November 6, 2018 – In response to a request from the Chief Accountant of the Department of Labor, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board (ASB) began a project in 2015 to consider how employee benefit plan auditors’ reports could be strengthened.

As a result of this project, the ASB released a proposed standard for reporting on audits of employee benefit plans in April 2017. The ASB received comment letters and made revisions to the proposed standard and are expected to finalize it soon.  One revision to the final standard eliminates the requirement that auditors include in their reports compliance findings from the audit.  This issue was consistently disputed in comment letters over concerns of making these findings public through the Form 5500 filing.  It was determined that any reportable findings would be communicated, in writing, to management and those charged with governance.  The final audit standard will also include revisions to the limited scope audit opinion where the plan administrator obtains a certification from a qualified institution that the investment information is complete and accurate and that investment information is excluded from the scope of the audit.  The proposed standard is aimed at improving consistency and quality over auditing employee benefit plans.

This article is an excerpt from Dopkins Employee Benefits Newsletter.  To read the complete content, please click here.

For more information, please contact Jim Krupinski at jkrupinski@dopkins.com.

About the Author

James A. Krupinski CPA

Jim has 25 years of experience providing audit and consulting services to clients from a diverse range of industries. In addition to his many audit management responsibilities, he currently serves as the leader of the Firm's risk management services group. He has assisted his clients with performing risk assessments, evaluating and improving internal controls, developing fraud prevention programs and complying with the requirements of Sarbanes Oxley's assessment of internal controls over financial reporting requirements.