Does Your Company Require an Employee Benefit Plan Audit? Generally, if your organization's retirement/benefit (pension or 401k) plan has 100 or more eligible participants, it is required to have an audit under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).  In 1974, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was passed to provide minimum standards of vesting, funding and various other standards, for pension and welfare plans.  The Act also established record keeping and financial reporting responsibilities and requirements, and mandated that certain plans obtain an annual audit of their financial statements. According to the U.S. Department of Labor,  a quality audit is important because it:   1.  Helps protect the assets and financial integrity of your employee benefit plan 2.  Assists you in meeting your legal responsibility 3.  Helps you to avoid penalties for an incomplete, inadequate or untimely audit report The choice of an auditor is important because an employee benefit plan audit requires some unique tests.  To ensure a quality audit, the auditor needs to consider the following questions: n Are the plan assets fairly valued? n Are plan obligations properly stated and described? n Were plan contributions timely received? n Were benefit payments made in accordance with plan terms? n Were participant accounts fairly stated? n Are there identified issues that may affect the plan's tax status?

Our firm specializes in auditing retirement/benefit plans that will maintain your compliance with the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor.  As an active member of AICPA's Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, we adhere to training and quality standards in the areas of pension audits, giving us the advantage of specialized knowledge and skills not always available in nonmember firms.

Bob leads our Firm's Employee Retirement Plan Audit Services Group and our Not-for-Profit Service Group.  He has over thirty years experience in providing audit, accounting and consulting services to privately owned businesses and organizations in the construction, manufacturing, distribution, not-for-profit, service and wholesale industries.