September 2009
403(b) News
On July 20, 2009 the Department of Labor (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security
Administration (“EBSA”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin (“FAB”) 2009-02
Annual Reporting Requirements for 403(b) Plans which provides some relief
with regard to the reporting requirements for 403(b) plans beginning with
the 2009 plan year.
Read more...
Regulatory Developments
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) held its
annual national conference on employee benefit plans for practitioners,
administrators and plan sponsors. Leading regulators and practitioners
addressed both the tax and audit side of employee benefits. Topics discussed
in this article include Suspension of Required Minimum Distribution
Requirement, Final Rule on Investment Advice Exemption for 401(k) Plans and
IRAs, Automatic Contribution Arrangements, Suspension of Safe Harbor
Nonelective Contributions and 2009 Form 5500.
Read more...
Audit,
Accounting and Reporting Updates
This article discusses several audit, accounting and
reporting updates, including Fair Value Measurements, Fee Disclosures and
FASB Accounting Standards Codification. Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards No. 157, Fair Value Measurements (“FAS 157”), continues
to pose challenges for plans that hold investments that, based on their
nature, are expected to be classified as either level 2 or 3 within the fair
value hierarchy established by FAS 157. Such investments may include common
collective trusts, (including stable value funds), pooled separate accounts,
guaranteed and bank investment contracts (GICs and BICs), synthetic GICs,
participant loans (in a defined contribution plan), various debt
instruments, non-publicly traded employer stock, American Depository
Receipts (ADRs), private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate, real estate
funds, limited partnerships, futures, swaps, options, foreign currency
contracts or other alternative or hard-to-value investments.
Read more...
Friendly Reminders
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Communicate now with service providers regarding information needed for the implementation of FAS 157.
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Request from the service providers the auditor's year-end reporting package.
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Request and evaluate SAS 70 reports from all plan service providers.
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Form 5500 filing deadline is 7 months after the plan's year end, generally July 31, 2009, for calendar year-end plans. (An extension of 2-1/2 months may be requested using Form 5558.)
Helpful Links
AICPA Employee Benefit
Plan Audit Quality Center
U.S. Department of Labor
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Internal Revenue Service
In
Other News...
2009 Seminars. Our Financial
Seminars for Women series begins on September 17 with "Investment
Fundamentals for Women." We have also recently added Crystal Reports and FRx
hands-on training classes. Our popular Somerset Practical MBA
Program includes a live webinar simulcast so anyone outside the Indianapolis area can participate. Please
go online
to see our current schedule and to register.
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Client Satisfaction Survey. If you are a Somerset client,
please take our survey concerning the services we have provided to you. Our
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Newsletters. Somerset publishes a variety of newsletters in addition to Employee Benefit Plan Commentator--such as Wherewithal, Tax Times, Wealth Management Bullets and several others. Please visit the Newsletters page of our web site to read the archives and sign up to have new issues delivered to your email inbox.
Employee Benefit Plan Commentator is provided by Somerset’s Employee Benefits Team for our clients and other interested persons upon request. For additional information on the issues discussed, please contact Yvette C. Ward, CPA. Since technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final conclusion on these topics should be made without further review.
These articles were written by and
published herein with the permission from professionals of BDO Seidman, LLP.
Somerset is a member of the BDO Seidman Alliance, a nationwide association
of independently owned accounting and consulting firms.
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