Art of the Qualified Plan Audit

Money Talks: Price Sometimes Trumps Value Small retirement plans are exempt from the financial statement audit retirement for a reason: not because they don’t need the oversight or the help, but because audits are not practical, affordable, or cost-effective for them. In the real world, money talks. If small plans or their plan sponsors had … Continued

Retirement plan administration is not a costless endeavor. Plan sponsors must administer the retirement plan following plan provisions, legislative requirements, and participant elections. To help administer the plan, plan sponsors hire service providers to help with recordkeeping, custody of assets, investment advisor tracking, and auditing the plan. Regulatory authorities want to promote retirement readiness with … Continued

Plan sponsors, third-party administrators, and other Form 5500 preparers take note! DOL representatives indicated that in some instances Part III – Accountant’s Opinion, Line 3(a) and 3(b) of the Schedule H is being filled out incorrectly. Marcus Aron (Division of Accounting Services) and Scott Albert (Division of Reporting Compliance) indicated at the 2023 Joint TE/GE … Continued

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA Why Ask Why? Why should the rules that determine how and how much a person can save for retirement be different depending on whether the person works for a government entity, a nonprofit, or a for-profit employer? People are people, and their retirement needs are not different based on what … Continued

Posted By: Christopher Ciminera, CPA  On July 19, 2019, the AICPA Auditing Standards Board issued SAS 136 – Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA. This standard was a long time coming. The AICPA worked with the DOL and other interested parties to create a new standard … Continued

Posted by Chris Ciminera, CPA, QKA You (or your client) may have just found out that an audit is required for its retirement plan. Many questions may be running through your head such as Why must an audit be performed? What must be audited? Who performs audits? Who is required to have an audit? How … Continued

Is your auditor a Jack of all trades, but a master of none?

When I was a Teaching Assistant in College, group projects would inevitably result in complaints that some students were not pulling their weight.

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA, RPA What Do You Check to Indicate Your Client’s Auditor Performed a Limited Scope Audit On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!, Or Don’t Go….It’s Up to You! The AICPA postponed the mandatory effective date of the new audit standard, SAS 136, until next year, but the DOL had already updated … Continued

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA, RPA Growing up, my father always said this phrase when dealing with disagreements or differences of opinion: “En este mundo traidor, nada es verdad ni mentira, todo es segun el color, del cristal con que se mira,” which is a quote from Ramon de Campoamor meaning “In this deceitful world, … Continued