Avoid Unwanted Surprises With Quality Benefit Plan Audits
The U.S. Department of Labor conducted a 2015 study of the quality of Employee Benefit Plan (EBP) Audits for the 2011 filing year. They looked at who audits EBPs, the size of CPA firms performing them, the proportion of each CPA practice devoted to them and the overall quality of audits performed. In doing so, they found that 61% of the audits performed were in line with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS). However, 39% of the audits contained major deficiencies which could jeopardize plan qualification and result in rejection of Form 5500.