How to Prepare for Your Benefit Plan Audit

In the latest Whittlesey Minute, Kate Donovan discusses four ways to better prepare for your benefit plan audit.

Reach Out

The first item we recommend is that you reach out to your third-party advisors, which includes your trustees, custodians, and actuaries if it's a defined benefit plan.

Review

The second item we recommend is that you review all your plan documents and amendments. That's what the audit is based on. And one of the areas of concern that a lot of plans have is what the definition of compensation is. So if you look at that up front, it makes life a lot easier.

Find Your Fiduciaries

The third item is that we recommend that you find out who your fiduciaries are, and make sure you review those fiduciary responsibilities.

Encourage Employees to Review Their Account

The last item is we recommend that your employees look at their personal data online, their investment elections, and their investment allocations.