DOL Reporting Update: Form 8955-SSA

David Miller

Form 8955-SSA, which replaces the old Schedule SSA for the Form 5500, has finally been released.

On June 18, 2011, the IRS released the final 2009 version of the Form 8955-SSA.  It will be used for retirement plans to report deferred vested participants for plan years starting during 2009.  The 2009 Form can also be used to report the same information for 2010 plan years.  The information that plans will be reporting is in a very similar format to […]

Trustee Considerations When Hiring an Audit Firm: Firm Expertise

Jason Edwards, CPA

Hiring an auditor can be an arduous endeavor, especially if you’ve yet to experience the proposal process.  If you’re a new trustee going through your first RFP, or even a seasoned trustee looking for a new auditor, what are some of the things you should consider?  You might think of an audit as just a commodity – something you need to purchase to satisfy your plan’s regulatory obligations.  But shouldn’t you get more for your money than […]

Bond Beebe Principals Published in the IFEBP’s Benefits Magazine

Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced that two of their Principals, Scott M. Price and Lawrence R. Beebe, have published articles in the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ (“IFEBP”) Benefits Magazine.  The IFEBP is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to being a leading objective and independent global source of employee benefits, compensation and financial literacy education and information; Benefits Magazine is a monthly publication that […]

Top Ten Fraud Prevention Tips for Small Businesses, Tip #1: Using Audits to Deter Occupational Fraud

Mark A. Buckberg, CPA

As a small business owner or senior executive, it is your responsibility to promote integrity and ethical values to your employees and implement the proper controls and procedures to prevent fraud.  In this series, we are highlighting ten basic fraud prevention steps you can take to keep your organization safe.

Occupational fraud is the use of one’s occupation for personal gain through misappropriation of assets or misapplication of the employer’s resources or assets.  Obviously, serving in the […]

Top Ten Fraud Prevention Tips for Small Businesses

Alex Helfand, ENCE

It is hard to flip through a business publication or scan the news without seeing or hearing about fraud.  Although a majority of these stories involve large corporations, small to medium businesses are still at risk for fraudulent activity.   There are more incentives and pressures for companies to outperform and more financial hardships for employees overcome than ever before.  Every business manager or professional must maintain some level of skepticism

Even if your company has never experienced any […]

NEWS YOU CAN USE: SELLING YOUR GOLD AND VALUABLES

Posting by Billy Thomas

With all the debt discussions and economic uncertainty of recent, demand for precious metals has seen a major increase.  With any rise in demand there is often a similar rise in price further emphasized by the value of gold, which has risen to record levels on a global scale.  There are many reasons to hold and/or invest in gold including preserving one’s wealth, fighting against inflation, and maintaining a level of diversification just to name a […]

AIRLINE TICKET TAX REFUND?

Brian Wynne, CPA

UPDATE: August 5, 2011: Congress passed and the President has signed legislation that reinstates the taxes, retroactive to July 23, 2011. Therefore, passengers who purchased tickets before July 23, 2011 and traveled between July 23, 2011 and August 5, 2011 are not entitled to a refund of the taxes. The IRS plans to provide relief regarding taxes not otherwise paid or collected because of the lapse.

At midnight on July 22nd, 2011, the legislation mandating some of the […]

Questions the Payroll Audit Firm Should Ask the Trustees During the Proposal Process

Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA

We previously began a series of blog posts on the questions that trustees should ask the payroll audit firm when they request proposals to perform payroll audits .  The payroll auditing firms being reviewed should also ask the trustees a series of questions during the request for proposal (RFP) process.

Here is the list of questions the payroll auditing firm should ask; these questions will each be discussed in future blog posts:

How are disputes between […]

DON’€™T GET TRICKED BY BOGUS EMAIL FROM THE ‘€œIRS’€

Glenn Bailey, CPA

As sure as the sun will rise in the morning, a phishing scam alleging to be from the IRS will appear in your e-mail box. Since most everyone has some dealing with the IRS and filing taxes, You are a popular target for scammers who count on people to take the bait and click on the links.  Fear of the IRS or an audit can make normally cautious people panic and click through the emails without fully considering […]

The Next Hacking Epidemic: Curiosity

Alex Helfand, ENCE, Computer Forensic Specialist

A wide variety of items can be found discarded on the street, and some – such as a wallet, cell phone, or USB thumb drive – can prove quite valuable, or even malicious.  A curious person walking by who picks up the items might not suspect they are in a sting operation, but a recent study by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has found that hackers might exploit human curiosity and use items […]