Art of the Qualified Plan Audit

Posted by Chris Ciminera I think back to the cell phone commercial with the Verizon spokesman with his black glasses and hand to his head as a parallel for retirement plan communications. Creating a plan or changing provisions without employees knowing about it doesn’t create good “coverage” for plan sponsors. In fact, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act … Continued

Posted by Saaib Uppal and Stacey Snyder Disclaimer: All blog posts are valid as of the date published. As the common adage goes, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” With discussions across the country focusing on the discrepancies in wealth, we thought now is a better time than ever to remind … Continued

Posted by Michael E. Mast, CPA The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 412 requires plans to obtain an ERISA bond equal to the greater of $1,000 or 10% of the plan’s beginning of year plan assets, with a $500,000 maximum. In addition, if the plan assets include employer stock, then the maximum bond … Continued

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Since the Department of Labor’s final 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5) fee disclosure regulations were issued, industry experts across all fields have been wanting to know what will be the extent of the auditors’ duty to obtain verification for each plan’s compliance with these new rules. On Thursday, April 12, 2012, … Continued

Posted by Saaib Uppal Don’t you love those days when you wake up before your alarm clock only to see you can go back to sleep for another hour, or when your boss decides to push a deadline back on a project, or the moment you found out that the employee benefit plan you administer requires a limited scope … Continued

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Disclaimer: All blog posts are valid as of the date published. As stated in our previous blog It Takes a Village, plan sponsors use many specialized service providers to successfully administer and account for all the financial activity in their plans. Independent third-party specialists can include payroll companies, third … Continued

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA On Thursday, April 12 2012, Raymond James and Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business will be presenting a continuing education event for professionals involved with corporate retirement plans. Representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor will make a keynote presentation on the final 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5) fee disclosure regulations and … Continued

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA As published in the CPA Success article titled Employee Benefit Plan Audits Still Don’t Make the Grade, the Department of Labor’s Chief Accountant Ian Dingwall has stated that plan audits continue to show a 30 percent deficiency rate. Specifically, he enumerated problems including lack of documentation, inadequate testing of hard-to-value … Continued

Posted by Chris Ciminera Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Another certainty that comes to mind is change, specifically, changes to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards. Every year, accountants’ inboxes are inundated with various Accounting Standards Updates (or ASUs for … Continued

Posted by Saaib Uppal We often speak of and promote a diversity of opinion. It is, after all, what leads to creativity and imaginative thinking. Take the following rule as an example: “Funds have to be deposited as ‘of the earliest date on which such contributions can reasonably be segregated from the employer’s general assets.’” … Continued