Plan Audits That Don't Land on Your Team
For most plan sponsors, the annual plan audit is a requirement, not a priority. It pulls time from HR and finance, depends on information from payroll and your TPA, and can come down to the wire if no one is coordinating.
But a well-run audit does more than check a box. It confirms that contributions are reaching your employees’ accounts on time, that loans and distributions follow your plan document, and that the plan they’re counting on is in good shape. It also catches small operational issues while they’re still easy to fix.
Our job is to take the weight off your plate, so you get that peace of mind without the year-end scramble.
How we make it easy
Our audit team focuses on defined contribution retirement plans, including:
- 401(k) plans
- 403(b) plans
- Profit-sharing plans
We perform both full-scope audits and ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) audits, where a qualified bank or insurance carrier certifies the plan’s investment information.
Sponsor a different type of plan? Contact us and we’ll talk through whether we’re the right fit.
We coordinate directly with your recordkeeper, custodian and third-party administrator (TPA) to gather what we can on our own, keeping the burden on your team to a minimum.
If we spot an operational issue, such as late deposits, eligibility errors or compensation definitions applied inconsistently, we explain what it means in plain language and how to correct it.
- Planning. We review your plan document, prior filings and service provider reports, and give you a tailored request list.
- Fieldwork. We test contributions, distributions, loans, participant data and investments, largely remotely and coordinated with your providers.
- Reporting. We deliver the audited financial statements and auditor’s report for your Form 5500, along with any recommendations.
- Debrief. We walk you through the results and what, if anything, to address before next year.
We agree on scope, timeline and document requests up front, so you know what we need and when, and there are no last-minute requests as your filing deadline approaches.
Plan questions don’t wait for audit season. Our team is available when you’re considering a plan amendment, a provider change or a merger that affects your plan.
When your plan needs an audit
The participant threshold.
Generally, a plan needs an audit once it has 100 or more participants with account balances at the start of the plan year. Plans between 80 and 120 participants that filed as a small plan the prior year may be able to continue filing as a small plan, without an audit.
The deadline.
The audit report is filed with your plan’s Form 5500, due the last day of the seventh month after the plan year ends (July 31 for calendar-year plans). Filing Form 5558 extends the deadline by two and a half months, to October 15 for calendar-year plans. There is no second extension.
Who can perform it.
The audit must be performed by an independent qualified public accountant, licensed or certified by a state regulatory authority.
What’s at stake
A Form 5500 filed without its required audit report is treated as incomplete, and late or incomplete filings can draw daily penalties from both the Department of Labor and the IRS.
A Firm Committed to Plan Audit Quality
Lucida is a member of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, a group of CPA firms that commit to meeting higher standards for quality in their plan audit practices. For plan sponsors, membership is a meaningful signal: the Department of Labor’s own studies have found that member firms tend to perform higher-quality plan audits.
Lucida is one of the largest full-service accounting firms in Wisconsin, comprised of over 100 dedicated professionals and growing. We are also members of the American Institute of CPAs and the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs, and have successfully completed external quality control reviews and peer reviews