The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans.
ERISA requires plans to provide participants with plan information including important information about plan features and funding; establishes fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage and control plan assets; requires plans to establish a grievance and appeals process for participants to get benefits from their plans; and gives participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty.
Given the complexity of today's business environment, decision makers need to be certain that their retirement plan audits are meeting these regulatory requirements. Katz, Sapper & Miller use a team of CPAs who specialize in auditing employee benefit plans. The team works exclusively on defined contribution plans: 401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, and pension plans.
The team also receives extensive compliance training through our benefits administration practice and through our membership with various organizations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Indiana Certified Public Accountants Society (INCPAS).
Because of this specialization and training, the audit team understands the plans they are auditing and focuses on elements of the plans that are most important to conducting an effective audit.
Audits of employee benefit plans involve more than a financial audit of plan assets. They also require expertise to test whether the plan's operation complies with its document and with ERISA requirements. In many cases, audits of benefit plans do not meet certain Department of Labor (DOL) requirements for plan audits. With our focus and knowledge, plan sponsors can feel comfortable that we have the required expertise to perform an audit and report on the plan's operations.
Katz, Sapper & Miller's approach brings the following benefits to our clients:
- Delivery of high quality services at competitive costs
- Performance of an efficient audit that reduces client efforts required to assist with the audit
- Use of consistent and experienced staff on audit engagements
- Use of highly automated processes and systems to streamline the audit
- Timely delivery of reports
Katz, Sapper & Miller's ability to provide value beyond the benefit plan audit allows us to focus on building long-term relationships with our clients.