Benefit Plan Bulletin from Miller Cooper & Co.
June 2010
New e-Signature Option Available for Forms 5500 and 5500-SF Electronic Filing
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration recently announced that the EFAST2 electronic filing system for Forms 5500 and 5500-SF employee benefit plan annual reports has a new e-signature option. This option is designed to simplify the electronic filing process, especially for small businesses that use service providers to complete and file their annual reports.
Effective January 1, 2010, retirement and welfare plans required to file an annual Form 5500 or 5500-SF must file electronically using the DOL’s new EFAST2 electronic filing system. Under the new e-signature option, service providers that manage the filing process for plans can get their own signing credentials and submit the electronic Form 5500 or 5500-SF for the plan. The service provider must confirm that it has specific written authorization from the plan administrator to submit the plan’s electronic filing. In addition, the administrator must manually sign a paper copy of the completed filing, and the service provider must attach a PDF copy of the manually signed Form 5500 or 5500-SF as an attachment to the electronic filing submitted to EFAST2.
Once the Form 5500 or 5500-SF are filed, the service provider must communicate to the plan administrator any inquiries received from EFAST2, the DOL, the IRS or the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. regarding the filing, and inform the plan administrator that, by electing to use this option, the image of the plan administrator’s manual signature will be included with the rest of the annual return/report posted by the Labor Department on the Internet for public disclosure.
The additional e-signature option is available in the government-sponsored IFILE application as of May 13, 2010. Filers using EFAST2 approved software to complete and file the Form 5500 or Form 5500-SF can contact their software vendors for information regarding availability of this new e-signature option as part of their software.
The current EFAST2 frequently asked questions have been updated, and a new fact sheet and set of frequently asked questions have been developed to help small businesses understand this new option. Those materials are available through www.efast.dol.gov.
Choose an Experienced Firm for Your Plan Audit
Miller Cooper’s Employee Benefit Plan Audit Group is one of the leading providers of audit services to benefit plan sponsors. As you make your decision on a benefit plan audit provider, consider some important reasons why Miller Cooper is the best choice:
We audit 120+ benefit plans annually, making us one of only 48 firms in the U.S. that audit in excess of 100 benefit plans per year. Our audited plans range in size from 100 – 10,000 participants.
More than 25 professional staff members are dedicated to the Employee Benefit Plan Group. Each member averages 10 hours of CPE each year dedicated to employee benefit plan audit quality and process.
Miller Cooper is a member of the AICPA’s Audit Quality Center for Employee Benefit Plans, which requires additional Peer Review procedures for benefit plan audits. Additionally, we successfully underwent a recent Department of Labor (DOL) inspection and we receive a Peer Review every three years.
Our quality review is performed by a Principal solely dedicated to technical matters and quality review.
For more information, please contact one of our Employee Benefit Plan Audit Principals. You can also call us at 847-205-5000.
Kristen Fitzpatrick, CPA, Principal
1751 Lake Cook Road, Suite 400, Deerfield, IL 60015 500 West Madison St., Suite 3350, Chicago, IL 60661
In conformity with U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230 tax advice contained in this communication and any attachments is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code, nor may any such tax advice be used to promote, market or recommend to any person any transaction or matter that is the subject of this communication and any attachments. The intended recipients of this communication and any attachments are not subject to any limitation on the disclosure of the tax treatment or tax structure of any transaction or matter that is the subject of this communication and any attachments.