U.S. Department of Labor’s Tips for Selecting and Monitoring a Plan Auditor

 

 

 

Russell E. Majkrzak , CPA

Senior Manager

majkrzakr@hwco.com

 

In mid-November, 2015, the Chief Accountant of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sent out an email to plan administrators related to selecting a qualified CPA firm to audit your plan’s financial statements. This email referenced a recent study completed by the DOL (which can be found on the DOL’s website) which concluded that due to the unique audit and reporting requirements related to employee benefit plan audits, plan administrators should take care when selecting their CPA firm to ascertain that the CPA firm is qualified to perform the plan audit. HW&Co is qualified and, in fact, currently audits many employee benefit plans, and as a member of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, HW&Co must meet additional professional standards including having our audit staff obtaining a specific number of training hours over a three-year period and the additional internal monitoring and peer review requirements.  HW&Co, since its inception, has received the best Peer Review results possible with our most recent Peer Review receiving a rating of “pass with no deficiencies”. Additionally, the DOL has performed a DOL desk audit for one of our plan audits with no findings identified. If HW&Co does not currently perform your plan audit, please consider having HW&Co become your plan auditors. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your HW&Co Executive or Joe Sbrocco, CPA, CGMA at 877-FOR-HWCO.



Ohio Tax Budget - The Impact on Your Wallet

Cathy A. Robinson, CPA
Senior Manager
robinson@hwco.com
 

Chances are you pay income taxes to the state that you reside in. For individual taxpayers and businesses in the state of Ohio, there's good news. 


On June 30^th, 2015, Governor John Kasich signed into law, the Biennial Budget Bill. So how exactly does this bill affect you?

 

If you are just an individual taxpayer, the bill reduces the personal income tax rates 6.3 percent for all tax brackets. This means the new top marginal bracket for individuals is 4.997 percent.

 

Attention shoppers: if you're a fan of shopping, you will be happy to know the state sales tax rate was not increased. It still remains at the current rate of 5.75 percent.

 

If you own an S Corporation, partnership, limited liability or a sole proprietorship in Ohio, there's even better news for you.  For fiscal year 2015, you will be able to deduct 75 percent of your Ohio apportioned business income up to $250,000. Also beginning in 2015, the excess business income will be subject to a three percent flat tax. The tax will be effective for 2015 and going forward. 

 

As a business owner, you should also be aware there are two tax credits that may now be able to save your company taxes since the law has changed the calculation. These credits are the Jobs Creation Tax Credit and the Jobs Retention Tax Credit.

 

For those who file the CAT tax, there's good news for you as well since the CAT tax rate was not increased due to the law.

 

If you have any questions in regards to the bill and how it will affect you, contact your accounting professional.