Employee Benefit Services
In today’s marketplace, employers need a competitive employee benefits program to attract and retain top talent. Windes & McClaughry’s Employee Benefit Services (EBS) can partner with you to ensure that your employee benefits are designed to be cost effective, remain in compliance with IRS, Department of Labor, and ERISA rules and regulations, and support your business objectives. Our professionals provide consulting and third-party administrative services for employer-sponsored qualified retirement and welfare benefit plans. Our services include plan design and administration, annual reporting and disclosure to plan participants and the government, and specialized projects such as distribution planning and compliance reviews.
The combined resources of our firm and the experience of our EBS professionals make us uniquely qualified to provide our clients with technical expertise and superior service. All EBS professionals are members of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) and the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA) and, as such, have earned nationally recognized professional designations. Annual continuing education keeps us current on the latest developments within our field.
We are dedicated to providing quality benefit plan services to help you maintain your competitive edge and meet your retirement goals. You will have direct contact with your plan administrator and receive personalized service from experienced professionals who are directly responsible for your employee benefits needs.
Our services and resource are uniquely tailored to your company:
Our EBS professionals provide extensive consulting on qualified plan issues, including comprehensive compliance reviews of existing plans. We can assist employers in analyzing existing plan features, determining the cost of plan termination, and preparing for audits. We can help plan participants decide on the best distribution options for their individual situations. We are also experienced in using the many governmental programs available to address plan operational or design defects, or missed filings.
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Defined Benefit and Cross-Tested Profit Sharing Plans
We offer advanced plan designs for employers who wish to make greater contributions or allocate contributions in a specialized manner not generally available under traditional profit sharing plans. Defined benefit plans frequently allow older plan participants the ability to accumulate a large retirement asset over a short period of time. These plans are ideal for sole proprietors or small business owners with a need for larger deductions above the profit sharing plan limitations. Cross-tested profit sharing plans allow employers to designate different levels of contributions for specific groups of employees and are best suited to situations where the business owners wish to maximize contributions for certain participants. These plans may be used in combination with other qualified plans and in certain instances and may also be used with a 401(k) plan.
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Regulations surrounding benefit plan compliance become increasingly complex each year. Let Windes & McClaughry provide the expertise required to manage reporting requirements, changes in plan administration, and governmental regulations. For over 30 years, we have offered the employee benefit plan audit knowledge, commitment, and professional excellence plan sponsors need.
At Windes & McClaughry, you will always work with professionals who are experienced in employee benefit plan audits and thoroughly informed of current issues facing this highly regulated field. We attend the annual AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Conference and are one of several select members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, a membership center for eligible CPA firms that perform employee benefit plan audits. All staff are given annual training and regular updates to ensure that the technical demands of employee benefit plan audit quality are met.
We audit over 50 plans, including pension plans, 401(k) plans, and health and welfare plans, and offer competitive rates and a commitment to providing quality professional service. We have access to significant resources, including the technical expertise of the professionals in our Employee Benefits department, who provide complete design, documentation, and administration services for employee benefit plans. With valuable insights, specialized expertise, and a commitment to benefit plan compliance, Windes & McClaughry is the best choice for your employee benefit plan audit needs.
For more information, please contact:
We want to provide you with the latest developments within the employee benefits arena and the resources you need to make informed decisions and operate successfully.
Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans
We provide design and administration services to traditional profit sharing plans as well as plans with 401(k) features. Profit sharing plans offer the sponsoring employer full discretion on the amount of annual contributions (subject to limits). A 401(k) plan is a profit sharing plan that also provides participants with the ability to defer part of their pay into the plan on a pre-tax basis. Some of these plans may be designed with safe harbor contributions to avoid annual testing requirements. The investment of the accounts in these plans can be either trustee or participant directed. Although we have no direct involvement with plan investments, we partner with a wide variety of investment providers who present the participant level features that make these plans popular and a valuable benefit for employees.
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We provide design, administration and compliance consulting services to tax-exempt sponsors of salary deferral plans. We can help determine whether an employer’s plan is subject to ERISA and what steps are necessary to comply with the extensive regulations issued in 2009. While fundamentally different from 401(k) plans, many of the same rules and regulations apply to tax-exempt plans, including nondiscrimination testing, employee notice requirements and annual governmental reporting. The Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor are increasing their oversight of these plans. We can assist with the evaluation of a sponsor’s current plan and are experts in the various compliance programs available to correct any plan deficiencies or defects. We also offer services related to non-profit entity accounting and 403(b) plan audits. We are ready to assist sponsors to protect their fiduciary liability and to promote a valuable benefit to their employees.
For more information, please contact:
We want to provide you with the latest developments within the employee benefits arena and the resources you need to make informed decisions and operate successfully.
- Qualified Plan and IRA Limits 2006 - 2013
- 401(k) Plans
- 403(b) Plan Guidelines
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Winter 2013
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Fall 2012
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Summer 2012
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Spring 2012
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Winter 2011
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Winter 2010
- Employee Benefits Newsletter Winter 2009
- Fiduciary Compliance Checklist
- Fiduciary Responsibilities
- How Secure Is Your Nest Egg?
- Owner Only 401(k) Plan
- Pension Plans
- Profit Sharing Plans
- Relief for Safe-Harbor 401(k) Plan Sponsors
- Retirement Plan Compliance Calendar
- SEPs & SIMPLEs vs. 401(k)
- Qualified Retirement Plans