Employee benefit plan audits: The current state and future direction

Abstract

Employee benefit plans represent vital components of our economic system and are a critical employment and retirement consideration for many individuals and the organizations that employ them. Surprisingly, the extant academic research and official authoritative standards on audits of employee benefit plans are sparse. This paper describes the current state of employee benefit plan audit quality, focusing on a recent report from the Department of Labor. Next, a proposed statement on auditing standards specific to employee benefit plans is described and summarized. Concluding, I provide insights on potential future directions for this industry of audits.