Recently, the Department of Labor released a notice related to changes to the Form 5500 for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. One of these changes is a change in the participant-counting methodology. Per the DOL Fact Sheet regarding this change, “The counting methodology for defined contribution retirement plans will be based […]
As the plan sponsor, it is your responsibility to oversee the plan operations and ensure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and plan provisions. However, sometimes a breakdown in controls can occur and cause the Plan to not operate in accordance with your plan documents. If your team finds yourself in this situation, you may […]
The following are situations to consider and some helpful items your team can pull together prior to the plan audit: Were there any changes to the Plan or the Company during the year that should be communicated to your independent auditor, such as a payroll conversion or custodian transfer? Were there any issues your team […]
Cybersecurity threats are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. In our everyday lives, we are seeing, hearing, or experiencing these threats across many platforms. Threats to retirement plans are no exception. To help participants address the risk and potential cybersecurity threats to their retirement plan accounts, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”), released guidance for […]
As retirement plans change to operate less in a paper environment and more in an electronic environment, this changes the risks for fiduciaries and plan management to consider. With this change to a more online presence of sensitive participant data, fiduciaries and plan management must consider controls to safeguard the retirement plan and the personally […]
Cybersecurity is continuing to be a growing focus in many industries. With this continued focus, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) released initial guidance to assist parties-in-interest to retirement plans to help safeguard the retirement plans from potential cybersecurity threats. EBSA produced 3 different publications related to this guidance, with the first topic being “Tips for […]
There were updates to the Form 5500 Schedule H, for the 2020 plan year with the anticipation of the implementation of SAS 136, including updates to the Accountant’s opinion section. There has not been guidance issued related to how to complete this section for firms not early adopting SAS 136. However, during the 2021 AICPA […]
During the Summer of 2019, the AICPA issued a new standard that is effective for periods ending on or after December 15, 2021. Within this standard, are changes to audit requirements, engagement acceptance procedures, and communications related to findings. Management responsibilities are also more explicitly defined and include, but are not limited to maintaining plan […]
During 2018, FASB issued accounting standard update 2018-13 that is effective for plan years beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. This update relates to fair value measurement and its purpose is to help improve the footnote disclosures for the users of the financial statements. The changes prescribed in this update most likely […]
Being a plan sponsor comes with a responsibility to fulfill certain fiduciary responsibilities when administering their retirement plan(s). Although some of these may be outsourced through a 3(16), 3(21) or 3(38) relationship with a service provider, this does not fully free the plan sponsor from meeting their fiduciary responsibilities. When services are outsourced, the plan […]
