Employee Benefit Plans

Today more than ever, employee benefit plans are critical to attracting and retaining top talent. At the same time, employee benefit plans are complex, often requiring audits and navigation that call for outside expertise. 

With Haefele Flanagan, you can be certain that your organization’s employee benefit plans are not only well-fitted to its needs but in compliance with ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) and the Department of Labor’s rules and regulations.

We perform employee benefit plan services for audit and tax clients as well as for clients of firms that lack the necessary in-house expertise. Our philosophy is one of our key advantages: We evaluate every plan from a multi-dimensional perspective by building strong relationships with our clients, their investment advisors, and their plan administrators. Additionally, we prioritize and implement efficient communication between all parties, ensuring a smooth process and, more importantly, favorable outcomes. 

Retirement plan audits are particularly beholden to complex compliance and regulatory standards. Most employer-sponsored retirement plans require the filing of a Form 5500. Many of these also require an audit performed by an independent certified public accountant*. Haefele Flanagan specializes in both.

In all scenarios, we help clients meet their filing and compliance requirements and make recommendations for improving the plan’s internal control, accounting, and operations. If along the way we discover operational issues that are out of step with regulations, we help you self-correct promptly, minimizing and sometimes even sidestepping fines, penalties, and plan disqualification.

*Audit requirements are established by the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor. Generally, plans with 100 or more eligible participants, on the first day of the plan year, require an audit to be completed.