Posting by Ron Chandler, CPA

When contributions paid to the Fund are based on hours worked or paid for (or some variance there of), we always include a procedure where we test one to three employees for the entire year to make sure there are no missing weeks.  The omission of weeks, pay-periods or sometimes several days or holidays in a payroll cycle is a very common error.  This procedure has allowed us to find thousands of dollars for our clients, especially in the construction industry where the contribution hourly rates are so high.  We found a recent situation where an employer missed four days in a month because of a contribution rate change at the beginning of a month and they attempt to adjust their payroll and contribution cycle to properly account for this rate change.  This one mistake amounted to an additional $20,000 of contributions.  We also had another recent situation where four weeks were omitted over a three year period.  As a result, we identified and helped collect $110,000 in contributions due to the Plan.