Employers urged to use SPARK guidelines, note auditor compliance with FAB 2009-02

Some auditors may be ignoring Labor Department guidance and insisting on doing extensive research to obtain an accurate opening balance for Form 5500 reports now required of employers that sponsor tax code Section 403(b) plans regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to an attorney from a trade association for retirement service plan providers.

“Some auditors are taking a very hard line and saying that they cannot accept an opening balance without going back and doing extensive field work and research,” said Larry Goldbrum, general counsel of the SPARK Institute.

“We are putting our members on notice about that,” Goldbrum said, adding, “If you're seeing that happen, let us know because we want to determine if there is some disconnect between what is going on in Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2009-02 and what the [American Institute of Certified Public Accountants] is saying and what certain of their members may be doing.”

The FAB provides good-faith transition rules and allows sponsors of Section 403(b) plans to file their Forms 5500 with qualified auditor opinions if certain requirements are satisfied.

However, Robert Lavenberg, a member of the AICPA Joint 403(b) Plan Audit Task Force, said that the Labor Department's FAB 2009-02, which provided reporting relief for Section 403(b) plans, did not ease the audit requirements for CPAs. Lavenberg said the FAB guidance was intended only as enforcement relief for DOL field agents examining Section 403(b) plans.

More news