401(k) and 403(b) Plan Audits

401(k) Plan full-scope and limited audits, 403(b) Plan audits and Health & Welfare Plan audits

Retirement plan audits are required by the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service for companies with 401(k) plans where the company employs over 100 employees.  403(b) plans are the equivalent of 401(k) plans, but used by non-profit entities.  The plan audit must accompany the annual filing of the company's form 5500 with the Internal Revenue Service each summer.

The Department of Labor requires that all retirement plan audits be completed by CPA firms that are certified to perform these audits by the CPA firm's Peer Review report.  Our report is found at the end of the About Us page.  Our firm is a member of the AICPA Employee Benefit Audit Quality Center (EBAQC).  We recommend that you verify that your CPA firm is licensed/certified to perform these audits by reviewing their Peer Review report and verifying they are members of the AICPA EBAQC.  https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/employeebenefitplanauditquality/membership/find-a-member-firm.html

This compliance audit should be viewed as a commodity as each CPA auditor must follow the same procedures as all CPA's performing these audits.  Our efficiency and experience in performing ERSIA audits affords us the ability for our fee for 401(k) audits to be 15-20% less than your prior CPA audit fee for the prior year.  Our low turnover of staff and experience in this specialized audit area assist us in making the 401(k) audit process as less intrusive and painless as possible.

We recognize that very few CPA firms have the experience and certifications to perform these audits.  Our managing Partner is one of only 9 CPA's in Georgia licensed to audit other 401k auditors for compliance and quality as a peer reviewer.  If your company is not interested in changing CPA firms for all business/tax/audit services, but your current CPA firm does not provide this audit service we will agree in writing to work in conjunction with your current CPA firm performing these other business/tax/audit services.

The cost of our 401(k) audit is significantly less than the cost charged by other CPA firms.  There are several reasons we can provide better service than other firms at less cost:

• Specialization - We specialize in 401(k) audit plans and know what needs to be done and what does not need to be done.
• Efficiency - We perform our audits efficiently and promptly.  Time savings equals cost savings.
• Experienced Personnel - We have very limited turnover and the same persons will perform your 401(k) audit on an annual basis.
• Training - Our CPA's have earned the Advanced Defined Contributions Plans Auditor designation from the Amercian Institute of CPA's and from the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) demonstrating their specialized knowledge in Retirement Plans.
• Peer Review - Jeff Forrestall is one of only nine CPA's in Georgia who can perform Peer Reviews of other CPA firm's 401k Audits.  A licensed Peer Reviewer audits the audits performed by other CPA firms to ensure they are following the standards and quality required. 
• Overhead - Our overhead structure is significantly different from the overhead required by other firms.  This savings is passed along to our customers.