401(k) Employee Benefit Plan Audits

The auditing of these plans is very specialized. The guidance and knowledge that we provide is critical to plan sponsors, given the amount of fiduciary responsibility involved.

401(k) Employee Benefit Plan audits have increasingly become the subject of scrutiny by the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The auditing of these plans is very specialized and the guidance and knowledge that G.R. Reid Associates, LLP provides is critical to plan sponsors, given the considerable amount of fiduciary responsibility involved.

While many small plans with less than one hundred participants are not required to have audited financial statements, 401(k) plans with an excess of one hundred active participants at the beginning of any plan year must engage an independent auditor for that year. The definition of an active participant for 401(k) plans includes employees who are eligible to participate in the plan, regardless of whether or not they elect to contribute. If your plan has more than one hundred active participants, an audit report signed by an independent certified public accountant and financial statements for the plan must accompany the annual filing of Form 5500 (Annual Return / Report of Employee Benefit Plans). There are mandatory supplemental schedules and very specific reporting requirements imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the DOL and generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). These unique requirements make the area of 401(k) audits very complex and place them outside of standard accounting and auditing services.

Our employee benefit plan audit team is trained to perform 401(k) audits. With decades of experience in accounting and auditing employee benefit plans for a broad client base, the team is experienced in dealing with the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) officials at the Department of Labor and attends seminars sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Employment Benefit Audit Quality Center, including those jointly sponsored by the Department of Labor.

G.R. Reid Associates, LLP works with an established network of pension attorneys to address all plan prohibited transactions, plan amendments, plan mergers, terminations, etc.