DOL Releases Audit Quality Study

Friday, May, 29, 2015 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, News and Press Releases, Retirement - 401(k), 403(b)
As we had previously reported, the Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA), Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has recently completed an assessment of the quality of audit work performed by independent qualified public accountants (IQPAs) with respect to financial statement audits of employee benefit plans covered under the Employee Retirement

FASB issues ASU which Removes Requirement to Categorize Investments Utilizing the Practical Expedient within the Fair Value Hierarchy

Sunday, May, 03, 2015 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, News and Press Releases, Policy Updates
The FASB issued on May 1, 2014 Accounting Standards Update 2015-07, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820), Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share (or Its Equivalent). Read More

FASB Proposes Updates Aimed at Simplifying Accounting for Employee Benefit Plans

Monday, April, 27, 2015 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, Forms and Procedures, News and Press Releases
As expected, the FASB proposed three Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) aimed at simplifying accounting for employee benefit plans. According to the AICPA Journal of Accountancy, the updates were the result of consensuses of FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force. Read More

What is the Audit Requirement for Benefit Plans?

Wednesday, January, 21, 2015 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, Forms and Procedures, Retirement - 401(k), 403(b)
We get this question a lot. The instructions to the Form 5500 give the technical answer. However, below is a quick summary of those requirements. Every situation is unique and for 2023 Form 5500s, the DOL just updated the rules. Read More

PBGC Annual Report Shows Improvement in Single-Employer Program and Deterioration in Multiemployer Program

Tuesday, November, 18, 2014 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on November 17, 2014 released its Annual Report, which showed that PBGC’s deficit increased to about $62 billion in Fiscal Year 2014, largely due to the declining condition of a few multiemployer plans. Read More

Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 To Expand Pension Funding Relief

Friday, August, 08, 2014 / Published in Employee Benefit Plans, News and Press Releases
Congress has passed, and the President is expected to sign, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (the Act). Included in the Act is a revenue-raising provision which expands the use of 25-year smoothing for pension plan funding purposes. Read More