Single audit – is your institution ready?

Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart F require all higher education institutions that receive and expend federal assistance totaling $750,000* or more during the entity’s fiscal year to have an annual audit performed by an independent (external) auditor. The single audit reporting package (including the audit report) must be submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) within 30 days after the institution receives its audit report or nine (9) months after the institution’s fiscal year-end, whichever comes first.

Audit criteria is established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) through issuance of the Compliance Supplement, which identifies potentially applicable compliance requirements that may be subject to audit. Use of the Compliance Supplement by the auditor is mandatory and the compliance supplement is updated annually to reflect changes and additions to program requirements.

Single audit objectives

Objectives of the single audit may include the following:

• Financial statements: determine whether financial statements of the entity are presented fairly in all material respects and in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Compliance: determine whether the auditee has complied with federal statutes, regulations, guidelines and terms and conditions of the federal award that may have a direct and material effect on each of the entity’s major programs
• Internal controls: gain a sufficient understanding of internal controls over compliance, including testing operating effectiveness, to support a low assessed level of control risk for each major program

While not a main objective, stakeholders may use the single audit to determine risks of subrecipients, per Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.332. For additional information on use of the single audit to determine subrecipient risks, see Conducting pre-award subrecipient risk assessments.

Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)