EPCRS: Participant Loan Corrections
As mentioned in my previous blog, EPCRS: How to Correct Improper Exclusions of Employees from a 401(k) Plan, the IRS implemented and recently revised the Employer Plan Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS),
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Department of Labor Emphasizes the Importance of Selecting a Quality Auditor
The Department of Labor just sent a letter to plan administrators emphasizing the importance of selecting a quality auditor.
Never Too Early for New Year’s Resolutions
Every year, right around December 31st (and closer to January 1!), we sit down and start to draft up resolutions for the upcoming new year. Whether it’s aiming for a healthier life style, setting aside for targets at work, or perhaps being more fiscally responsible, it’s important to not only make these goals, but to have a plan in place for accomplishing them as well.
Case Closed! Re-Audit of Rejected 5500 Filings Accepted
In May 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) published the results of its assessment of the quality of retirement plan audits.
AU Section 315 – Communications Between Predecessor and Successor Auditors
When an auditor is considering accepting an engagement to audit financial statements and/or after a new auditor has been engaged to audit financial statements that have been audited by another firm in previous years,
Auditors’ Tests of Beginning Balances When a Small Plan Becomes a Large Plan
Contrary to popular belief, the audit procedures for a first-time audit of a previously small plan are not limited to the retirement plan’s financial activity for the year under audit.
Push it to the Limit (for 2015!)
Corbin Blue may not have been targeting plan participants as his audience when he told us to “push it the limit”, but what would those limits be if he was? Well we know what they are for 2015 thanks to a recent IRS announcement.
The Basics of Partial Plan Terminations
When employer-initiated personnel reductions occur and it reduces the number of plan participants by 20% or more, a partial termination of a qualified plan is deemed to have occurred.
Advanced Limited Scope Audit Issues
Plans that obtain a valid limited scope certification for the completeness and accuracy of investment information from a regulated financial institution such as a bank, trust company, or insurance company, can instruct their auditors to exclude investment information from the scope of their audit.
Explaining Discrimination Test Refunds to HCEs
Financial advisors on TV and financial publications in reputable papers and magazines consistently encourage people who participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan to contribute as much as possible. In many cases…