Auditors are required by professional standards to identify related parties and parties in interest as part of their employee benefit plan audits. This non-authoritative EBPAQC tool may be used by plan auditors in documenting the procedures performed to identify related parties and related party transactions and parties in interest and party in interest transactions. It should be used in conjunction with the EBPAQC audit engagement tools:
Identification of parties in interest and related parties, and
Documentation of the consideration of potential prohibited transactions in an EBP financial statement audit.
The tool provides background information about the auditor’s responsibilities related to related parties and parties in interest and associated transactions and allows the auditor to document procedures performed to identify them. The example procedures included in the tool are excerpted from the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide, Employee Benefit Plans.