FAQs

• Is my organization required to conduct a Single Audit?
  Answer:

  Federal Single Audit — According to 2 CFR Part 200—Subpart F—Audit Requirements §200.501   Audit requirements.  "(a) Audit required. A non-Federal entity that expends $750,000 or more during the non-Federal entity's fiscal year in Federal awards must have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with the provisions of this part."

   

  State Single Audit — According to Connecticut General Statutes (CGS) Sec. 4-231,“When single audits required or program-specific audits. (a) (1) Each nonstate entity which expends a total amount of state financial assistance equal to or in excess of three hundred thousand dollars in any fiscal year of such nonstate entity beginning on or after July 1, 2009, shall have either a single audit or a program-specific audit made for such fiscal year, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) or (3) of this subsection and the requirements of regulations adopted pursuant to section 4-236.”

  
  
• What is an audit period?
  Answer:

  An audit period is generally the organization’s fiscal year.
• How often is an audit required?
  Answer:

  Audits are required annually for each fiscal year that the thresholds are met.
• What is the Uniform Guidance for Federal Awards
  Answer: On December 26, 2013, OMB released the Uniform Grant Guidance (formally titled 2 CFR Chapter I, Chapter II, Part 200, et al. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards; Final Rule).  
  
  For fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2014, the Uniform Grant Guidance contains the set of cost principles and audit requirements that apply to grants and subgrants awarded to non-federal entities. 
  
  2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E—Cost Principles supersedes 2 CFR Part 225, “Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments” (OMB Circular A 87).  Pursuant to §200.110(a) - Effective/applicability date, “The standards set forth in this part which affect administration of Federal awards issued by Federal awarding agencies become effective once implemented by Federal awarding agencies or when any future amendment to this part becomes final. Federal awarding agencies must implement the policies and procedures applicable to Federal awards by promulgating a regulation to be effective by December 26, 2014 unless different provisions are required by statute or approved by OMB. For the procurement standards in §§200.317-200.326, non-Federal entities may continue to comply with the procurement standards in previous OMB guidance (superseded by this part as described in §200.104) for two additional fiscal years after this part goes into effect. If a non-Federal entity chooses to use the previous procurement standards for an additional two fiscal years before adopting the procurement standards in this part, the non-Federal entity must document this decision in their internal procurement policies.”
  
  2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F—Audit Requirements supersedes OMB Circular A-133.  The standards set forth in this part will apply to audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2014.  One of the major changes included in this part is the audit threshold was increased to $750,000 in federal award expenditures.  In addition, changes were made to the major program determination process and auditees will be required to include in the SEFA the amount of federal funds provided to subrecipients.
  
  2 CFR Part 200, Appendix XI — Compliance Supplement 2 CFR part 200, subpart F, describes the non-Federal entity’s responsibilities for managing Federal assistance programs (2 CFR section 200.508) and the auditor’s responsibility with respect to the scope of audit (2 CFR section 200.514). Auditors are required to follow the provisions of 2 CFR part 200, subpart F, and the Supplement.
  
  Additional information regarding Grants Management Circulars may be found at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-for-agencies/circulars.
• Who pays for the required audit?
  Answer: The auditee (organization) pays for the audit and the audit cannot be paid for with federal funds.  
• What is required to be submitted?
  Answer:

  Federal Single Audit — According to 2 CFR Part 200—Subpart F—Audit Requirements §200.512   Report submission, the following must be submitted:

  1. A completed Form SF-SAC as described in §200.512(b) Data collection;

  2. Complete copy/copies of the Single Audit reporting package as described in §200.512(c) Reporting package:

     1. Financial Statements

     2. Summary Schedule of Prior Audit Findings

     3. Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards

     4. Opinion(s) on Financial Statements

     5. Report on internal control over financial reporting and compliance

     6. Report on compliance for each major program and a report on internal control over compliance

     7. Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs

     8. Corrective Action Plan(s)

     9. Opinion(s) or Disclaimer of Opinion on Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards

         

  State Single Audit — In accordance with section 4-236-23(a) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, the following must be submitted:

  1. Opinion(s) on Financial Statements and an Opinion(s) or Disclaimer of Opinion on Schedule of Expenditures of State Financial Assistance

  2. Report on Internal Control and Report(s) on Compliance (financial statements)

  3. Report on Internal Control and Report(s) on Compliance (major programs)

  4. Schedule of Expenditures of State Financial Assistance

  5. Schedule(s) of Findings and Questioned Costs

  6. Corrective Action Plan(s) 

   

• How many copies of the reporting package are required?
  Answer:

  Federal Single Audit — The Federal Single Audit package should be included in the audit reporting package that is submitted to Electronic Audit Reporting System (EARS).
  
  State Single Audit — As stated in Part iii - Audit Report Submission Information of the 2018 Compliance Supplement, “EARS is a web site made available by the Municipal Finance Services Section of the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) to provide independent auditors an electronic process for uploading audit reports of their clients on-line. State grantor agencies and the public will be able to access and view the reports that have been filed on EARS. 
  
  “The filing on EARS for all parts of the audit reporting package to be submitted to OPM is mandatory. On occasion, management letters may not have been issued or corrective action plans may not have been developed by the time the financial and State Single Audit reports are issued. In such circumstances, when these items are unavailable to be filed with the remaining portions of the State Single Audit Report package, they may be filed separately at a later date with OPM by the auditee’s independent auditor by uploading such items on EARS using the “Upload a Management Letter” or “Upload a Corrective Action Plan” feature. 
  
  “In regard to the filing of State Single Audit reports, OPM as the cognizant state agency for most entities that are required to file a State Single Audit report does still require that a hardcopy of the report be submitted to its Office by the required filing date in state law. State grantor agencies have agreed to use the reports filed on-line on EARS in lieu of receiving a hardcopy of the reports from their grantees.  Such reports should be filed on-line no later than the required filing date under state law (6-months subsequent to the entity’s fiscal year end or the extension date granted by the cognizant state agency). 
  
  “Although EARS was first developed for the filing of State Single Audit reports, it has been reconfigured to allow for the filing of financial audit reports and federal single audit reports that would normally be filed with OPM or other state agencies whether or not a State Single Audit report is being filed. Further information is available on the EARS website.  
  
  “The Electronic Audit Reporting System (EARS) can be accessed by going to the EARS website at: https://www.appsvcs.opm.ct.gov/Auditing/Home.aspx. Please contact the Municipal Finance Services Section of the Office of Policy and Management at 860-418-6400 if you should encounter any problems or have any questions.” 

  Once an electronic version of the reports has been submitted on OPM’s Electronic Audit Reporting System (EARS), no other Single Audit submission directly to SDE is required.
  

• Are there any requirements for awardees not meeting the threshold for an audit?
  Answer:

  Organizations receiving federal awards or state financial assistance, with expenditures which are less than the audit requirements threshold are exempt from being required to have an audit, however, records must be available and in orderly fashion for review by the designated government entity.

  Organizations that received funding from the CSDE and do not meet the threshold for audit must submit a Notification of Exemption for either the Federal Single Audit and/or State Single Audit. Notifications of Exemption must be made in writing to the Office of Internal Audit (email to sde.audit@ct.gov) and the Office of Policy and Management (for state exemptions only) no later than six (6) months after the end of the entity's fiscal year and include a statement of the amount of federal and/or state awards expended. 

• How do you define expended?
  Answer: The determination of when an award or grant is expended is based upon when activity related to the award occurs (i.e., use of funds).  The activity must comply with laws, regulations and the provisions of the grant award.
• What is the deadline for completion of the audit report?
  Answer:

  Audits shall be completed a maximum of six months after the end of the organization’s fiscal year.
• How do I request an extension on the due date?
  Answer:

  Federal Single Audit — Extensions may only be granted by the Auditee’s Federal oversight or cognizant agency.  Federal agency contact information can be obtained from the 2 CFR Part 200 Compliance Supplement, Appendix III.

   

  State Single Audit — Extensions may only be granted by the Auditee’s State cognizant agency.  State cognizant agency information can be obtained from the Single Audit Compliance Manual, Part 15.
• How should I select an auditor?
  Answer:

  You can find a "Guide on Selecting an External Auditor" at the Mid-America Intergovernmental Audit Forum.