Alternatives to Financial Statement Audits
By Steven Lyons, CPA, Assurance Senior Manager and Kari Hipsak, CPA, Senior Manager of Quality Management While financial statement audits are mandatory for many organizations, a review or compilation may meet the needs of some. Understanding the differences between an audit, review, and compilation can help your organization select the best engagement to meet your…
2024 Update on Retirement Plans: Impact of SECURE Act 2.0
The SECURE Act 2.0 is transforming retirement planning by encouraging savings, enhancing retirement plan rules, and reducing employer costs. GRF hosted the 2024 Update on Retirement Plans on May 16th, 2024, where we explored the significant changes introduced by the SECURE Act 2.0. The session provided a comprehensive overview of the new provisions aimed at…
2024 Update on Retirement Plans: Recent Changes to Form 5500
Navigating the complexities of retirement plan reporting just got easier with the latest updates to Form 5500. These transformative changes promise to streamline processes, enhance data accuracy, and significantly reduce administrative burdens for plan administrators and sponsors. GRF hosted the 2024 Update on Retirement Plans webinar on May 16th, 2024, which delved into significant changes…
Prepare Now to Implement Topic 326 – Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL)
By: Susan Colladay, CPA, Partner, Audit Announced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 2016, Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-13: Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326) is also referred to as Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL). The new standard improves financial reporting by requiring more timely recording of credit losses on loans and…
HHS Website Providing Indirect Rate Information is Currently Unavailable
By Paul Calabrese, Principal, Outsourced Accounting and Advisory Services Have you been to the US Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Program Support Center (PSC) website lately? You may have noticed that their Cost Allocation Services landing page is down. The Cost Allocations Services website has historically provided valuable information to nonprofits, colleges and…
Decoding SBA’s Rules for 8(a) Financial Reporting
By Paul Calabrese, Principal, Outsourced Accounting and Advisory Services Small Disadvantaged Businesses with 8(a) status must observe important yearly financial reporting requirements per 13 CFR 124.602. To correctly interpret the annual receipts definition and submit the appropriate annual financial statement, participants must understand the requirements in the CFR. The chart below was developed by GRF’s…
Updated Management Responsibilities Under SAS 136
by Jennifer McCahill, CPA, Partner The implementation of SAS 136 is finally here. After being delayed an additional year during the pandemic, this new standard represents the first significant change to employee benefit plan audits in the past several years. For organizations subject to an audit of their retirement plan, below are several changes that…
New Lease Standard: Practitioner Tips for Implementation of Topic 842
After helping numerous clients implement Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), GRF’s team of audit specialists has compiled a list of tips, from their perspective as practitioners, to help organizations struggling with the new standard. Before considering the steps outlined below, it’s first helpful to understand the impact of Topic 842. Overview of…
Preparing for an Audit Made Easier with Financial Compilations and Reviews
By: Steven Lyons, CPA | Senior Manager, Outsourced Accounting and Advisory Services In addition to providing a more cost-effective alternative to a financial statement audit, compilations and reviews offer businesses and nonprofit organizations a number of important advantages. Perhaps most important, compilations and reviews help your organization prepare for a future financial audit because they…
Goodbye Limited-Scope Audits, Hello ERISA 103(a)(3)(c) Audits
By Jennifer McCahill, CPA, Partner In addition to disrupting business planning and operations, the COVID-19 pandemic also provided a reprieve from certain accounting standards changes with implementation dates in 2020. With the pandemic winding down and 2022 around the corner, now is the time to prepare for the implementation of SAS 136 for retirement plans…