The 411 on Employee Benefit Plans

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 [...]

Some people think that 401k plans have little exposure to fraudulent activity.  The truth is, whenever there is an incentive, the opportunity, and the rationalization to commit fraud, then fraud should definitely be considered by your Company.
The following risks, and mitigating recommendations, will be helpful to the following persons (but not limited to1):
• Director (s) of 401K [...]

An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a qualified retirement plan that invests primarily in employer stock.  Let’s look at a few of the pros and cons of an ESOP.
Pros

Contributions to an ESOP are expenses for the contributing corporation for tax purposes.
ESOP companies are less likely to be disposed of by sale, merger or liquidation.
Employee [...]

Most the answers can be found in archived blogs on this site – “the 411 on Employee Benefit Plans” Don’t have time to read through them? Post a question and we will be happy to help. 
1. What happens to my account when my Employer sponsored 401(k) Plan incurs a partial plan termination?
a) Your employer has terminated [...]

When one receives a third party administrator’s SAS 70 report, there are a few things he or she should know about the information that is being provided to them in order to gain the maximum benefit from reviewing the report.
There are two types of service auditor’s reports. The two types of reports provided in a [...]

One widely recognized auditing standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70). It is important for Plan Fiduciaries to understand what an auditor’s examination performed in accordance with SAS 70 is, and how it can help the fiduciary to perform the duties [...]

If you have read any of our blogs, you will notice that we offer extensive advice on what your responsibilities are as a Plan Sponsor. We also discuss what you need to know when selecting a TPA, and how to monitor that TPA’s performance. If you have not read our other posts, please do so [...]

Oftentimes during a 401(k) plan audit, the employer will respond to various questions about their plan with the answer “Our TPA handles all of that for us.” Indeed it is very common for plan sponsors to hire third-party administrators (TPAs) to manage some of the plan’s day-to-day operations. While there is much to be gained [...]

The act of hiring a third party administrator (“TPA”) is one of the responsibilities of a Plan Sponsor. One of the first steps in this hiring process is to sit down with your Plan Committee and determine what exactly your needs are in a TPA. Does your Company have specific situations that will need to [...]