Payroll and benefits plan audit

Payroll and benefits are among the largest recurring costs a business has, and they depend on many small inputs. A new hire is set up wrongly. A former employee stays on a plan. A deduction is applied at the wrong rate.

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Each error is small and the total can be large. A partner firm can review payroll processing and benefits plan billing for cost and accuracy.

Fairview Audit connects you with a partner firm. Fairview does not do payroll or benefits work and does not give legal or tax advice.

What a payroll and benefits review looks at

The review has two sides. One checks that payroll is processed correctly and billed fairly. The other checks that benefit plans charge you for the people who should be covered.

Typical areas include:

  • Payroll provider fees, and whether they match the service agreement.
  • Setup data for employees, such as pay rates, deductions and tax settings.
  • Benefit premiums billed compared with the enrollment records you hold.
  • Coverage for people who have left, or who no longer qualify.
  • Dependent eligibility, meaning whether covered family members meet the plan rules.
  • Employer and employee contribution splits, and whether deductions match them.
  • Retirement plan contributions and their timing. Amounts withheld from pay must be forwarded to the plan as soon as possible.
  • Invoices from brokers, administrators and carriers.

Rules on payroll taxes and benefit plans are set by law and by plan documents. A review compares your practice with those documents. It does not interpret the law for you.

What you provide

Your partner firm will confirm what it needs. Expect to gather:

  • Payroll provider contract and recent invoices.
  • Payroll registers for the period under review.
  • Benefit carrier invoices and the plan documents.
  • Current enrollment lists, with hire and termination dates.
  • Records of changes in coverage during the year.
  • Contribution schedules for any retirement plan.
  • Correspondence with the provider or carrier about errors.
  • Contact details for the people in human resources and finance.

Treat these records as sensitive. Ask your partner firm how it receives and stores personal data, and share only what it needs.

What happens after you submit a request

  1. You choose a request path and submit the form.
  2. The request goes to a matched partner firm, or to Fairview for manual matching.
  3. A partner firm contacts you to discuss your payroll and plans and its terms.
  4. You share the documents it asks for.
  5. The partner firm reports its findings to you.
  6. You decide how to raise any corrections with your provider or carrier.

You stay involved. The engagement and any fees are between you and the partner firm. [CONFIRM: a partner firm supplies and approves how it handles personal employee data]

Who this suits

This category suits a business that:

  • Has grown or shrunk, so enrollment lists may lag reality.
  • Changed payroll providers or benefit carriers recently.
  • Pays carrier invoices without reconciling them to its own records.
  • Runs its own plans and wants a second look at the cost.

A formal plan audit, such as the audit some retirement plans require each year, is a different service. See Retirement plan audit for that. For wider insurance costs, read about insurance premium audit.

The partner firm that fits may depend on your size.

How Fairview matches you

There are three request paths: larger business, smaller business, and not sure or another need. Each has a form: larger business, smaller business or other needs. Fairview sends the request to the matched partner firm, or matches it by hand on the other path. You then deal with the firm directly. See how it works.

Who does the work

An independent partner firm that specializes in payroll and benefits plan audit handles this work. Fairview Audit makes the match. We do not perform the review ourselves.

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Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as a required plan audit?

No. Plans with 100 or more participants generally need an annual independent audit, with some exceptions. This review looks at cost and accuracy.

Will my employees be contacted?

That is for the partner firm to explain. Most of the work uses records you provide.

Do I need to change providers?

No. A review checks what you already use.

Who sets the fee?

The partner firm sets it under its own terms. Fairview does not.

Related pages

Find out what you are overpaying.

Tell us what you need reviewed. We match you by hand with an independent partner firm. You keep your existing vendors.

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