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Industries/Governmental

Audit file prep for governmental entities.

Federal award files come with a second set of requirements on top of the financial statements. This page sets out the rule, what the standard pack covers and what your team still does. CORAA takes audits and reviews of private companies and nonprofits; a governmental engagement is settled on the intake call first.

The rule that decides whether the file needs a single audit

Under the Uniform Guidance, a non-Federal entity that expends $1,000,000 or more in Federal awards during its fiscal year must have a single or program-specific audit for that year (2 CFR 200.501(a)). The reporting package is due within 30 calendar days after the auditee receives the auditor’s reports or nine months after the end of the audit period, whichever comes first (2 CFR 200.512(a)(1)). The sources are linked at the foot of this page.

What every file gets

The pack is the same on every file, in every industry. It is built from the client’s QuickBooks books and the documents your firm sends.

Lead schedules
Every trial balance account classified to a US GAAP line, in Excel and PDF, with prior-year final, per-books, adjustment and final columns.
Tie-out of the draft
The client’s draft statements re-added and every line agreed to the trial balance. Differences are findings about the draft, never silent changes to the books.
Fixed-rule ledger checks
Revenue cutoff, duplicate payments, journal entry testing, split purchases, opening balances, flux analysis, bank reconciliation and more. Each finding names its rule.
Proposed entries
A finding cites the evidence line and the standard, and proposes an adjusting entry. Nothing is posted to the books.
Review trail
A reviewer decides each finding and records a reason. Initials and dates travel with the working papers.
Inputs received and missing
The file shows what arrived and what did not, tied to the findings that need it.

Where the judgment sits on a governmental file

These areas decide the file. Industry-specific schedules are not part of the standard pack. Whether CORAA drafts any of them for a given file is agreed on the intake call before anything is uploaded, and what is not agreed stays with your team.

Areas your team will spend its time on

  • Ledger checks
  • Tie-out of the client’s draft
  • Award work stays with your team

Typical PBC items from the client

PBC items from the client

  • Grant agreements and award notices
  • Grant ledger with revenue and expenditure by award
  • Prior-year SEFA and the prior single audit report
  • Subrecipient agreements and monitoring files
  • Indirect cost rate documentation
  • Payroll, time and effort records for charged salaries

Where governmental files go wrong

SEFA that does not agree to the ledger
Awards recorded on a different basis from the schedule.
Missed pass-through identifiers
Awards received through a state or other pass-through without the identifying number.
Late reporting package
The submission clock starts when the auditor’s reports are received.

What stays with your firm on governmental files

Fulfilled by CORAA means CORAA AI drafts the file and CORAA Network reviewers clear every flag, with a line-by-line review log. Your manager and partner then review it as they would any staff-prepared file. Your firm keeps the client, the engagement letter, the professional judgment and the signature.

CORAA never signs, issues or reports on anything, and never contacts your client unless you ask us to. Your first audit is free, so you can judge the pack on a real file. After that the fee is flat, set by entity size, and messy books are included.

Free resources for this work

Guides, templates and calculators on this site that cover the same ground. All free to use.

GuideFinancial Audit vs Single Audit vs Yellow Book Audit: What Each RequiresGuideYellow Book (GAGAS): A Practical Guide for CPA FirmsGuideSingle Audit and Uniform Guidance Walk-Through: Major Programs, SEFA and ReportingGuideSEFA: How to Prepare the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal AwardsStandard2 CFR 200: 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance Overview: Subparts A to F After the 2024 RevisionTemplateSchedule of Findings and Questioned Costs (2 CFR 200.515)TemplateSubrecipient Monitoring Checklist (2 CFR 200.332)ToolMajor Program Determination Calculator (Single Audit, 2 CFR 200.518)ToolSingle Audit Threshold Calculator: $750,000 or $1,000,000 and Due Date

Questions firms ask

No. Your team performs and signs off on the compliance testing under the Uniform Guidance, and your firm issues the reports.
Not as standard. CORAA takes audits and reviews of private companies and nonprofits. If your engagement is governmental, tell us on the intake call and we will say whether it fits. Governmental accounting judgments and any engagement under government auditing standards stay with your firm.
CORAA works from the trial balance, the grant ledger and the documents the entity provides. Books kept in QuickBooks are the supported starting point today; other sources are settled on the intake call.
Your team. CORAA does not draft or issue the schedule of findings and questioned costs.
Your first audit is free. After that, a flat fee per audit, set by entity size. Messy books are included, never a surcharge.

Sources: 2 CFR 200.501, audit requirements (eCFR) · 2 CFR 200.512, report submission (eCFR) · AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards, currently effective

More in industries
IndustriesNonprofit organizationsRestricted net assets, grants and functional expenses: the pack, the PBC list and the judgment areas.IndustriesEmployee benefit plansParticipant data, contributions and Form 5500: the pack, the PBC list and the judgment areas.IndustriesBanks and credit unionsLoans, allowance and deposits: the pack, the PBC list and the judgment areas for institution files.
For US CPA firms

Join the CORAA waitlist

CORAA AI drafts audit working papers from your client’s QuickBooks books and does the first pass: lead schedules, tie-out, memos, draft notes and letters. CORAA Network reviewers clear every finding. Your firm reviews and signs.

  • First audit free, so you can judge the quality on a real file
  • Flat fee by entity size; messy books included
  • We work only with CPA firms, never their clients
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