Hiring a Payroll Auditing Firm, Question 14: Should Payroll Audits for all Employers be Random or Should They all be “for Cause” Audits?

Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA

Some audits should be selected for cause. Factors such as participant complains, whether the employer is new, whether the employer is terminating a relationship with the plan, and dramatic difference in contribution levels from month to month or over time should determine which employers are targeted for an audit. One “for-cause” audits are selected, the remainder can be selected at random or over a cycle.

Random audits should be conducted when the size of the plan […]

Hiring a Payroll Audit Firm, Question 11: Will we Receive Progress Reports?

Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA

An audit firm should provide monthly progress reports. At a minimum, this report should have columns indicating the companies being audited, the dates the audits were assigned, the dates the field work began, the completion dates for the field work, report delivery dates, audit findings and audit costs. There should also be a space specific comments the auditor wants to convey to the plan. This report can be used to compare statistics from year to […]

Amended Maryland Tax Return for Wynne Decision – What and When to File

Posting by Sean Urbany

As mentioned in our previous post, the Supreme Court recently ruled that Maryland’s tax law for income earned outside of the state is unconstitutional. Each year, Maryland residents pay a Maryland state income tax and a local income tax based on the county in which they reside. Prior to this decision, Maryland residents who earned income from states outside of Maryland were only allowed to claim a tax credit against the Maryland state tax. With the […]

RETIREMENT PLANNING: ROTH VS. TRADITIONAL 401 (K) PLANS

Posting by Scott Reddersen

With many employers now offering a Roth 401(k) component with their retirement benefits, you may be wondering which option works best for your retirement planning purposes. Like most questions involving tax planning matters, the answer is rarely straightforward.

In this post, we’ll look at the differences between Roth and traditional 401(k) plans, as well as Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) plans, and cover some of the tax consequences you may incur when using these retirement savings strategies.
Difference […]

Businesses Face Growing Accounting Fraud

Posting by Joel Susco, CPA

As the business landscape continues to evolve and change, your company is facing increasingly complex and varied fraud threats. Recent research from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PDF) bears this out, showing a significant increase in accounting fraud in U.S organizations, as well as some interesting changes regarding types of fraud and the perpetrators.

In order to adapt and protect your company, it is essential to understand how occupational fraud is evolving and changing. Here are some of the highlights from […]

Streamlining Your Business Processes

As a business owner, your to-do list is most likely a mile long (or at least it feels like it is). You may be focused on becoming more organized, revamping your marketing strategy, or launching a new product. When thinking about your goals and upcoming tasks, I’d like to suggest an item that will have far-reaching impacts: streamlining.

You may be surprised at the wide-ranging impacts of creating greater efficiencies and streamlining operations. There are a number of specific solutions you […]