Virtual

Employee Benefit Plans Audit Virtual Conference 2025

Date: June 5, 2025

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:05 p.m. PT

CPE: 8

Overview

Act now early bird pricing ends April 24, 2025

Employee benefit plan audits are under more scrutiny than ever—regulations are shifting, reporting demands are growing, and audit deficiencies are on the rise. The risk of plan failures or fraud is always looming, making it critical for firms to stay ahead. Want to navigate these complexities with confidence? Get up to speed on the latest regulatory changes, emerging trends, and best practices to perform high-quality audits and deliver accurate, timely advice that clients can trust.

Please note, agenda and/or speakers are subject to change.

Product Code
1000003879
Credit Type
CPE: 8
Format
Virtual
Intended Audience
CPAs who perform employee benefit plan audits and senior managers, staff, financial professionals, individual advisers and attorneys who specialize in working on employee benefit plans.
NASBA Field of Study
Auditing
Level of Difficulty
Update
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of accounting and auditing and experience with employee benefit plan audits.

Learning Objectives

Recognize which updates on standards and regulations impact your employee benefit plan audit practice

Identify areas of risk for plan failure and fraud

Determine new tools to successfully perform high-quality audits

Agenda

Welcome Remarks

DOL Update
Stay up to date on the latest regulatory developments with this essential Department of Labor (DOL) update. This session will cover key enforcement priorities, recent guidance, and emerging trends impacting employee benefit plan audits.

DOL Cybersecurity Best Practices
With cyber threats on the rise, protecting employee benefit plan data is more critical than ever. This session will explore the Department of Labor’s latest cybersecurity guidance, best practices for safeguarding sensitive information, and key responsibilities.

A&A Update
Stay up to date on quality management standards (QMS), first-year audit procedures, and recent AICPA guidance. Explore key topics such as non-disclosure agreements, plan mergers and terminations, and the latest PCAOB confirmation standards to enhance your audit approach and ensure compliance.
Speaker(s)
Darlene M. Bayardo Brian Coons

Break

Regulatory and Legal Update
Stay informed on critical developments in SECURE 2.0, recent litigation trends, and key considerations for forfeiture usage, investment offerings, and fee structures. This session delivers valuable insights to enhance compliance, mitigate risk, and improve client service.
Speaker(s)
Alison Cohen

Form 5500
Understanding Form 5500 is essential for compliance and accuracy in employee benefit plan audits. This session covers the auditor’s responsibilities, key review procedures, and recent changes impacting plan filings. Gain practical insights to enhance the effectiveness and thoroughness of your audits.
Speaker(s)
Mark Wirth Jasmine Baker

Lunch Break

Audit Efficiency
Efficiency is key in navigating the increasing demands of employee benefit plan audits. This session will explore strategies for improving audit workflows, leveraging AI tools, and standardizing workpapers and procedures. Gain insights into managing quality amid staffing shortages, optimizing documentation, and determining when deep analysis is necessary versus when a streamlined approach is sufficient.
Speaker(s)
Marilee P. Lau Michael Meihaus Bertha A. Minnihan

SOC Report and Risk Assessment
Understanding SOC reports and risk assessment is essential for conducting thorough and compliant employee benefit plan audits. This session will break down key SOC report components, user entity controls, and IT system risks—both internal and outsourced. Learn how to effectively incorporate these insights into your risk assessment and documentation process to strengthen audit quality and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Speaker(s)
Adam Campbell Jeff Stone

Break

Common Retirement Plan Compliance Errors
Speaker(s)
Jill C. Kitchin Kevin Nolt

Faculty

Jasmine Starr Baker

Jasmine. S. Baker, CPAJasmine is a Partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, in the San Ramon, California, office. She has 20 years of specialized experience providing audit and accounting services to employee benefit plans and labor organizations. Her experience includes auditing single-employer and multi-employer plans, including defined contribution plans, defined benefit pension plans, and health and welfare plans. Jasmine excels at both client en...

More about Jasmine Starr Baker

Darlene M. Bayardo

Darlene Bayardo, the founder of Bayardo Accounting and Consulting, PC, has more than 25 years of experience with national public accounting firms and private accounting. She has extensive knowledge in the audits of employee benefit plans. She focuses on ERISA audit quality and risk management. Her expertise facilitates technical consultations, development of audit and accounting guidance, resources and training programs for employee benefit pl...

More about Darlene M. Bayardo

Adam Campbell

Adam joined Eide Bailly in 2010 and has provided audit and consulting services for SOC clients throughout his entire 13+ year tenure. He currently partners approximately 30 SOC engagements each year, providing value through this experience as well as his financial (CPA) and IT (CISA) background. Adam is heavily involved in developing and executing Eide Bailly’s internal and external SOC trainings and seminars. He also currently serves as the l...

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Alison Cohen

Alison J. Cohen, J.D., APA, APR is a Partner with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Alison advises clients on many issues related to qualified retirement plans, including design, mergers and acquisitions, audits, and operational issues. Alison commonly works with clients that have operational issues to guide them through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Department of Labor (DOL) corrective programs, prepare corrective ...

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Brian Thomas Coons

Brian Coons, CPA, is a Practice Leader at Pension Assurance LLP. He originally joined the Pension Assurance team in 2016 working exclusively on employee benefit plan audits. He took a momentary detour and worked at Ernst & Young doing taxes for high-net-worth individuals and private companies but decided to return to Pension Assurance and continue his focus on retirement plan audits. Last year, Brian personally managed over 60 plan audits and ...

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Jill C. Kitchin

Jill Kitchin is a senior audit manager in the San Francisco office of Hood & Strong LLP. She manages and oversees financial statement audits and other projects, ensuring that outstanding client service is provided. With more than 13 years of public accounting experience, Kitchin has the technical knowledge and experience to assist clients improve their internal control policies and procedures, as well as assist with accounting-related projects...

More about Jill C. Kitchin

Marilee P. Lau

Marilee Lau provides consulting services to CPA firms specializing in employee benefit plans which includes practice and in house engagement reviews. She also presents at EBP conferences and teaches various educational programs on accounting and auditing for employee benefit plans. She is the Consulting CPA on Staff for the Colorado Society of CPAs overseeing the AICPA Peer Review Program for Colorado, New Mexico, and Washington. Before retiri...

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Michael Meihaus

Michael Meihaus is San Diego born and raised, and the owner of Meihaus CPA, a firm specializing exclusively in retirement plan audits. Prior to starting his firm, he managed the California benefit plan audit practice at a Top 100 firm. He has performed over 250 ERISA audits during his career and his experience includes 401(k), 403(b), Health and Welfare, ESOP, and defined benefit plans.

More about Michael Meihaus

Bertha A. Minnihan

Bertha leads the Assurance Practice for the firm’s Northern California region. She oversees audit quality, staffing and engagement management, and client services. The Northern California assurance practice specializes in a variety of industries and service lines with over 300 professionals serving clients.Bertha has served as the firm’s national practice leader for the Employee Benefit Plan Services group. She has extensive experience directi...

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Kevin Nolt

Kevin Nolt focuses his practice on qualified retirement plans, including defined benefit plans (both traditional and cash balance plans) and defined contribution plans (401(k), profit sharing, ESOPs and money purchase pension plans), and plans of tax exempt entities and public schools and universities, including 403(b) and 457 plans. His clients include benefit plans, service providers and employers of all sizes and industries, including Fortu...

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Jeff Stone

Jeff has over 30 years of audit and accounting experience having spent 10 years with Deloitte as he began his career. Jeff has provided a broad range of advisory services in the areas of financial statement audits, strategic planning, internal controls, financial management, and operations/compliance. While Jeff has extensive experience in a variety of industries, his primary focus now includes financial statement audits of qualified employee ...

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Mark Jeffrey Wirth

With over 40 years of audit and accounting experience, Mark is responsible for audits of privately held companies as well as audits of many types of employee benefit plans, including ESOPs, 401(k) Plans, other types of defined contribution plans, and defined benefit plans. He also consults with clients on employee benefit plan issues, and serves as engagement quality control reviewer and as audit engagement leader, with significant training an...

More about Mark Jeffrey Wirth

Employee Benefit Plans Audit Virtual Conference 2025

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Nonmember Early Bird

Overview

Product Code

Credit Type

Format

Intended Audience

NASBA Field of Study

Level of Difficulty

Prerequisites

Learning Objectives

Agenda

8:30 – 8:31 a.m. PT

Welcome Remarks

8:31 – 9:20 a.m. PT

DOL Update

9:20 – 9:45 a.m. PT

DOL Cybersecurity Best Practices

9:45 – 10:35 a.m. PT

A&A Update

Speaker(s)

10:35 – 10:50 a.m. PT

Break

10:50 – 11:40 a.m. PT

Regulatory and Legal Update

Speaker(s)

11:40 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT

Form 5500

Speaker(s)

12:30 – 1 p.m. PT

Lunch Break

1 – 2:15 p.m. PT

Audit Efficiency

Speaker(s)

2:15 – 3:05 p.m. PT

SOC Report and Risk Assessment

Speaker(s)

3:05 – 3:15 p.m. PT

Break

3:15 – 4:05 p.m. PT

Common Retirement Plan Compliance Errors

Speaker(s)

Faculty

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