Читать книгу Auditing Employee Benefit Plans - Josie Hammond - Страница 64

Contributions received by an employee benefit plan should be recorded as additions to net assets on the statement of changes in net assets available for benefits. Contributions are typically received from plan sponsors and/or participants. Contributions may be in the form of cash or noncash (that is, employer stock). Sources of contributions should be identified in the financial statements as well as segregated between cash and noncash. Contributions receivable reported on an employee benefit plan financial statement represent amounts due to the plan as a result of legal or contractual obligations or formal commitment. Participant contributions should be recorded as plan assets in the period withheld or collected by the sponsor. The plan should record contributions receivable net of any allowance for amounts deemed uncollectible. The basis used in determining contributions should be disclosed. Plans subject to ERISA funding requirements should disclose whether those requirements have been met.

Help desk. Plan sponsors may fund employer contributions up until the date of the sponsor’s tax return, as extended, and still apply them to the previous year. If the plan sponsor elects to make an additional contribution attributable to the year under audit after the financial statements and Form 5500 have already been filed, the additional contribution should be treated as a subsequent event. If Form 5500 is amended and re-filed, a reconciliation note should be added to the financial statements, including information to reconcile the contributions per the financial statements to Form 5500 as a result of the subsequent event. In addition, the auditor’s opinion should be dual-dated for the subsequent event. The plan’s financial statements should not be restated unless an error has occurred.

Participant contributions must be funded as soon as they can be reasonably segregated from the employer’s general assets. This will be discussed later in the course.