Annual compliance review
A clear annual review keeps small issues from becoming big ones.
Sterling helps business owners and their advisors create a repeatable review process around deadlines, participant data, plan testing, and required professional sign-offs.
Review framework
A disciplined checklist, tailored to your plan.
Every plan has its own calendar and obligations. We help you see which items are administrative, which require advisor input, and which must be certified by the appropriate independent professional.
- Confirm plan census and compensation inputs
- Review participation and eligibility changes
- Coordinate annual testing and reporting
- Track notices, filings, and plan deadlines
- Identify amendments or design changes
- Escalate actuarial certification questions to an independent Enrolled Actuary
Three dates, not one “year-end”
Owners get into trouble by treating year-end as the only date. Minimum funding, the deduction, and Form 5500 are different obligations. Missing minimum funding can mean a 10 percent excise tax on Form 5330. A deposit that is on time for the deduction can still be late for funding, and the reverse is also true. Your CPA confirms which tax year a deposit lands in. The actuary confirms the minimum and the deductible maximum. Sterling keeps the census and the filing coordinated with both. The plain calendar is here.
Form 5500 for a defined benefit plan is not complete because the rest of the form looks finished. Where Schedule SB is required, an independent Enrolled Actuary signs it. Sterling does not. If the actuary does not have a final census and a final asset statement, the schedule is not ready, and the return is not ready. The Department of Labor’s filing guidance is the Form 5500 reporting page. The IRS companion is the Form 5500 corner.
The day-to-day of that work, as opposed to this annual list, is administration. Who is paid for which signature is fees.
Make your next annual review more predictable.
Bring last year’s filing, the census, and the trust statement.