Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

“[Cybersecurity protection] is not something in passing that [the Department of Labor is] involved in, not something that once a breach occurs, now they're gonna get involved. They're trying to be more preventative. We're trying to get the information out to all of our clients, as well as anyone listening here: this is something you need to pay attention to.”

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• Plan sponsors have a fiduciary duty to ensure the safety of participants’ assets from fraud, even if the funds are managed by a service provider
• The Department of Labor may ask about your company’s cybersecurity protections during unrelated visits to test your readiness
• Documenting proactive, annual risk assessments and quarterly or monthly control reviews is a critical way to provide proof of good-faith effort to keep your plan and participants protected
• ERISA bonds will not cover a fraud situation, so invest in an insurance plan to keep your plan and your company covered in case of a breach.

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director and 401(k) Audit Practice Leader, Kim Moore, with questions.
• Discover how Anders Technology Groupworks with your organization to protect against cyber threats.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

“It can be worse than time-consuming to fix administrative errors, it can be very costly. Make sure you leave time in your schedule to review the forms, make sure they're correct and get them filed on time.”

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• Guidance on how to extend deadlines
• A breakdown of the different schedules and how they apply to 401(k) plans
• Tips for avoiding penalties and fees caused by inaccuracies on your Form 5500
• Instructions on how to work with a third-party service provider to keep the process moving forward

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director and 401(k) Audit Practice Leader, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

“But I would caution you if an auditor is…half of all other ones… I would be a little bit suspicious of why are their costs so much less. Maybe they have a valid reason…but at the same time if they’re trying to get into something that they really don’t know what they’re doing, that’s one of the ways that’d be a red flag.” 

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• Questions to ask to verify a potential auditor’s qualifications
• The differences between billing and pricing methods used by auditing firms
• Resources to use to find a qualified auditor
• Deciding between a local auditor and a remote firm, plus the benefits and costs to both options

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/

“If it's a first-year audit, they usually take a little longer, as you can imagine. I get calls from people that this is a first audit and they say, ‘Can you do my audit tomorrow?’ I can start tomorrow, but I'm not going to finish it in a day. That's just not even possible. So you want to make sure that you talk to your auditor about timing.”

The information discussed in this episode includes:

• A walkthrough of the general layout of a first-time 401(k), from first steps to closing out an audit
• Important timing considerations to understand before beginning your audit to avoid costly delays
• How best to prepare necessary documents in time for the audit to maximize efficiency

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

“Getting that [third-party administrator] questionnaire turned around quickly is really important, as well as if the provider's asking you for some type of year-end payroll report, a census, those are terms we see a lot. That is going to get folded into the discrimination testing that your service provider's going to do, and that's very important that that gets done, that it's accurate and that it's timely.”

Topics discussed in this episode include:

• How auto-enrollment can drive high plan participation and lower your organization’s risk of failing discrimination testing
• What triggers the need for your first 401(k) audit and details to help you prepare
• Why “compliance calendars” are absolutely critical to run a plan as smoothly as possible despite how overwhelming it may initially feel

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

“If you delay getting us the information and there's a problem, it can't get resolved. More than likely, your audit is going to be late just because we've got others to work on. It's just the way it is. You have the fiduciary responsibility over the plan. So anything you can do to help us figure out those problems is going to be greatly appreciated by your auditor, but will also save you a lot of time and help you to file on time.”

The finer details in this episode:

• Tips and tricks to speed up the audit process
• Importance of working with an auditor on missing paperwork
• The role of a third-party provider on the audit process

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

"It does have some pretty big implications for those of you that either are a 401k plan participant or if you are the planned sponsor of a 401k plan, we wanted to kind of keep you updated so this doesn't hit you as a surprise because we do believe it's going to become law. It's just a matter of when and exactly what's included in the bill" - Kim Moore
 

The finer details in this episode:

• Secure Act 2.0 major provisions and their implications explained
• Qualifications and requirements that participants and plan sponsors need to know
• What does this mean for younger professionals? for part-time employees? for employers?

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

"We're very excited about the possibilities...the joint marketing, the results of that, how that plays into the rules going forward, and the way that impacts our interactions with clients and prospects going forward are some of the really exciting parts of the combination." - Mark Henson

In this episode, Kim Moore and Mark Henson discuss the merger of Summit CPA Group with Anders CPAs + Advisors, a Top 100 St. Louis-based CPA and advisory firm. For more details on the merger, visit: https://anderscpa.com/anders-and-summit-cpa-group-to-merge/

The finer details in this episode:

• What does it mean for Summit CPA's audit team now that Anders and Summit is merging?
• What are the differences and similarities of the services that Anders and Summit provide?
• How does this merger impact operations, marketing, and client management?

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

"I always describe the, the audit timeline as an airplane on a runway. You know, it takes so much runway to get the airplane off the ground and into the air. Depending on the size of the airplane and how much cargo it is carrying and everything else. You only got so much runway and as you get to the end, the airplane is probably gonna either not take off or crash if you leave it too long." Kim Moore
 

The finer details in this episode:

• What you should do to communicate and build better relationships with your 401k auditor
• Important documentation to prepare and important discussions to have
• What to expect to avoid miscommunication

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.

Summit CPA Group has merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors! Visit our website to learn more about our 401(k) process and pricing: https://anderscpa.com/401k-audits/ 

"We listened to our customers. AuditMiner is so customer-lead. We don't develop a feature unless it's been requested by a customer and we get the customer feedback the whole time." Kelly Mann
 

The finer details in this episode:

• How AuditMiner came to be? What are the benefits of using AuditMiner?
• How listening to clients helped in improvements and updates
• How much time savings do clients get when using AuditMiner?

Episode resources

• Watch episodes of The 401(k) Audit CPA Success Show on YouTube.
• Learn more about the Anders 401(k) process and pricing.
• Email our Director + 401(k) Audit, Kim Moore, with questions.