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So what can Richard J. Wolf and Company, Inc. do for me?

An audit is an evaluation of an organization, system, process and/or product. It is performed by a competent, objective, and unbiased person or persons, known as auditors. The purpose is to verify that the subject of the audit (in this case the various union payroll funds) has been completed and is operating according to the approved standards, statues, regulations and practices. It also evaluates controls to determine if conformance will continue.

In the end, audits evaluate conformance in the past, present and into the future.

And that is exactly what Richard J. Wolf and Company, Inc. does. We:

  • Review the history of the funds to verify they have been appropriated correctly;
  • Evaluate the current state of the funds to verify they are operating according to current statues and regulations;
  • Accurately and comprehensively report our findings so that proper courses of action can be taken to correct future errors from occurring.

So why should I choose Richard J. Wolf and Company, Inc.?

For years, Richard J. Wolf and Company, Inc. has consistently produced a high quality product at a low cost to the various funds. In fact, we have over 30 highly reputable years of specializing in contacting, performing, reviewing and finalizing payroll compliance audits.

Our promise is to be loyal to the funds and respectful to the contractors.

How would Richard J. Wolf and Company go about doing a typical audit?

A typical audit can have different steps and will require various types of financial documents, depending on which type of fund is being audited. Generally speaking, each audit will follow roughly the same type of steps, though again, will vary depending on which fund is being audited.

As a general rule of thumb though, here is an example of what an audit would look like for a payroll compliance type audit:

 
1. Richard J. Wolf and Company, Inc. receives an audit request. This can either be a random audit list or a special request from the Funds.
 
2. Once we have received the request, we then follow up with either a phone call to schedule the audit, or we send a confirmation letter with the scheduled date and time.
 
3. On the day of the audit, we first begin by reviewing the payroll taxes. This includes: reviewing all available documentation; recording payroll tax information; comparing totals; and then if necessary, testing employees' four quarters of gross payroll to W-2 totals.
 
4. Next, we now identify all employees. We do this by obtaining an employee list; by identification through other fringe benefit reports (i.e. canceled checks, check stubs, etc); and/or by questioning the contact person. After all employees have been identified, the auditor will focus on the employees that are concerned with this particular audit. These individuals will be checked with a union member listing (if available).
 
5. With the proper list of employees, our auditors now begin to record payroll information. First, the auditor collects time cards, weekly and monthly payroll journals, quarterly payroll summaries and year to date summaries. The information recorded is: pay rate, regular hours, overtime hours, double time hours, dues deductions and bonus pay. If the hourly payroll is unavailable or incomplete, then the auditor may utilize gross payroll calculated by actual pay rate paid to determine the approximate payroll hours.

Once payroll hours are determined, the auditor will compare hours worked to hours reported: on a monthly basis; on a quarterly basis; on a year to date basis.
 
6. The auditors next step is to preview the subcontractors via: check registers; check stubs; cancelled checks via bank statements; general ledgers (subcontractor, outside services, and casual labor); 1099's.

If an item causes suspicion, the auditor will inquire with the contact person and may ask for a corresponding invoice to determine what type of work was performed. If a subcontractor is in question, the auditor will verify with the local union to find out if they are signatory and if fringes are paid to date. If the sub is not signatory, the auditor will record the date, the amount and the check number.
 
7. The auditor will also request proof of a current wage and fringe benefit bond. He will then record who issued the bond, the amount, the dates covered, and the bond number.
 
8. Also, the auditor will contact the local unions to find out if there are any penalties on the contractor being audited, and if any of those penalties should be applied to the audit finding.
 
9. With all that complete, the auditor will compile the final results and will send those to the Board of Trustees for the local unions.
   

 
 
 
 
 

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