Audits

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 has introduced important changes to retirement plans, particularly for long-term part-time (LTPT) employees. These changes will impact how companies manage retirement benefits, making it essential for plan sponsors to understand and implement the new requirements. With the 2025 deadline approaching, plan sponsors must take action now to ensure compliance and optimize their retirement plans.

The SECURE 2.0 Act, enacted in 2022, significantly enhances the original Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act. To improve retirement savings opportunities across the United States, it introduces over 90 provisions designed to expand access, improve flexibility, and encourage participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans. In light of this legislation, the IRS has released new guidance (Notice 2024-2) that targets critical facets of the legislation. This guidance is crucial for plan sponsors, ensuring they can both comply with the new regulations and optimize their retirement plan offerings. As the IRS is expected to issue more updates, plan sponsors must stay informed and prepared to adapt to these changes ahead.

FASB’s Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 145, Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement, provides revised guidance for the calendar year 2023 financial statement audits. The broad concept of improved risk assessment standards in SAS 145 will extend to other areas of an audit, like IT and material misstatements.

Risk in a financial statement takes on many forms. It can be a material misstatement or can manifest as an undefined intangible that’s highlighted in a footnote. Auditors spend the most time in financial statement audits on identifying and assessing material misstatements because of the impact on the company’s financial position. Yet, risk assessments made up 25 percent of audit deficiencies in 2020 peer reviews, so there’s clearly more work to do to shore up this aspect of financial reporting.

More than half of working Americans have reported feeling behind in meeting retirement saving goals. Concurrently, one-third do not have any retirement savings or account set up at all. To make matters worse, the economic challenges imposed by the COVID pandemic meant that retirement savings were needed to meet routine expenses. Although necessary, it has made retirement planning and savings challenges even more serious and complicated.

Now more than ever construction is an inherently risky industry. Whereas employees primarily face safety and health risks on the job, contractors and owners must also deal with cost and payment issues, project delays, compliance, and other risks. To make matter worse, the post-pandemic supply chain delays have made necessary materials more difficult to obtain and at a higher price. These liabilities, especially when taken together, can cause a construction project to lose money and increase exposure to legal and regulatory risks.

What many not-for-profits may not be aware of is that accepting federal funds may trigger the need to comply with single audit requirements. Or, that some state funds may instead originate from the federal government, thus triggering the single audit. Especially with trillions in COVID-related funding having been distributed, not-for-profit executives and Board members may need to brush up on their knowledge of single audits – and what to do if the organization is subject to one. To help clients, prospects, and others, Wilson Lewis has provided a summary of the key details below.

Atlanta businesses required to undergo an annual financial statement audit will notice several new changes to the auditor’s report. Outlined in the Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 134 – Auditor Reporting, the modifications are designed to increase the value of the report to management. The changes have been years in the making – going back to 2011 when the Accounting Standards Board began the path to more consistent auditing standards for all entities. In 2015, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) made changes to auditor report requirements, which paved the way for SAS 134. Much like other standards updates, the changes outlined in SAS 134 will help to make the auditor’s report more useful and transparent to financial statement users.

In Atlanta, there are many firms that can provide an audit to your nonprofit organization. After reviewing the promotional materials, websites and related messaging, it may appear they are equally qualified to manage the task. While each may meet the broad technical qualifications to conduct the audit, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a good fit for your organization’s needs. The truth is that each organization, it’s management and Board of Directors has differing needs which some firms are better suited to manage than others. Although technical competence is certainly a necessity there are other criteria that an organization needs to assess during the proposal review stage.

Atlanta area and Georgia manufacturing companies are facing some familiar and many new business challenges. These often include finding and retaining qualified employees, knowledge transfer, intense competition from offshore providers, tariff concerns and even the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning. While the challenges persist, the overall outlook for industry companies appears to be positive. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Manufacturing Outlook Survey (Second Quarter 2019), four out of five manufacturers indicated a positive outlook for their business in 2019. This was reinforced by the fact that inventory and production levels are expected to increase while exports are also expected to grow. One pressing concern is the impact of tariff uncertainties industry-wide.