AICPA & CIMA Employee Benefit Plans Conference 2021

This session will help you make the most of the EBPAQC tools and resources and perform efficient and effective EBP audits.

The AICPA has a wealth of resources for many aspects of ERISA and retirement planning. AICPA staff and members will review these resources to give participants familiarity with what they can offer for a vibrant ERISA practice or to plan sponsors for use by internal accounting or human resources staff – or even plan participants.

Managing an EBP practice today can be challenging when it comes to implementing new standards, managing client collaboration and evolving technology. Join us as we examine the challenges firms face in their typical approach to ensure quality EBP audits. We'll discuss opportunities that might be quick wins in helping you drive more efficient, high quality engagements.

Unconscious bias is prevalent in our culture and can make its way into firms and affect how we interact with clients. During this session, we will go through interactive exercises, exploring unconscious biases and discovering how bias influences functions within your business. Using the Mentimeter platform, we will look at anonymous polling from you, the audience, to tie the impact bias concepts to real-life examples in an honest and transparent way.

Retirement plans come in many shapes & sizes, each with a unique mix of features, requirements, and advantages & disadvantages. Choosing the type of plan and the basic features is the only first step in the plan design process. The creative part comes in tailoring the plan design to align with the needs of the company and is appreciated by employees as a valuable benefit.

This session will focus on tax-qualified plans and will address the different types of qualified plans, their features and how to take advantage of the options available to create the optimal plan, or combination of plans, for the client.

This session will help auditors and plan sponsors understand the current legislative and regulatory environment dealing with cyber risk. The speakers will discuss appropriate prudence for fiduciaries and provide direct language to look for in contracts with providers. Highlights are as follows:

1. Key insurance terminology and exclusion language to look for when observing or buying cyber insurance – both in general and for employee benefit plans.
2. What auditors need to know about the current cyber risk environment for the plan and plan participants and how to best document the actions taken to prevent loss in current risk categories – learn how to self-assess your risk.
3. The latest cyber cases that can impact plan sponsors and best practices to adopt to protect fiduciary risk.

Compensation plays an important role in all types of retirement plans. Understanding compensation and the various definitions of compensation is critical because misunderstanding can cause significant plan operational issues.

The plan administrator has determined that a ERISA 103(a)(3)(c) audit is permissible. What can you do to make sure the audit is shipshape? This session will help participants effectively navigate an audit that relies on certified information, including taking a closer look at how plan administrators and auditors can assess whether the certified information is appropriately measured, presented, and disclosed in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework. While SAS 136 did not change 29 CFR 2520.103-8, this session provides a refresher on the qualifications and requirements of certifying institutions. This session will also provide an opportunity to discuss frequently asked questions and best practices in engaging certifying entities.

This session introduce the plan document provisions of the defined contribution case study, which is utilized for all of the fundamental track sessions.

Coverage testing under IRC Section 410(b) is a core nondiscrimination test that applies to all qualified plans. Sponsoring multiple plans, using leased employees, acquiring another entity by merger or acquisition, or owning or being owned by a foreign entity can complicate and impact this testing. This session will look past the basic Ratio Percentage test and explore more advanced testing techniques such as Average Benefits Test and plan aggregation options. You will also learn to identify failed tests and the options and timing for correction.

This session is part 1 of 2 of working through the planning and risk assessment process for the fundamental track case study and will continue in Session #XX. These sessions include consideration of SOC 1 reports and certifications for limited scope audits.

Join us for an in-depth session on documentation techniques for ERISA plan audits. Participants will have opportunity to explore the key areas where audit documentation is critical - and how insufficient documentation practices can cause a non-conforming engagement even when sufficient substantive procedures have been performed.   Our speakers will also share best practices that have been proven successful in their employee benefit plan audits.

This session will discuss several of the more common operational errors that occur during the administration of qualified benefit plans and will cover auditor responsibilities, financial statement impacts, and, at a high-level, available correction methods under the IRS or DOL correction programs. Additionally, the communication of these matters that are required with plan management will be covered. In total, the session will cover all of the impacts of an operation error including both the audit and tax impacts.

The Form 990 was written for not-for-profit entities, which health and welfare plans technically are. Ever wonder how to read or complete a Form 990 for your health and welfare plans/VEBAs? This session will help translate the form into benefit plan terminology to assist auditors and tax preparers in reviewing and completing them.

After this session, participants will:

Hear from a former DOL "insider" who will be sharing DOL knowledge and tips only a former EBSA investigator would know. You'll learn how the DOL targets cases, and you'll be introduced to 10 common ERISA violations. Learn how to avoid these compliance traps or how to maneuver out of them.