The U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration issued the Audit Quality Study, November 2023, which detailed deficiencies in the quality of audit work performed by independent CPAs in their financial statement audits of ERISA employee benefit plans for the 2020 filing year. The audit areas with the most frequent deficiencies were unique to EBP auditing, including testing contributions, benefit payments, participant data, and party-in-interest and prohibited transactions.
We address common misconceptions that plan auditors may have in these areas that result in the audit deficiencies identified in the DOL audit quality study and by the AICPA Peer Review. Presenters discussed:
Misconceptions identified by DOL and AICPA Peer Review
Strategies for addressing the misconceptions
AICPA and EBPAQC resources to help practitioners avoid audit deficiencies