Single audits are one of the main focus areas of the Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) and we strive to help our members meet the challenges of performing quality single audits by providing the latest information, tools, and resources. Access GAQC single audit resources which include articles, alerts, archived Web events, tools, and more.
Single Audit Background
The Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (Single Audit Act) were enacted to streamline and improve the effectiveness of audits of federal awards expended by states, local governments, and not-for-profit entities (referred to as non-federal entities), as well as to reduce audit burden. The Single Audit Act requires these audits, referred to as “single audits” to be conducted by an independent auditor. Single audits have a significant public interest component as they are relied on by federal agencies as part of their administrative responsibilities for determining compliance with the requirements of federal awards by non-federal entities.
The Single Audit Act gives the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the authority to develop government-wide guidelines and policy on performing audits to comply with the Act. A regulation referred to as the Uniform Guidance is the most recent OMB regulation issued for this purpose. It includes uniform cost principles and audit requirements for federal awards to nonfederal entities and administrative requirements for all federal grants and cooperative agreements.
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