Form 5500s and the Independent Audit: Does it Apply to your Employee Benefit Plan?

Only administrators of an ERISA employee benefit plan with at least 100 account balances (100 eligible participants for plan years beginning before January 1, 2023) are required to engage an independent Qualified Public Accountant (IQPA) to provide an opinion on an employee benefit plan’s financial statement, which is required to be appended to the annual Form 5500 filing. Read this practice note to learn more about the purpose of the audit and the duty of the plan administrator.

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Related Content

• Form 5500 Annual Reports
  Review how a Form 5500 annual report is required both under the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The form has a variety of purposes, the most important of which is to facilitate enforcement of the requirements of ERISA as it applies to "employee benefit plans" as that term is defined in ERISA. While the form is filed with the Department of Labor (DOL), electronically, the DOL transmits pertinent data to the IRS and to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
• Retirement Plan Mergers and Spinoffs
  Remember that any nonsurviving plan in a plan merger must file a final Form 5500 annual report with the DOL. The due date is the last day of the seventh month following the month in which the merger took place. 

Practical Guidance Updates 
Featuring the latest updates from your Practical Guidance account.    

• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Key Legal Developments Tracker (Current)
  Stay informed on new developments.
  • Retirement Plans. U.S. Supreme Court agrees to resolve a circuit split regarding the pleading standard for alleged prohibited-transaction claims under ERISA. Cunningham v. Cornell University, Nos. 21-88, 21-96, 21-114 (U.S. Oct. 4, 2024). 
  • Retirement Plans. IRS issues guidance regarding inadvertent overpayments of benefits from retirement plans under IRC sections 414(aa) and 402(c)(12) as added by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, which expanded EPCRS coverage of such overpayments. IRS Notice 2024-77.
  • Health and Welfare Plans. IRS adjusts health FSA, qualified commuter expenses, and other (primarily) non-benefit plan limits for 2025. Proc. 2024-40.
  • Health and Welfare Plans. IRS, Treasury, DOL, EBSA, HHS, and CMS issue proposed regulations (the Enhancing Coverage of Preventive Services Under the Affordable Care Act) that would provide that medical management techniques used by non-grandfathered group health plans and health insurance issuers offering non-grandfathered group or individual health insurance coverage regarding such preventive services would not be considered reasonable unless the plan or issuer provides an easily accessible, transparent, and sufficiently expedient exceptions process that would allow an individual to receive coverage without cost sharing for the preventive service that is medically necessary for the individual. 89 Fed. Reg. 85070 (Oct. 25, 2024); 89 Fed. Reg. 85750 (Oct. 28, 2024).
  • Health and Welfare Plans. DOL issues Artificial Intelligence and Worker Well-Being: Principles and Best Practices for Developers and Employers (Oct. 16, 2024)
  • Health and Welfare Plans. IRS issues guidance regarding Preventive Care for Purposes of Qualifying as a High Deductible Health Plan under IRC section 223 providing that preventive care includes over-the-counter oral contraceptives (including emergency contraceptives) and male condoms. IRS Notice 2024-75.
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