Our exclusive focus on ERISA audits enables us to bring deep regulatory knowledge and years of specialized experience to your audit.
A Streamlined Audit Process
With our collaborative practice management application, all aspects of your audit — from communications to file sharing — are centralized for a faster, smoother, more organized experience.
Minimal Disruption to Your Team
Our streamlined audit process and ability to work directly with your service providers reduces the workload on your internal staff, so you can focus on what matters most — running your business.
National Recognition
As one of the largest employee benefit plan audit firms in the country, we’ve earned the trust of small businesses and Fortune 1000 companies alike.
HOW IT WORKS
With a process refined over multiple decades and thousands of employee benefit plan audits, we know how to keep things running smoothly.
Here’s what you can expect during each step of your audit.
Step 1
Planning Call
Before getting started, we’ll schedule time to talk about your plan. If you’re a new client, we’ll dive deep into the details. If you’ve partnered with us before, there’s no need to start from scratch — we focus our time on what’s changed since we last connected.
Step 2
We Get to Work
Once we have the information we need, we get started on your audit — keeping you updated through Atlas, our centralized, practice management collaborative application. With Atlas, you can securely share documentation and files with our team, communicate with us throughout your audit and track its progress 24/7.
Step 3
Results
Once your audit is complete, we provide you with an audit report on the plan’s financial statements and a communications with governance letter, which goes over the results of the audit and details our findings. At the client’s request, we typically assist in drafting the financial statements and related footnotes as part of the audit process.
Step 4
Wrap-up Call
Finally, we’ll meet with you again to discuss the results of your audit and answer any questions you have, whether it’s a discussion with your team or a more formal presentation to a committee.
Do I need an audit for my employee benefit plan?
Different rules apply depending on whether your plan is classified as a “small” plan or a “large” plan. These designations are dictated by participant count which is determined differently for different types of plans. Generally, a small plan must file Schedule I with its Form 5500 Annual Report, which does not require an audit report. A large plan must file Schedule H with its Form 5500 Annual Report, which requires the attachment of an auditor’s report. In other words, if your plan qualifies as a large plan, it necessitates an audit.
I made an error, can you help me fix it?
As an independent firm, we are unable to directly help with fixing mistakes. However, if you notice a compliance issue we can help point you in the right direction for assistance. Some common issues we identify include incorrect employee and/or employer contributions caused by using compensation that is inconsistent with the definition of compensation outlined in the plan document, delinquent participant contributions, and failure to follow plan terms.
When is my audit due?
The audit must be completed in time for the resulting report to be attached to Form 5500, which means it is subject to 5500 filing deadlines. The 5500 is due seven months after the last day of the plan year and may be extended for an additional 2 1/2 months. For a calendar year-end audit, the due date would be July 31st or October 15th if an extension is filed.
Contact Us
Ready for an Effective, Efficient Audit?
With thousands of employee benefit plan audits completed each year, our team understands the details that matter and has the experience to deliver audit results you can trust — on time and without surprises.
Get in touch with us today to begin the conversation.
