Retirement Plan Audits

Does Your Plan Have Over 100 Eligible Participants?

The Requirement. Generally, audited financial statements are required to be filed by Plan Sponsors with Form 5500 for employee benefit retirement plans with 100 or more eligible participants as of the beginning of the plan year.

Failure To Comply. Penalties of up to $50,000 can be assessed against a Plan Sponsor for failure to comply with this regulatory obligation, and/or if your filing is rejected by the Department of Labor, and/or if the audit fails to meet either the professional standards for filing or the reporting and disclosure requirements of ERISA.

Fiduciary Responsibility. Just because your CPA is an auditor does not mean that they should audit retirement plans. This is a common misconception that you must address in the hiring of your plan's auditor. The auditing of Retirement Plans is an industry specific specialty. It is your fiduciary responsibility as the Plan Sponsor to know the qualifications of the auditor of your retirement plan. With what seems to be ever increasing requirements and never ending changes in the rules and requirements provided by the IRS and DOL, insuring that you hire the right audit provider for your plan, with the industry specific skills, knowledge and experience, cannot be stressed too strongly.

A Referral. RPA does not provide Plan Audits as a service to its clients. This area of Retirement Plan support is so specialized that we believe that a Plan Sponsor should only hire a third party auditor with the depth of experience and reputation that assures the Plan Sponsor that they are in the best of hands in this important work. If the number of eligible participants in your Plan requires that you file audited financial statements with your Form 5500, we suggest that you speak with and interview a Plan Auditing firm like Michael S. Edelen, PC.

A Professional Retirement Plan Auditor. The firm of Michael S. Edelen, PC is a Certified Public Accounting Firm with a practice limited to and that specializes exclusively in, the audit of Retirement Plans across America. That's all they do, and what they do, we believe they do well. Whether your plan is large or small, the firm of Michael S. Edelen, PC can provide you and your plan with the audit services that you need to meet your compliance requirements and assist you in managing your fiduciary responsibilities, while limiting you fiduciary liabilities.

You can reach Mr. Edelen toll free at 1.887.302.5200 or 1.602.242.5200, or visit their website at www.msepc.com.