Art of the Qualified Plan Audit

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Yes, the Audit Extends to Excluded 403(b) Employees: Testing Compliance with Universal Availability It’s never a good sign when an employer sponsoring a 403(b) plan says: “You don’t need to see backup for employees who are excluded from the plan.” Ohh! But we do! Not often, but sometimes, clients … Continued

Posted By: Maria Hurd, CPA Top Five Operational Errors of 403(b) Plans Oops! I did it again… No matter how hard we try, there are mistakes we are doomed to make again and again, even when we know the rules all too well. The reasons are valid, and they are countless: mindlessness, being in a … Continued

Posted by Maria T. Hurd, CPA Where have you worked, for how long, and how much have you contributed to the 403(b) plan? These are all the questions that make up the puzzle pieces necessary to compute each participant’s available 403(b) catch-up. Participants in a 403(b) plan can make an additional contribution once they have … 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

Posted By Maria Hurd, CPA The SECURE Act increased IRS Late Filing Penalties for Form 5500 by how much? How can I avoid them? IRS Penalties Tenfold. That’s how much the SECURE Act (the “Act”) increased the penalty for the late filing of a Form 5500 –TENFOLD! Before the Act, the IRS could assess a … Continued

Posted by Tyler Starr, CPA The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 19, Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, in December 2019. SSAE 19 supersedes SSAE 18 AT-C section 215 of the same name and also amends certain provisions of SSAE 18 section … Continued

Posted by Christopher J. Ciminera, CPA, QKA Update – April 29, 2020 On Wednesday, April 29, 2020 the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) also posted a Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01. In this notice, the EBSA provides relief to plan sponsors regarding the possibility of lags in deposits due to the recent COVID-19 issues which was … Continued

Posted by Christopher J. Ciminera, CPA, QKA A major change that comes with the passage of the SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act is a substantial increase in the penalty amounts imposed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a retirement plan’s failure to file a return. The increased penalty is part … Continued