Employee Benefit Plan Audits

Providing meaningful suggestions at the conclusion of the audit engagement

The Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) generally requires employee benefit plans with 100 or more eligible participants (even if they have elected to not participate in the plan) to have an independent financial statement audit as part of the plan sponsor’s obligation to file Form 5500.

Our employee benefit plan auditors ensure clients’ audits meets the Department of Labor (DOL) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) audit requirements. Our team is committed to providing meaningful suggestions at the conclusion of the audit engagement.

Employee Benefit Plan Checkup Service

Though an employee benefit plan audit is only required for companies with over 100 eligible plan participants, we understand smaller plans may want an assessment. Our Small Plan Checkup service identifies and corrects plan compliance issues before they become regulatory issues.

• Employee Stock Ownership Plans
• Health and welfare
• 401(k) plans
• 403(b) plans
• Money purchase plans
• Multi-employer plans
• Pension plans
• Profit sharing plans
• Taft-Hartley plans
• Union plans

We have been a member of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center since 2004; proud to have been one of the first Ohio firms to join. Additionally, our team frequently attends training provided by AICPA to stay up to date with new trends, procedures, and regulatory requirements.

ace your next audit

Answering yes or no to these questions will help you better prepare for an employee benefit plan audit. This is not a comprehensive list, but rather a reminder of common areas which are often overlooked.

1. Have all employees who are eligible per the plan document been given the opportunity to participate in the plan?
2. If your plan has an automatic enrollment feature, have newly eligible employees been automatically enrolled at the date of eligibility per the plan document (if they have not chosen to opt out)?
3. Have all required communications been sent to all participants in the plan (both current and terminated employees)?
4. Have employee deferral changes been reflected in payroll in accordance with the plan document?
5. Have you read and understood your responsibilities according to the signed agreements and amendments with your service providers?
6. If a participant has taken a hardship distribution, have you stopped his or her deferrals for six months?
7. Are you following the definition of eligible wages per your plan document when calculating employee deferrals?
8. Are you remitting employee deferrals and/or loan repayments to the plan as soon as administratively feasible and in a consistent time frame period to period?
9. Have you obtained and maintained a file of the proper documents to approve a loan or distribution?
10. Do total wages per your census reconcile to the year-to-date payroll report?
11. Are you properly determining who is and who is not eligible to participate, according to the plan document?
12. Do total employee deferrals and loan repayment amounts withheld from employees’ pay, per payroll reports, equal employee contributions and loan repayments per the trust statement?