NBS Successfully Completed its 2015 SSAE 16 (SOC 1) Type II Audit

To demonstrate our effectiveness in administering retirement and flexible benefit plans, National Benefit Services, LLC is pleased to announce the successful completion of our seventh annual examination by our service auditor, in accordance with the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16).  The independent certified public accounting (CPA) firm, Tanner, LLC, performed the examination and issued the corresponding SSAE 16 report, also known as a Service Organization Control (SOC) 1 report.

SSAE 16 is a new Standard created by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This new Standard supersedes the former guidance contained in the Statement on Auditing Standard No. 70 (SAS 70) and defines the professional standards used by a service auditor to examine and report on relevant internal controls of a service organization.  While SSAE 16 builds upon many of the core elements contained within SAS 70, a SOC 1 report now includes an assertion by management of the service organization related to the description of the service organization’s system and the suitability of the design and operating effectiveness of related controls. Our SOC 1 report addresses relevant aspects of our internal control environment, including controls over our retirement and cafeteria benefit plan administration and transaction processing.

NBS’s Commitment to Quality

Our efforts in completing this examination/audit process demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our clients to serve as a dependable, transparent, secure Third Party Administrator (TPA), focused on minimizing risk (through effective controls), increasing value, and maintaining service standards. The SSAE 16 audit not only verifies that a company has policies and procedures in place regarding internal controls, but also examines those procedures to determine whether the underlying controls are implemented into daily operations and operating effectively (in the case of a Type II report).

NBS’s focus on ‘Integrity of our Systems’ recognizes the increasing attention on the internal controls of business partners to whom services are outsourced. Our decision to undergo an annual SSAE 16 examination is based on a desire to provide our clients with a high level of assurance regarding the operations that all employees at our firm maintain.

Benefits of the NBS SOC 1 Report to Our Clients

• Our clients receive a detailed description of our controls and an independent assessment of whether the controls were placed into operation, suitably designed, and operating effectively
• The SOC 1 report will greatly assist our client’s auditors in planning their independent plan audits
• The SOC 1 report will generally result in lower costs for clients that require an independent plan audit

Our clients will have confidence in their decision to do business with a firm that is committed to quality and to strong internal controls.  For a copy of the full SSAE16 Audit report, please contact either your NBS Relationship Manager or submit a request here.