Small Pension Plan Audit Waiver: The 95% Qualifying Asset and Bonding Tests
A small pension plan may be able to use the audit waiver only when it meets the regulatory conditions, including the qualifying-asset or bonding pathway and participant-disclosure requirements.
A small pension plan may be able to use the audit waiver only when it meets the regulatory conditions, including the qualifying-asset or bonding pathway and participant-disclosure requirements.
For a plan sponsor, the practical question is rarely just what the rule is. It is what to do next, what to preserve, and who should review the decision before a routine compliance matter becomes harder to correct.
At a glance
- Start with facts: identify the event, plan year, people, and records involved.
- Use the right lens: separate reporting, tax, fiduciary, audit, and insurance questions.
- Keep evidence: retain calculations, approvals, communications, and follow-up testing.
Define the decision
The DOL describes the waiver as available to eligible small pension plans, generally those with fewer than 100 participants, that satisfy the regulation’s conditions.[1] One principal condition looks at whether at least 95% of assets were qualifying plan assets at the end of the preceding plan year; if not, a bonding condition applies to people handling non-qualifying assets.[1]
Begin with the governing plan document, the applicable year, and the actual operational record. Avoid filling gaps with assumptions. A short chronology—what occurred, who knew, what money or data moved, and what has already been done—gives the committee and advisers a shared starting point.
Compare the choices
The waiver is not a blanket “small plan” exemption. It is an annual fact-based determination. Qualifying assets can include assets held by certain regulated financial institutions, registered investment-company shares, and qualifying insurance or annuity contracts, subject to the guidance’s definitions.[1] The sponsor must also consider the disclosure and document-production duties.
| Question | Useful evidence | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| What happened? | Plan document, records, dates, and approvals | Write a neutral fact summary |
| Who is affected? | Census, account, payroll, and vendor data | Measure impact before choosing a remedy |
| Which rule applies? | Current agency guidance and professional advice | Confirm the correct compliance path |
Good decision-making is not about forcing every issue into a familiar label. It is about preserving options while the sponsor validates the facts, obligations, and available relief.
Questions to settle before action
Ask whether the plan document gives a clear answer, whether the records tell the same story across systems, and whether the issue affects a participant, the plan as a whole, or a filing obligation. Identify deadlines without guessing at them. If information is incomplete, record the open question and the person responsible for resolving it. This approach is more useful than treating uncertainty as evidence that no action is required.
Also separate a correction decision from a communication decision. A sponsor may need to coordinate with an auditor, recordkeeper, custodian, counsel, or participants, but the audience and timing should follow the facts and applicable requirements. Clear ownership, a documented decision, and a dated evidence file help prevent a small ambiguity from becoming a recurring operational weakness.
Implement with a record
Build a year-end evidence folder. Obtain custody, bank, insurance, and investment statements; classify each asset with a documented rationale; calculate the qualifying-asset percentage; identify handlers of any non-qualifying assets; and verify any required bond evidence. Confirm the Schedule I response and prepare the additional summary annual report disclosure before it is due.
- Set scope: define the requirement, scope, timing, and decision owner.
- Check evidence: check documents, reports, controls, and open exceptions.
- Assign action: assign the approved action, deadline, and accountable owner.
- Revisit: revisit evidence, changes, and unresolved exposure.
Use a single owner for the workplan, but involve the people who control the underlying evidence. Payroll, the recordkeeper, trustee or custodian, counsel, accountant, and committee may each hold a necessary piece. Document requests and responses contemporaneously; reconstructed explanations are less reliable than records created during the work.
Practical workplan
| Stage | Sponsor action | Completion evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Define | Confirm the facts and applicable period | Chronology and source documents |
| Compare | Evaluate the relevant correction, filing, audit, or coverage path | Written analysis and adviser input |
| Implement | Complete approved actions and required communications | Calculations, approvals, receipts, and notices |
| Review | Test the new control and report to the committee | Follow-up log and meeting record |
Review and prevent recurrence
Review participant access. The DOL guidance says participants and beneficiaries may request, without charge, certain financial-institution statements and evidence of required fidelity bonding.[1] Set a named contact, retention period, and response workflow so that this obligation does not become an afterthought during filing season.
Use the review to improve the calendar, not merely close a file. A concise committee report should distinguish confirmed facts from open questions, identify any participant-facing communication, and name the next review date. This creates continuity when staff, vendors, or committee members change.
Make the control usable
A preventive control should be specific enough that a new employee can operate it. Name the input, the reviewer, the cadence, the exception threshold, and the location where evidence is saved. For example, an owner may reconcile a payroll report to a trust report each month, route exceptions to a committee designee, and retain the signed reconciliation in a shared compliance folder. The point is not bureaucracy; it is making a critical handoff observable.
Schedule a short post-completion check rather than waiting for the next annual cycle. Confirm that payments, filings, notices, or record changes were accepted where applicable; compare the final result to the original fact summary; and make sure all required records are retained. If facts change after the initial analysis, update the chronology and ask advisers whether the change affects the selected path. Closing the loop is part of the work.
Committee minutes should capture the decision at an appropriate level: what was reviewed, what was approved, which matters were delegated, and when progress returns to the committee. They need not repeat sensitive details, but they should be sufficient to show thoughtful oversight. A reliable record protects participants and helps the sponsor respond consistently to future questions.
Takeaway
Start with a complete fact record, select the compliance path that matches the issue, and retain proof of both correction and prevention. That disciplined sequence helps sponsors make defensible decisions without overstating what any one program, audit, bond, or filing can accomplish.
Editorial disclaimer: This article is general educational information, not tax, legal, actuarial, investment, insurance, or compliance advice. Retirement-plan obligations depend on the plan document, facts, and current law. Consult qualified advisers before acting.
References
- [1] Frequently Asked Questions on the Small Pension Plan Audit Waiver Regulation — https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/small-pension-plan-audit-waiver-faq.pdf