in employer payroll taxes. That employer savings is what funds the program — which is why it costs the client nothing out of pocket, and why the partner’s $15 a life doesn’t come out of the client’s pocket either. How the underlying structure works is covered in what a Section 125 partner program is.
What does a partner have to do to earn it?
Make the introduction, and stay the client’s trusted advisor. The back end handles the sales presentation, the Section 125 documentation and paperwork, employee enrollment, ongoing administration, and client support. Partners don’t implement or service the program. The dedicated pages walk through the role for insurance brokers adding SIMERP to their portfolio and CPAs introducing SIMERP to their clients.
Frequently asked questions
Do benefits partners get paid monthly or annually?
Monthly. The $15 per enrolled employee is paid every month for as long as the client stays on the program, on 12-month client contracts.
What happens to my income if a client leaves the program?
Payments for that client end when the client leaves. Payments from your other clients continue — which is why partners build a book of clients rather than depending on one.
Does it cost anything to become a partner?
No. There is zero cost to join and zero cost to your clients — no setup fees. The program is funded by the payroll tax savings it creates for the employer.
How many clients does a partner need to reach six figures?
At the program’s standard math, roughly six average clients — about 560 enrolled employees at $15 per life per month — clears $100,000 a year. Ten average clients is roughly $180,000 a year.
Run your own numbers
Put in your client count and average client size — the calculator does the $15-a-life math for you.
Open the Partner Revenue Calculator