Art of the Qualified Plan Audit

Pre-tax contributions to a 401(k) or 403(b) plan are not taxed when made to the plan but are taxed when the participant receives a distribution of the contributions.

When it comes to IRS audits, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as Benjamin Franklin so wisely put it.

There is a popular philosophical question that asks if a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

As a plan sponsor, you may know that, generally, if your plan covers 100 employees or more, your plan is considered a large plan and requires audited financial statements to be attached to the 5500 filing.

As auditors, we are required to review the controls in place at a plan sponsor of a retirement plan and its service providers to assess the risk of material misstatement resulting from control risk. In doing so, we constantly evaluate the adequacy of the control structure and recommend improvements to strengthen the processes to prevent errors.

Discrimination. It’s a concept that most people don’t associate with retirement plan savings.

The use of the wrong definition of compensation is the most common error found in employee benefit plan audits, and it can be a very costly mistake to correct in accordance with the provisions of the IRS’ Employee Plan Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).

We often ask the question, “How does our 401(k) plan stack up?”

Plan administrators probably view the management representation letter as a document they must sign so they likely do so without reading it closely.

Along with the presidential election on Tuesday, November 8, another election that participants should have on their mind is the deferral for their retirement plan.