BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Accounting

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, February 15, 2022

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    110 minutes

Credit Information

  • BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.

  • BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).

$197.00
CPE
ALL

This course will provide employee benefits accounting and tax professionals with a thorough and practical guide to preparing responses for a Department of Labor (DOL) investigative audit of a company's health and welfare plan. The panel will discuss required documentation and procedures for submittal to the DOL in response to audit correspondence. The panel will offer valuable tools to help make your firm's health and other benefit plans audit-ready.

Faculty

Mayoung Nham
Principal
Slevin & Hart, PC

Ms. Nham has been working with defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, health and welfare plans, and training plans since graduating law school in 2007. Her experience includes all aspects of employee benefits law, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, the Affordable Care Act, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

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Kathleen R. Barrow
Partner
Fox Rothschild LLP

Ms. Barrow has nearly three decades of experience helping employers correct tax and fiduciary issues with payroll, executive compensation and employee benefits. Her national practice includes strategic assistance with ERISA matters, compliance programs, and corrections of documentation and operational errors. Ms. Barrow’s clients include employers across a range of industries, nonprofit organizations, healthcare providers and school districts. She has handled cases that involve the U.S. Treasury Office of Tax Policy; the Department of Labor, Employee Benefit Security Administration; massive payroll corrections involving thousands of employees; and has led representation before the U.S. Tax Court, various U.S. district courts and courts of appeals throughout the country.

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Description

The DOL substantially increased the number of ERISA health and welfare plan audits of plans of all sizes. The increased investigation activity presents a heightened compliance burden on plans and plan sponsors, and employee benefits advisers must be proactive in ensuring their firms are audit-ready.

DOL audits subject plans to burdensome documentation demands, intrusive investigations, and disruptive on-site inspections. DOL audit letters typically seek health and benefits plan documentation compliant with the ACA, MHPAEA, HIPAA, COBRA, and other ERISA requirements. DOL audits can also attract IRS scrutiny.

Penalties due to deficiencies discovered in DOL audits can be steep, and many accumulate daily. For 2021, the penalty for a late-filed Form 5500 is $2,269 per day late. Employee benefits accountants and advisers must evaluate and anticipate audit risks and preemptively remedy potential defects to avoid painful and expensive assessments.

Listen as our experienced panel provides a practical guide to proactively managing the document process to respond to a DOL health and welfare plan audit effectively.

Outline

  1. DOL health and welfare audit correspondence process
  2. Typical documentation requested in DOL correspondence
  3. Making plans audit-ready
  4. Penalties and fines
  5. Cybersecurity requests in DOL audits

Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other important topics:

  • What documents will a plan be required to provide in a DOL audit investigation?
  • What are the triggers for a DOL audit?
  • What are the first steps an employee benefits professional should take upon receiving a DOL audit letter?
  • What key provisions should employee benefits advisers monitor regularly and review before responding to a DOL audit notification?

NASBA Details

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Recognize and correct serious, but common mistakes that lead to 401(k) audits by the DOL
  • Discern plan operational errors
  • Determine whether plans pass the basic DOL testing requirements
  • Identify documents an employer may be required to disclose during a DOL audit

  • Field of Study: Auditing
  • Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
  • Advance Preparation: None
  • Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
  • Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
  • Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
  • Prerequisite: Three years+ business or public firm experience at mid-level within the organization, preparing complex tax forms and schedules; supervisory authority over other preparers/accountants. Knowledge and understanding of ERISA Titles I and II, Department of Labor employee health and welfare plan regulations, and proper completion of Form 5500; familiarity with IRS and Department of Labor audit procedures and enforcement

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

IRS Approved Provider

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).