Employee Benefit Plans Conference 2020

This includes sessions from the conference: Employee Benefit Plans Conference 2020

Preview Available

Welcome Remarks & A&A and Tax Update

Identification: EBP2001

This session will provide an update of various accounting, auditing, and reporting matters affecting employee benefit plans. Our speakers will share their perspectives and experiences.

• Josie L. Hammond, CPA, National Director of Employee Benefit Plan Services, RSM US LLP
• Jeffrey A. Martin, CPA, Partner, Grant Thornton LLP

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SECURE and CARES Act Revisited

Identification: EBP2003

Are you ready? After 13 years without significant pension legislation, the SECURE Act was enacted at the end of 2019, and in March of 2020 followed by the CARES Act. We will frame the major changes and recent guidance issued and their impact on compliance, plan design and operation. Topics include: recent guidance for CARES Act distributions; what is new with key SECURE Act topics including multiple employer plans, inherited IRAs, long-term part time employees, life time income disclosure, 403(b) plan impact and other key areas. Get ready to GO!

• Lisa Germano, President and General Counsel, Actuarial Benefits & Design Company
• Cindy J. Dwyer, CPA, Director, CBIZ MHM LLC
• Avery E. Neumark, CPA, JD, LL.M., Partner, Marks Paneth LLP

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Advanced Investments

Identification: EBP2007

Does the plan hold complex investments? Whether a full scope audit or an ERISA 103 (a)(3)(c) audit is performed, the steps to ensure complex investments are properly valued and presented within the financial statements in accordance with appropriate accounting principles remain the same. This session is designed to assist plan administrators and plan auditors in fulfilling that responsibility.

• Jennifer Allen, CPA, Partner, Crowe LLP
• Peggy A. Bradley, BA, Senior Vice President | Client Business Solutions, Northern Trust

Preview Available

Basics of SOC 1 Reports for Use in EBP Audits

Identification: EBP2004

This course provides auditors with the basic knowledge necessary to effectively read and understand the components of a SOC 1 report. Topics addressed include: identifying common SOC 1 reports used in EBP engagements, professional standards auditors must satisfy when incorporating the use of SOC 1 reports into EBP audits and tips on recognizing issues commonly encountered.

*Attendees should consider attending the Advanced SOC 1 Matters for more advanced discussion on issues related to SOC 1's and how to address them.

• Theresa K. Banka, CPA, Partner, Plante & Moran, PLLC
• Darlene Bayardo, CPA, Director, BDO

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Don't Take A Gamble When Dealing with Major Plan Changes (Mergers, Spinoffs, Terminations)

Identification: EBP2009

Differentiate and understand the GAAP treatment, impact to financial reporting and related nuances for:
Mergers
Terminations
Trustee and recordkeeper changes and
Spinoffs

• Michelle H. Buckley, CPA, AIFA, Partner, Meaden & Moore, Ltd.
• Kathleen McLaughlin, Partner - National EBP Practice Leader, Grant Thornton

Preview Available

The Changing Landscape of Account-Based Health Plans

Identification: EBP2011

This session will cover changes to health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) that may lay the groundwork for an emerging shift from defined benefit to defined contribution in the health care space.  Specifically, we will discuss the new IRS, DOL, and HHS rules governing HRAs, effective for 2020 plan years, that allow these arrangements to be used more broadly and flexibly by employers.  We will identify compliance concerns expected to arise as these new arrangements are implemented.  We will also discuss changes to permissible high-deductible health plans associated with HSAs to understand how these arrangements are permitted to cover additional medical items without cost-sharing, and we will compare FSAs with other account-based arrangements.  Finally, we will consider what the future is for these account-based arrangements.

• Christa H. Bierma, Principal, Ernst & Young LLP
• Katy Johnson, Senior Counsel, Health Policy, American Benefits Council

Preview Available

Eligibility Rules; Ready Set Go

Identification: EBP2008

This session will focus on the general participation and eligibility rules including

• Measuring Years of Service
• Using elapsed time and how it’s different from counting actual hours
• Maximum eligibility rules
• Permitted safe harbor exclusions
• Exclusions that affect coverage rules
• Leased employees
• Applying the break in service rules
• Duel Eligibility features (impact on Top Heavy plans)

This session is a beginner session and for those who have a working knowledge and want a refresher.

• Mark D. Swedelson, CPA, QPA, Vice-President, Goldberg, Swedelson & Associates Inc.
• Amisha Patel, CPA, Audit Principal, Johnson Lambert LLP

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Part I: Risk Assessment Standards & COVID19

Identification: EBP2010

This session will address how COVID-19 is impacting EBP audit risk assessments. Participants will learn about areas of heightened risk and common misconceptions detected through peer review while walking through practical examples illustrating how to apply the risk assessment standards in an EBP audit.

• Deborah Smith, CPA, Partner, Grant Thornton LLP
• Carl R. Mayes, CPA, Associate Director - CPA Quality and Evolution, AICPA
• David Duckwitz, Director of Quality Control, RubinBrown LLP

Preview Available

Cybersecurity Incident Response: A Walk Through A Data Breach

Identification: EBP2017

Walk through a cybersecurity incident with a cybersecurity attorney and a FBI agent from the Cyber Crimes Division. Beginning with an overview of common threats, this session will delve deep into practical guidance on what to do and not to do in a cybersecurity event.

• Beth Waller, Attorney, CIPP (US) / CIPP (E), Chair, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice, WR
• Stuart VonCanon, FBI Cyber Crimes Division

Preview Available

The Aftermath of CARES Act and Continuing the COVID-19 Chronicles

Identification: EBP2015

This session will be a panel discussion covering challenges and the related audit considerations of COVID and the CARES Act facing plan sponsors, service providers and auditors.

• Gwendolyn Stoute, CPA, Assurance Partner, HoganTaylor LLP
• Michael F. Kraemer, CPA, Fidelity
• Kizzy Gaul, Esq., Manager, Regulatory Supervision, Prudential Retirement