Art of the Qualified Plan Audit

In a previous blog, DOL Audit Quality Study: Employee Benefit Plan Auditors Are not Making the Grade, we discussed the results of the 2015 Audit Quality Study performed by the Department of Labor (DOL).

It may be counter-intuitive, but reducing the number of employees who are eligible to participate in a retirement plan could be the greater good in certain situations.

Posted by  Maria T. Hurd, CPA Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Let us consider what a name is. It is the grouping of letters that represent the identification of a person, object, or entity. However, the words may not be exactly representative … Continued

Every year, at least one retirement plan service provider tells us that a plan qualifies for a limited scope audit because their company has an SOC 1 report.

Type 1 SOC 1 reports provide plan auditors with an evaluation of the adequacy of the design and implementation of controls

In considering the completeness and accuracy of the benefit payment expense in Taft-Hartley health and welfare (H&W) plan financial statements, an auditor must consider what can go wrong.

When auditing claim payments, auditors must take into consideration whether:

BLS understands the importance that payroll audits play in the annual audit of Taft-Hartley plans’ financial statements.

The amount available under the 15-year catch-up provision is based on the number of years of service and the total contributions previously made.

Imagine that I am standing over a hunched plan administrator in a dark room with a single bright light shone on them screaming “did you take money from the plan?!?”