by JoAnn Cassell | Apr 19, 2021 | 401k Audit Firm, 401k Plan Audit, Audit Procedures, Personal Protected Information, Virtual Audits
With more people than ever working from home, the convenience and ease of digital filing systems are more relevant than ever. This fact was driven home early last year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. As offices locked down, our team at Cassell Plan Audits quickly...
by JoAnn Cassell | Mar 20, 2021 | 401k Audit Firm, Personal Protected Information, Virtual Audits
When the pandemic hit in 2020, some of our customers faced an unexpected curveball. We’ve been doing virtual 401k audits for years, but many companies had maintained their relevant audit records on paper … until last year. COVID revealed a compliance gap that hadn’t...
by JoAnn Cassell | Feb 15, 2021 | 401k Compliance Error
Errors with eligible compensation—or, the income that counts toward your 401k retirement plan—were the number one compliance issue we saw in the 2020 audit season. It’s counterintuitive, because the definition of “eligible compensation” is dictated by the employer...
by JoAnn Cassell | Jan 15, 2021 | Audit Procedures, SECURE Act
Happy 2021! Like everyone else, we are thrilled to welcome in a new year. Just like last year, we’ll be sharing helpful tips and insights each month to keep your retirement plan administration compliant and on track. Back in November, we wrote about our top 7...
by JoAnn Cassell | Dec 16, 2020 | Retirement Plan
Every industry was affected by COVID-19 this year, and retirement planning is no exception. The CARES Act and the SECURE Act in particular had such a significant impact that we’ll take an in-depth look at both of them in future posts. For now, as we move into the...
by JoAnn Cassell | Nov 25, 2020 | Gratitude, Virtual Audits
As we enter into the 2020 holiday season, we at Cassell Plan Audits have been reflecting on gratitude. It’s always meaningful to consider what we’re thankful for, but in 2020, it feels even more important to put our thoughts down on paper . . . virtually, anyway. For...
by JoAnn Cassell | Nov 19, 2020 | Audit Insights, Uncategorized
At Cassell Plan Audits, we love solving problems. But we love preventing them even more. 2020 has been tumultuous in just about every aspect, but your employee benefits compliance shouldn’t be. As your friendly neighborhood auditors, we’re here to help in any way we...
by JoAnn Cassell | Nov 16, 2020 | Employee Addition
Anne Kozlowski Cassell Plan Audits is pleased to announce the addition of Anne Kozlowski to their team. Anne received her bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Elmhurst College and is a registered CPA in the State of Illinois. She brings 20+ years of experience as an...
by JoAnn Cassell | Oct 22, 2020 | 401k Plan Audit, Audit Procedures
Come audit season, there’s no shortage of accounting firms who are willing to perform your company’s benefit plan audits for you … But how many are truly able? A poorly performed audit can cost your organization thousands of dollars more than it should, and there’s...
by JoAnn Cassell | Oct 5, 2020 | 401k Plan Audit, Audit Procedures
Employee benefits plan audits can be a huge pain. They’re also necessary. This means you have a choice: do you want an efficient, painless audit—or a time-consuming and expensive one? It pays in more ways than one to make your audits as efficient as possible. If that...
