by JoAnn Cassell | Mar 15, 2023 | 401k Compliance
ADP, Gusto, Paychex, and the rest… they make payroll (and life) easier. Small businesses can save millions of dollars a year by forgoing an internal payroll department and outsourcing to one of these respected companies. But watch out! Changing payroll providers...
by JoAnn Cassell | Feb 15, 2023 | 401k Audit Time
We know, nobody loves to do an audit. (If you did, you’d be working here.) 401(k) audits may look time-consuming, but nothing about them is left to chance. The more organized you are, the easier they can be. It’s never too late to take action and make things a little...
by JoAnn Cassell | Jan 14, 2023 | Audit Deadlines
Everyone procrastinates. That’s especially true now, when just about everyone is short-staffed. When it comes to your 401(k) audit, the sooner you start, the better. Think of it like planning a trip. Here in Chicagoland, the Eisenhower is notorious for its rush hour...
by JoAnn Cassell | Dec 21, 2022 | Audit Insights
A 401(k) audit can feel like a test you didn’t study for. After all, you’ve got lots of other priorities. Here’s the catch: Just three mistakes make up more than half the issues Cassell Plan Audits has seen so far this year. The last few audit seasons haven’t been...
by JoAnn Cassell | Nov 15, 2022 | Cyber Safety
Cybersecurity: it’s another area businesses are spending more and more on. And yep, Department of Labor regulations mean you can get audited on it. It’s no surprise the government wants to take cybersecurity more seriously. The average data breach costs more than $4...
by JoAnn Cassell | Oct 15, 2022 | Employee Termination
Terminating an employee is never easy, but can be necessary. When people leave your company—voluntarily or not—they take the value in their 401(k) plan with them to continue their retirement savings. The catch: this doesn’t happen automatically. After an employee’s...
by JoAnn Cassell | Sep 15, 2022 | 401k Auto-escalation
Auto-escalation is another way you can encourage investment in your 401(k) plan and help your employees put their money to work. With auto-escalation, employees’ 401(k) withholding amount goes up by one percentage point per year until reaching the maximum of 10%....
by JoAnn Cassell | Aug 16, 2022 | 401k Communication
Things that “aren’t your problem” before the introduction of your 401(k) very much become your problem once you have a plan to administer–especially when reviewed in light of irregularities or questions about your plan. It’s a matter of when, not if. Either it will be...
by JoAnn Cassell | Jul 15, 2022 | 401k Auto-Enrollment
Auto-enrollment is great for your employees. It helps with one of the challenges we all face: inertia. Instead of slogging through a complicated process to enroll in your 401(k), they know their money’s working for them from the start. That often makes a big...
by JoAnn Cassell | Jun 24, 2022 | Safe Harbor 401(k)
To ensure 401(k) plans don’t unfairly prioritize senior executives, the IRS uses an annual test usually called ADP. The ADP test compares the average salary deferral percentages of highly compensated employees (HCEs) to others. The ADP of HCEs may not exceed that of...
