As part of recent changes to Delaware’s unclaimed property statute, the state must give holders the opportunity to enter into its voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) program before initiating audits. In addition, holders that were already under examination had the option to convert to a VDA by Dec. 11, 2017. Expectedly, interest in Delaware’s VDA process is high. 

To provide UPPO members with insight into Delaware’s VDA process, Delaware Unclaimed Property VDA Administrator Alison Iavarone outlined the program and responded to questions during a recent UPPO webinar. 

“The VDA program is not an examination—it’s not an audit—but the holder is expected to conduct a comprehensive and detailed self-review of its books and records to determine whether the holder has past-due abandoned or unclaimed property reportable to Delaware,” she said.

Once enrolled, qualified unclaimed property holders accepted into Delaware’s VDA program will proceed through a four-phase process.

Phase 1: Scoping

During the initial phase of the VDA, the participating holder analyzes its organizational history, accounting functions and records to determine areas of potential unclaimed property exposure and underreporting. 

“The review should be customized to the holder,” Iavarone said. “In order to determine how it’s customized, you need to understand the corporate activity, whether companies were acquired during the VDA review period and how they were rolled into the company for accounting purposes, for example. Another big thing to address during the scoping phase is the compliance history—whether they have been filing and what property types they have been filing. This could help minimize the review you need to do.”

The holder determines the entities and property types where unclaimed property exposure exists and submits a Scoping Worksheet and Information Request to the VDA administrator assigned by the secretary of state’s office—either Drinker Biddle or TL2Q. 

The administrator reviews the holder’s submission and responds to any questions the holder may have about the process. The Delaware Department of State communicates with the administrator throughout the VDA process and remains available to address holder concerns. 

At the conclusion of this phase, the administrator and holder will agree on the scope of the VDA and establish a timeline for completion of the other phases. 

Phase 2: Quantification

During the second phase, the holder will review its books and records to quantify past-due unclaimed property reportable to Delaware for the entities and property types established during the scoping phase. The methodology for the quantification of amounts due to Delaware will generally be based on whether an entity is domiciled in Delaware and the records availability for each entity and property type. 

The holder and administrator periodically complete status updates to ensure the process is proceeding. The holder provides preliminary quantification schedules or other documentation for the administrator’s review and feedback. 

Phase 3: Submission and Validation

During the third phase, the administrator reviews the holder’s work and conclusions with the goal of establishing a settlement agreement, including the amount reportable to Delaware. The holder presents its VDA Submission to the administrator. It should include:

• Entity or company background information (in narrative form). 
•  Summary of the work performed (in narrative form). 
•  Summary of findings (in narrative form). 
•  Supporting schedules. 
•  Supporting documents. 
•  Other applicable documentation (e.g., legal opinions, management representation letters, etc.).

“This is the nuts and bolts of the VDA,” Iavarone said. “It should include is a summary of what was done in narrative form and then quantification schedules summarizing how you came up with the numbers, along with supporting documentation.” 

Upon receipt and review, the administrator responds with questions and follow-up items needed to proceed. Depending on the request, the holder may respond with supporting documentation and/or edits and updates to calculation spreadsheets. The holder also provides a management representation letter from its chief financial officer, describing what records are available for property types and for which years. 

The administrator presents the VDA Submission to the secretary of state’s office for review and approval. The Department of State reviews the VDA Submission and the administrator’s recommendations.

Phase 4: Closing and Documentation

Upon acceptance of the VDA Submission, the holder and secretary of state’s office work together to close the VDA. An officer or authorized representative completes and submits Form VDA-2 – Voluntary Self-Disclosure Agreement, along with several attachments:

• Exhibit A: List of Entities: This attachment includes a list of entities include in the VDA and their federal identification numbers. Dates and states of incorporation are also requested but not required.
• Exhibit B.1: Summary of Amounts Due: This attachment includes a table summarizing reportable amounts by property type. 
• Exhibit B.2: Line Item Owner: This attachment, provided in a printable format should include the name, address, property type and amount that will be included in the NAUPA file that will be uploaded by the holder after receiving the VDA Demand Letter. 
• Exhibit C: SOS VDA Submission: This attachment may consist of many documents and should include: the narrative summarizing the VDA analysis; a summary and detailed schedules quantifying amounts; copy of VDA-1 and any applicable amendments; management representation/records availability letter; legal opinions/memoranda related to the VDA; and any other relevant documents. 

After the holder and secretary of state have signed Form VDA-2, the Department of State will issue a Demand Letter, requesting payment and providing instructions for uploading the necessary NAUPA file. The holder will have 10 days to make payment of the amount due. 

Following completion of the VDA process, the holder is required to file unclaimed property reports electronically to the Department of Finance for the next three years. 

For additional information regarding Delaware’s VDA program, including forms, sample documents and answers to frequently asked questions, visit http://vda.delaware.gov.

In today’s unclaimed property environment, the constant threat of a multi-state audit is very real for holders. Those who find themselves under examination face a daunting process that will likely last three to five years and will most certainly result in a significant resource strain across many departments.

Multi-state audit liability can be quite costly. The third-party firm conducting the audit works on a contingency fee basis, providing an incentive to discover a large liability in every state for which it is working. If one of those states is the holder’s state of incorporation, estimated liability with a lookback period of 10-15 years is in play, depending on the specific state.

Company-wide engagement in the audit process is essential. Several departments, including accounts payable, payroll, accounts receivable. finance, IT and legal, will likely be called on to commit their time and effort to the audit process – all while continuing to carry out their regular day-to-day responsibilities.

So, with this looming threat, what should a holder do to manage the multi-state audit process?

First, be proactive. If a multi-state audit has not yet been initiated, conduct a risk assessment to understand potential exposure. Identify holes in existing procedures that could lead to potential unclaimed property issues – small dollar balance write-offs, stale-date check write-offs and lack of documentation to support voided checks, for example. Evaluate the level of risk so you can address areas likely to cause significant problems. Consider signing up for states’ voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) programs to come into compliance voluntarily, rather than waiting for an audit notice.

If it’s too late for proactive measures and you’ve already received a multi-state examination notice, get organized. Appoint a lead person to manage the audit process, serve as the point of contact for the auditors, compile documentation and review materials before submission to the auditors. Evaluate whether to hire an experienced advocate to help manage the process.

Get legal counsel involved early. Because a significant amount of litigation surrounding unclaimed property audits has occurred, legal counsel may be able to identify industry-specific legal defense issues to help mitigate the audit.

The first 12-18 months of a multi-state audit are especially critical. Expect frequent document requests from the auditors, each with a 30-60-day timeline. The initial requests will be used to establish the audit scope – which entities and property types will be included. Auditors will then likely review trial balance and general ledgers, disbursement bank account information, accounts receivable reports and aging reports.

Depending on the holder’s industry, record requests may fall outside of the accounts payable, payroll and accounts receivable departments. For example, retailers may need to supply gift card records, or manufacturing companies may be asked for customer rebate records.

It is critical for the person managing the audit process to review all information before submitting it to the auditors, ensuring they receive exactly what they need but nothing more that could complicate the process.

As the audit proceeds, the holder should recognize its exposure in additional states not covered as part of the audit. If a company doing business in 40 states undergoes an audit covering 10 of them, there may be existing exposure in the other 30. The audit provides an opportunity to manage that additional risk, enter into VDA programs and enact processes to prevent the problem from spreading.

Undergoing a multi-state audit is never pleasant, but it provides an incentive for holders to improve their practices. Through the hard work required to complete the audit, best practices can be implemented to ensure better procedures and controls in the future. Executives are more likely to remain aware of unclaimed property issues following an audit, increasing the likelihood of increased support to prevent another such audit in five, six or 10 years.

To get a more in-depth look at navigating the challenges of a multi-state audit, join UPPO for the Multi-State Audits webinar on Dec. 12, 2017, at 1 p.m. EST. Matt Hedstrom from Alston & Bird LLP and Heela Popal from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will provide insight into managing the process, tackling business continuity challenges and preparing for a potential audit. 

Under Delaware Department of Finance regulations that became effective on Oct. 11, 2017, unclaimed property holders that received an examination notice from the department on or before July 22, 2015, have the option to convert the audit to the state’s Voluntary Disclosure Agreement Program. The deadline for submitting the Notice of Intent to Convert Audit to VDA form is Dec. 11, 2017. Holders undergoing a securities examination are not eligible to convert.

Converting from an existing audit to a VDA holds several potential benefits for holders.

Waived interest and penalties

Delaware officials have stated that waiving the mandatory 25 percent interest charge and other penalties is intended to be a significant incentive for holders to come into compliance via the state’s VDA program.

Limited carryover of audit work

“The only aspect of the audit that will have precedential impact on the VDA is the scope of the examination,” said Kendall Houghton, partner with Alston & Bird. “That includes any determination by the Department of Finance and its contract auditors about which entities will come under review, and the applicable property types and years. Other than that, holders that convert to a VDA have the option to incorporate other aspects of work performed during the audit, but are not required to do so.”

This limited carryover of audit work has two noteworthy advantages to holders:

1. They don’t have to start over, redoing every aspect of the audit. Holders that qualify for the VDA conversion have been under examination for at least two years and have likely dedicated significant resources to the process. They can choose to use completed work as they prepare their VDA analysis, submission and quantification of liability.
2. They are not required to use the audit firm’s work papers and determinations made during the examination.

Closing and release agreement

Upon completing the VDA program, holders have the opportunity to secure a closing and release agreement from the secretary of state. That can be quite valuable, as it protects holders from liability for the period covered under the VDA, as long as there was no willful misrepresentation or fraud, and they meet future reporting requirements.

Flexibility

Holders that elect to convert their examinations to VDAs are not required to complete the VDA program. If they are unable to reach acceptable terms or anticipate that the results of an unclaimed property lawsuit may deem Delaware’s estimation practices unconstitutional, for example, holders may choose to withdraw from the VDA program. This gives them the option to challenge their liability or litigate it later, which would not be an option once the VDA closing and release agreement is finalized.

Control

Undergoing a self-directed review under the VDA process gives holders greater control of the process than completing an audit. The self-directed review is typically more targeted, freeing holders from overly broad information requests from the auditor. They also have the ability to set their own timelines.

“If you’re engaged in yearend closing and need to put the VDA process aside for a few weeks, you can do that without the constant tension of having to fulfill the auditor’s record requests,” Houghton said.

Relaxed review standards

The VDA’s review standards are generally less stringent than those imposed during an audit. For example, under an audit, checks voided after 30 days need to be researched and remediated. Under the VDA process, the standard increases to 90 days for voided checks. This standard is more in line with common business practices and is likely to generate a lower error rate for liability estimation.

“The remediation standards employed in the VDA program are more appropriate because the holder knows its policies and procedure, and is in the best position to assess whether an item on the books has been proven not to be unclaimed property,” said Houghton. “There is effectively a presumption in the audit process that anything on the books is unclaimed property, and the level of documentation required to rebut that presumption is more rigid.”

Greater cooperation

The VDA program is designed to give holders the opportunity to complete the self-directed examination, secure a release and move forward with proactive compliance. As such, even when issues between holders and the VDA administrators are contested, they are generally able to discuss, vet and settle the differences. Everyone involved typically approaches challenges with the common goal of collaborating on a solution.

Potential downsides

Despite the advantages available to holders through the audit-to-VDA conversion, opting to convert is not a clear-cut decision for everyone. As mentioned previously, upon execution of a closing and release agreement, holders forfeit the right to challenge the liability or later litigate it. In the event of a significant lawsuit that changes the unclaimed property audit landscape, holders that completed the VDA would not have the right to file a refund claim or dispute the estimated liability they paid.

For some holders that have substantially completed the audit process, the VDA process may represent an additional burden. Although not starting from scratch because they can use material from the examination period when preparing their VDA analysis, the self-directed review process still requires dedication of resources. A holder may decide that completing the audit process is more prudent than dedicating additional consultant, outside counsel and staff resources to the VDA program.

Finally, if the holder is subject to a multi-state audit, converting to a VDA in Delaware would not affect the audit from the other states. So, entering into the VDA could effectively shift the holder from a single process to multiple processes, posing potential resource issues.

The third option

In addition to completing the examination or converting to a VDA, holders may instead elect to convert to an expedited audit. Much like the VDA, this option includes a waiver of interest and penalties. However, very little information regarding the expedited audit process has been published, and the waiver is subject to the escheator’s determination that a holder cooperated with the auditor.

“The VDA and audit processes have been around a long time, but the expedited audit process is new and has a lot of unknowns,” said Houghton. “The administrative comments and guidelines don’t exist yet. That creates a lot of questions that aren’t yet answerable.”

For more information about Delaware’s VDA conversion initiative, refer to Delaware’s Convert Audit to a VDA web page.