New Form 5500 Rules May Remove the Annual Audit Requirement

Starting with the 2023 Form 5500, new rules may permit benefit plan sponsors to forego the annual plan audit.

This on-demand webinar will cover the requirements for having an annual plan audit — including the recent changes to participant counting rules — and provide recommendations to plan sponsors on successfully removing balances for separated participants to potentially remove the audit requirement in the future.

For plan sponsors able to remove the audit requirement, this webinar will provide leading practices to self-review their plan’s operations and mitigate conditions that could lead to future noncompliance.

For plan sponsors able to forego the annual audit, but who want some degree of third-party oversight an audit typically provides, an option to engage professionals in a more focused and cost-effective manner will be discussed.

At the end of this video, you will be able to:

• Recall the new Form 5500 rules governing the counting of participants and the annual audit requirement
• Recall leading practices for plan housekeeping, specifically distribution of accounts related to separated participants
• Identify how to develop a more robust self-review process for plan operations to prevent and/or detect areas of potential noncompliance to avoid costly corrections
• Recognize what options are available to have a second pair of eyes reviewing the plan, without the cost and burden of an annual audit

Who should watch

This session is designed for plan sponsors, business owners, HR professionals, finance professionals, and employee benefits managers.