Proactive Advice is a Cost Benefit Priority in Helping Clients Avoid Penalties

We advise benefit plan clients who wish to switch custodians mid-Plan year to wait until January 1st or the beginning of the Plan year, in order to mitigate difficulties which inevitably crop up in obtaining financial reports related to the Plan from two different service providers in the same plan year. Our experience has been that switching mid-year leads to difficulties, but we want the audit process to proceed smoothly.

Another frequent question from clients occurs when a participant in the Plan exceeds the limitation on their contribution. If the excess contribution is not remitted by March 15 of a given year, the client pays excise tax on that amount. GHB has successfully advised clients to implement strict procedures to ensure compliance and thus avoid excise tax. We make this a cost benefit priority recommendation when advising our clients. That’s client service!