0
0
Are you confident that your defined contribution pension plan financial statements and related note disclosures conform to generally accepted accounting principles? These checklists and illustrative financial statements will help you consider all the relevant requirements with a clear presentation that you can understand.
Whether you are preparing financial statements and reports for defined contribution pension plans or auditing, reviewing, or compiling those financial statements, this practice aid can save countless research hours with its comprehensive guidance for determining the adequacy of disclosures and required supplementary information. This practice aid also provides you with illustrative financial statements and auditor's reports.
The checklists have been updated to reflect authoritative pronouncements and interpretations issued as of April 30, 2009, including:
This practice aid has been prepared by the AICPA staff and has not been reviewed, approved, disapproved, or otherwise acted on by any senior technical committee of the AICPA.
Content refers to previous edition
Content refers to previous edition
FSP Section 8000
Checklists and Illustrative Financial Statements for Defined Contribution Pension Plans
Description
.01 Employee benefit plans include defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution retirement plans, and health and welfare benefit plans (both defined benefit and defined contribution). Defined contribution retirement plans provide an individual account for each participant and provide benefits that are based on (a) amounts contributed to the participant's account by the employer or employee, (b) investment experience, and (c) any forfeitures allocated to the account, less any administrative expenses charged to the plan. These plans include profit-sharing plans, money purchase pension plans, stock bonus and employee stock owner- ship plans (ESOPs), thrift or savings plans including 401(k) arrangements, and certain target benefit plans.
.02 Defined contribution retirement plans may be single employer plans or multiemployer plans. In addition, these plans may be funded through accumulated contributions and investment income (self- funded plans), insurance contracts (insured plans), or a combination of both (split-funded plans). In the context of this checklist, reference to defined contribution plans refers to defined contribution retirement plans only and does not include health and welfare benefit plans (see the separate publication, Checklist and Illustrative Financial Statements for Health and Welfare Benefit Plans, that includes both defined benefit and defined contribution health and welfare benefit plans).
AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center
.03 The AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center celebrated its two-year anniversary in March 2006. Created with the goal of promoting quality employee benefit plan audits, this firm-based, voluntary membership Center now has over 1,080 member firms from around the country. Center member firms demonstrate their commitment to ERISA audit quality by joining the Center and agreeing to adhere to its membership requirements. Visit the Center Web site at www.aicpa.org/ebpaqc to see a complete list of Center members under Membership and to preview Center benefits.
Regulatory Requirements
.04 The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provides for substantial federal government oversight of the operating and reporting practices of employee benefit plans. Under ERISA, the DOL and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have the authority to issue regulations covering reporting and disclosure requirements. (Appendix A of the Audit and Accounting Guide Employee Benefit Plans describes which plans are covered by ERISA.)
.05 ERISA generally requires that the administrator of an employee benefit plan prepare and file various documents with the DOL and the IRS. The annual report to be filed for employee benefit plans generally is the Form 5500 Series. The Form 5500, a joint-agency form developed by the IRS, the DOL, and the PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation), may be used to satisfy the annual reporting requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and Titles I and IV of ERISA. (See FSP section 8000.21-.24 for a discussion about the Form 5500.)
Customer Service
Customer Service
Customer Service
Back to Browsing Products