Preparation, not the audit opinion
Our role is agreed back-office work. Your firm retains engagement acceptance, professional judgment, audit procedures, review, conclusions, and any audit report.
Reliable back-office support for employee benefit plan audits.
Preparing for 401(k) plan audit season can place significant pressure on accounting firms, third-party administrators (TPAs), recordkeepers, and retirement plan service providers. Multiple data sources, detailed documentation requirements, reconciliation tasks, and tight reporting schedules can stretch internal teams when workloads are already high.
Intellgus provides outsourced accounting and audit-preparation support designed to help U.S. accounting firms and retirement plan service providers manage documentation, organize financial information, and prepare workpapers for professional review—without expanding the permanent workforce for every busy season.
Employee benefit plan audits involve more than collecting financial statements. Information may come from plan sponsors, payroll systems, third-party administrators, recordkeepers, trustees, and custodians. Each source must be organized so the responsible professionals can review it efficiently. Intellgus supports accounting and retirement plan service teams with structured, repeatable back-office workflows tailored to your procedures, documentation standards, and review process.
Our role is agreed back-office work. Your firm retains engagement acceptance, professional judgment, audit procedures, review, conclusions, and any audit report.
The exact scope depends on your engagement requirements, available records, internal controls, and review procedures.
Support is scoped around your firm's instructions, templates, and review standards.
Each engagement can cover documentation, reconciliations, workpapers, and seasonal capacity—subject to the agreed scope.
We help organize PBC files, prepare reconciliation and census schedules, and assemble workpapers using your templates. Draft schedules remain subject to review and approval by the responsible accounting or audit professionals.
Intellgus does not independently determine audit conclusions, replace the auditor's evaluation of evidence, or issue an independent auditor's report through this support service. Form 5500 approval, signature, and filing remain with the authorized parties. Audit judgments, materiality decisions, proposed adjustments, and final conclusions remain with the professionals responsible for the engagement.
The objective is a clearer view of documentation status and less avoidable administrative back-and-forth.
Exceptions are documented for your team's evaluation rather than treated as resolved solely because a schedule was prepared.
We follow your firm's instructions and review standards rather than imposing a separate, unapproved methodology.
Form 5500-related assistance is included only where it is part of the agreed scope. We do not independently sign or file Form 5500.
The objective is to add capacity where your team needs it—not to interfere with engagement management or professional responsibilities.
Employee benefit plan records can contain sensitive financial and personal information. Before outsourcing any work, your firm should evaluate the provider's security controls, contractual commitments, access permissions, and handling of confidential data. Intellgus can discuss security and confidentiality requirements as part of the engagement assessment.
Topics to confirm before onboarding include confidentiality and data-processing agreements, role-based access, approved file-transfer and storage methods, access provisioning and removal, data retention and secure deletion, incident escalation, and subcontractor access if applicable. Specific claims about encryption, certifications, or security audits should be confirmed against the controls actually in place.
Support can be structured around your service model, internal controls, and the specific work being outsourced.
Dependable preparation support that fits your engagement workflows and review standards. Your firm retains control over acceptance, judgment, procedures, review, conclusions, and any audit report.
Help organize documentation, prepare data schedules, track outstanding requests, and keep consistent records for your designated accounting or audit team.
Organize supplied reports, prepare comparison schedules, and document data questions according to your firm's instructions. The recordkeeper remains responsible for its own services and records.
Help accounting firms organize payroll registers, contribution-related reports, and supporting schedules, and track differences that require further investigation.
Support coordinating information among providers, subject to authorization, data access, and the agreed scope of work.
The most suitable arrangement depends on your service model, internal controls, confidentiality requirements, data-access arrangements, and the specific work being outsourced.
You should know which tasks are included, what information is required, and who reviews the deliverables. We establish the agreed scope before work begins.
Support can be aligned with your templates, review procedures, file structures, and documentation requirements, subject to available systems.
Outsourced support can cover recurring preparation tasks and seasonal workloads, depending on volume, complexity, and what you choose to delegate.
Consistent naming, cross-referencing, task tracking, and review-note management can make prepared work easier for your team to navigate.
We can help maintain trackers and route questions to the appropriate contact based on your agreed procedures.
Our role is to assist with the agreed work—not to replace professional judgment or take over duties that must remain with the plan administrator or independent auditor.
A defined workflow, agreed before work begins, covering scope, documents, preparation, and your review.
We discuss engagement types, workload, processes, documentation standards, and support needs.
We agree which tasks are outsourced, which files you provide, who reviews, and how questions escalate.
Approved files are organized using your naming conventions, folders, and tracking procedures.
Assigned preparation uses your firm's instructions, templates, and established methodology.
Missing information and unresolved questions are recorded and routed to the designated reviewer.
A defined workflow, agreed before work begins, covering scope, documents, preparation, and your review.
We discuss engagement types, workload, processes, documentation standards, and support needs.
We agree which tasks are outsourced, which files you provide, who reviews, and how questions escalate.
Approved files are organized using your naming conventions, folders, and tracking procedures.
Assigned preparation uses your firm's instructions, templates, and established methodology.
Missing information and unresolved questions are recorded and routed to the designated reviewer.
These are process improvements, not guarantees of specific savings, audit outcomes, or turnaround times.
Your internal professionals need time for engagement supervision, evidence evaluation, client communication, and professional judgment. Intellgus can help with agreed preparation and documentation tasks so your team can better manage recurring work and seasonal demand.
Agreed preparation tasks
Your review and judgment
No substitute for the independent auditor
Let's discuss your current process, the tasks creating the greatest workload, and the type of support your team needs. Share only general project information at this stage. Do not submit participant records, Social Security numbers, payroll files, or other sensitive personal information through a general inquiry.
The arrangement depends on your service model and the work being outsourced.
The first conversation is about how your team works today.
A specific request list is set after the scope is confirmed.
Availability and capacity should be confirmed before commitments are made. The actual process, responsibilities, turnaround times, and deliverables are agreed before work begins.
401(k) plan audit support refers to preparation and administrative work that helps accounting firms and retirement plan service providers organize information for an employee benefit plan audit. Depending on the agreed scope, this may include documentation tracking, data reconciliation, supporting schedules, and workpaper preparation. It is distinct from performing an independent audit and issuing an auditor's opinion.
No. The requirement depends on the plan and applicable rules. Federal requirements generally apply to employee benefit plans with 100 or more participants, but exemptions and special conditions may apply. Plan administrators should confirm the requirements for their specific plan with an appropriately qualified professional.
This page describes outsourced preparation support, not an independent audit engagement. An independent audit report must be issued by the appropriately qualified and independent audit professional engaged for the plan.
No. Outsourced preparation support does not replace the independent auditor's responsibilities. The responsible auditor must maintain independence and perform the procedures necessary to support the audit opinion.
Contact Intellgus to discuss your engagement volume, preparation tasks, preferred workflow, documentation standards, and expected schedule. We can then assess whether our outsourced support model is appropriate for your firm. Share only general project information at this stage—do not submit participant records or other sensitive personal information through a general inquiry.
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