Audits of Employee Benefit Plans Conference (E2005350)

As the Chief Accountant, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Mr. Auerbach is responsible for managing the resources of the Office of the Chief Accountant and implementing various comprehensive, nationwide enforcement programs relating to certain provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He also provides ERISA related accounting and auditing technical expertise within the Employee Benefits Security Administration and is the liaison with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and other professional organizations. Mr. Auerbach provides executive oversight and leadership for EBSA’s fiduciary oversight program for the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The TSP is the largest defined contribution plan in the world, with assets of in excess of $500 billion and 5.0 million participants.

Mr. Auerbach is a certified public accountant and earned his B.S. in accounting, from the University of Maryland.

Elizabeth Harper (Liz), Member of the Firm, joined SobelCo in the fall of 2009 to assume the role of Quality Control Senior Manager. In 2014 she was promoted to Director with responsibility for reviewing all of the financial statements and service organization control (SOC) reports issued by the firm along with client correspondences ensuring that the highest quality standards are met and that the reports are in accordance with the established authoritative standards. Liz is dedicated to ensuring that the firm complies with its internal quality standards. This includes involvement with the engagement teams during all phases of the work, personnel training and development, and monitoring of engagement quality. Liz is also responsible for client service of SOC, employment benefit plan (EBP) engagements and other audits.

In 2016 Liz was given the additional role as Director of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Group and in 2017 was elected as a Member of the Firm. Liz brings insights gained based on her previous experiences at a "Big Four" firm and a local CPA firm to all of the roles she plays at SobelCo.

While at a local firm, Liz had a wide variety of responsibilities across a range of industries, which she draws on daily at SobelCo. From her years at KPMG, Liz is able to leverage the knowledge she gained managing financial and internal control audits, quarterly reviews and agreed upon procedures, with well-known clients ranging from Philips Lighting to Ricoh Corporation. This global exposure adds value to the current SobelCo regional environment and it will be a critical component of future growth as the firm continues to expand, serving national and international clients in the coming years. By combining her perspectives from private industry and public accounting, she can provide meaningful solutions to SobelCo's clients.

Melissa B. Kurtzman focuses her practice on representing management in a variety of employee benefits matters, including the design and implementation of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans and welfare and fringe benefit programs, employee benefits tax matters and employee benefits in mergers and acquisitions. She also provides advice on: - Employee benefit plan administration - Reporting and disclosure obligations - Fiduciary responsibilities - Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor correction programs - Contingent workforce issues - Efficient design of retirement and welfare plans Melissa acted as an expert witness in a federal bankruptcy matter in connection with qualified plan issues. Additionally, she represents plan sponsors in employee benefit plan IRS and DOL audits. She assists plan sponsors in self-audits of benefits plans prior to or in connection with government audits. Prior to joining Littler, Melissa served as a partner at WolfBlock LLP where she focused on employee benefits and served as a director of Erisa Compliance for a large 401(k) plan record keeping company.

Sean is a senior manager at Withum's Whippany, NJ office and has 15 years of public accounting experience. His expertise includes auditing, financial statement preparation and business consulting. Sean is a member of the Firm’s Manufacturing, Distribution & Logistics and Employee Benefits Services groups. In these roles he provides accounting and auditing services to clients within the manufacturing, distribution, cannabis and transportation industry sectors and employee benefit audit services to plans across all industries. Sean is also the Audit Team Leader of the Cannabis Services team and a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops on emerging accounting and industry topics. He resides in Bergen County, NJ.

Kevin Nardone is a Director in the Private Business Services Group at EisnerAmper, with over 10 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. He provides advisory services for privately held businesses and individuals including income tax compliance and accounting services.

Kevin manages engagement teams performing audit services for diverse clients, including those in the food and beverage, manufacturing and distribution industries, and construction companies. Additionally, he has experience in employee benefit plan audits, 401(k)s and defined benefit plans for single and multiple employers and knowledge and experience surrounding multi-employer benefit plans.

Kevin consults with clients and is responsible for the supervision and review of staff and work product, including detailed testing. He understands the reporting and regulatory requirements unique to these types of audits and stays abreast of changes, including recent accounting standards updates and required implementation.

Robert Reilly is a Director in EisnerAmper's Audit and Assurance Services Practice. He has over 25 years of auditing and accounting experience in both the private and public sectors. He is a member of the firm’s Pension Services, Technology, and Manufacturing and Distribution Groups.

Mr. Reilly provides auditing and consulting services to clients in a wide range of industries. Working with companies in the technology, manufacturing and distribution industries, he has a strong understanding of the issues important to these companies. He also works extensively with employee benefit plans, including defined contribution, defined benefit, and health & welfare plans. He designs and delivers in-house training and speaks and writes on a variety of topics important to his clients and the sectors they operate in.

Prior to joining EisnerAmper, Mr. Reilly was an Audit and Accounting Manager at a regional accounting firm in New York City, and an Audit Manager at a Big Four accounting firm.

Pamela Reynolds represents and counsels national corporations, small businesses, universities, and other clients in a broad range of labor and employment matters, with an emphasis on ERISA and benefit plan litigation. She litigates in federal courts throughout the country and in New York State courts, and defends employers under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, New York State Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the New York State Division of Human Rights. Pamela has litigated cases involving breach of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA, including a case involving “stock drop” allegations with regard to a 401(k) plan that included company stock in its portfolio. Additionally, she has successfully defended clients against claims of denial of medical, severance, or retirement benefits.

• Over 8 years of professional accounting experience, responsible for planning and conducting, audits, compilations, reviews, and other attestation engagements.
• Specializes in providing services to the A/E and professional services industry, with diverse experience in industries including manufacturing, distribution, insurance and mortgage banking.
• Additional expertise in specialized services including employee benefit plan audit and SOC audit engagements.
• Experience performing contract audits and agreed upon procedure engagements with New Jersey State Government.
• Experience with insurance engagements specific to claims operations.
• Served in an international work assignment between Withum and HLB member firm Mann Judd in Australia.
• Member of Withum's Accounting and Auditing Fellowship Program, responsible for instructing and training new sta and conducts numerous in-house continuing professional education (CPE) certified courses.
• Active member of the Firm's Professional Services Group.

Charles is one of New Jersey’s foremost retirement planning experts, drawing upon his 25 years of industry experience to provide trusted counsel to clients and skilled leadership to INTAC Actuarial Services’ highly trained advisors. His career began at family-operated INTAC in 1994 as a pension consultant. Today, as INTAC’s managing partner, he spearheads the firm’s pension sales and marketing programs with an emphasis on delivering a high-touch, personalized customer experience. He proactively consults with clients and advisors on all forms of defined contribution and defined benefit plans throughout the planning process. He also sits on the TPA Advisory Boards for Nationwide, VOYA and Transamerica. Prior to joining INTAC, he was vice president of finance at Oxford Medical.

Anurag Sharma is a Principal of the Firm’s Cybersecurity practice and System & Organization Controls (SOC) practice based out of our Princeton, NJ office. Anurag is a regular speaker on Cybersecurity and SOC related topics at many State CPA Societies including NJCPA PICPA, CTCPA, FICPA, the AICPA and other organizations. Anurag has authored many articles dealing with Cybersecurity challenges faced by small and medium businesses (SMB) and has been frequently quoted in NJ Biz Magazine, Boston Business Journal and PEI Private Fund Management Magazine.

Anurag has over 19 years of experience and is one of Withum’s leading Cybersecurity specialists. His areas of expertise include Cybersecurity Assessments (NIST Cybersecurity Framework), SOC Suite of Services (SOC 1, SOC 2 and SOC for Cybersecurity), Corporate Governance, Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance and ISO/IEC 27001 Consulting.

Anurag is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC). He is also designated as a SOC 1 and SOC 2 and SOC for Cybersecurity specialist by the Oversight Task Force of the AICPA Peer Review Board. He is a graduate of Symbiosis Center for Management & Human Resource Development (India), where he received his Master of Business Administration degree in Information Systems. Anurag is a member of Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and International Information systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2.