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 no margin this year for that kind of error.
You could use the general accounting firm you use for everything else, of course. But because they do it all, they aren’t experts in 401k audits specifically. Some will do a fine job, but others consider this service an afterthought, and may not be able to avoid costly mistakes.
It’s well worth seeking out a (friendly) specialist to complete your 401k audits. Here are the top 3 reasons why.
#1: Nice is … well, nice!
Some benefit plan auditors seem to get a kick out of using complex industry jargon, and then responding with annoyance when you don’t understand them.
Or, they’re great at pointing out what’s wrong—and that’s as far as they go.
JoAnn Cassell founded Cassell Plan Audits specifically to raise the bar on these kinds of issues, making audits as relaxed and pain-free as possible. People know us as “the friendly auditors,” because we consider ourselves your partner. We don’t just find problems; we help you solve them.
We also make it our mission to interpret tax law so that you don’t have to, and that’s a win for everyone. You deserve the same in any benefits plan auditor you choose, so be selective.
#2: You’ll save time and resources
A 401k plan audit can be a disruptive, lengthy process. Handled poorly, it can evaporate time and resources, costing your company much more than it should. And that’s not even accounting for the stress a bad audit puts on your team. (See what we did there?)
We’ve written quite a bit about the time savings involved in hiring a 401k audit specialist, but it can’t be overstated. A poorly-managed audit can take a week or more of in-office time, plus several more weeks of back-and-forth outside that window.
Cassell Plan Audits handles our audits in just 1 in-office day, plus advance pre-work to ensure things run smoothly. This saves you and your team the trifecta: time, money, and sanity.
Wondering how long a 401k audit will take? We covered that topic in detail here.
#3: A proven track record
A bad audit can get rejected by the DOL, which just extends the frustration, delays, and additional work. But the DOL loves 401k audit specialists. How do we know? In our 6+ years of operation, we’ve only been audited once—and we passed with flying colors.
Because 401k audits are all we do, we’re able to see patterns and share our learnings with you. For 2019, we even published a recap of our top internal control findings, and we’ll do the same for 2020.
In other words, we’ve got years of proven success under our belts, and we aren’t stopping any time soon.
Don’t spend another year working with an unfriendly auditor who doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Contact us today for more information and to schedule your virtual appointment with Cassell Plan Audits at 630.886.7669.
