The 411 on Employee Benefit Plans

Important Background
The reporting requirements for 401(k) benefit plans require that certain disclosures are included in the footnotes. This blog post will discuss one new disclosure “Managements Review of Subsequent Events”, which is effective for Plan Year Ends after June 15, 2009.
For Non-SEC filers – the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) requires that an entity recognize in [...]

You’ve read all the articles and DOL publications about how to choose a Third Party Administrator (TPA) (see Monitoring your TPA, Selecting a TPA, Duties of Plan Administration, and Fiduciary Responsibilities). You’ve done the research, and you feel like you’ve hired a competent company to administer your plan. And so you just go about your [...]

Audit fees for a 401k vary from firm to firm and are generally based on the size of the plan and the level of assistance the auditor receives from the plan administrator. Generally, the more work the auditor performs, the higher the audit fee.  As a plan administrator, you can manage the size of your [...]

If your plan allows for hardship distributions, as a Plan sponsor you are required to verify that proper evidence has been obtained which verifies the participant has immediate and necessary need for the distribution.
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has stated that certain expenses are considered immediate and necessary. These expenses include the following:
• Medical expenses,
• Purchases of [...]

Providing a 401(k) plan for company employees is a valuable benefit for them.  The benefit to the Company is hopefully that it attracts and retains valuable employees.  The cost to the Company on the surface might appear to just be fees paid to service providers who help administer the plan such as hold plan investments, [...]

Important Background
U.S. GAAP pronouncements and standards were codified into a single body of literature, and effectively superseded all prior pronouncements and standards.  Financial statements for periods ending after September 15, 2009 may not make reference to the prior standards.  Accordingly, FAS 157 was superseded by the codification, and for the purposes of this article FAS [...]

Considering the current state of the economy and the new and complex regulations, I was pleasantly surprised to read some interesting survey results that indicate the 403(b) retirement plan system appears to be healthier than ever.  The 2010 403(b) Plan Survey, conducted by the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America, indicate that plan sponsors are adjusting [...]

In order to ensure that employee benefit plans do not violate certain standards that the DOL/IRS believe are important, plans must be subjected to numerous compliance tests annually.  These tests are designed to ensure that the amount that employees are deferring is within certain maximum limits and that plans are not operating is a manner [...]

Many employers that participate in 401(k) plans do a very good job at keeping paperwork for participants who enroll in the plan. Where deficiencies occur is when the participant does not wish to participate in the plan but does not provide any additional paperwork showing they have declined enrollment.  It is important that the employer [...]

If you contributed to your 401k plan during a year and then received a refund for a portion of your contributions for that year, then chances are your Plan failed the annual IRS required compliance (discrimination) testing.
To be brief, the IRS required compliance testing is a test or series of tests (The types of tests [...]