Single Audit Readiness Self-Assessment

Annual self-assessment for finance leadership to evaluate readiness for an external single audit under 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance). Walks through all 12 compliance requirements, tests sample transactions, and identifies deficiencies before the auditor arrives.

Program Identification & SEFA Preparation

• All federal awards (direct and pass-through) are identified and listed with correct CFDA/ALN numbers
  Confirm that every active federal award, including pass-through awards from prime recipients, is catalogued with its Assistance Listing Number (ALN, formerly CFDA) per 2 CFR §200.510(b).
• SEFA draft is complete and reconciles to the general ledger
  The SEFA total federal expenditures per program tie out to the general ledger. Differences are documented and resolved.
• Pass-through awards include the pass-through entity name, identifying number, and federal award amount
  Per 2 CFR §200.331, subaward information on the SEFA must include the pass-through entity name and identifying number.
• Major programs have been identified using the risk-based approach
  Finance leadership has applied the Type A/B threshold and risk criteria per 2 CFR §200.518 to anticipate which programs the auditor will designate as major.
• Total federal expenditures for the fiscal year
  Enter the total federal expenditures as reflected on the draft SEFA. Must meet or exceed the $750,000 single audit threshold.

Internal Controls Over Compliance

• Written policies and procedures exist for each major federal program covering applicable compliance requirements
  Documented SOPs or desk procedures address the specific compliance requirements (e.g., allowable costs, eligibility, reporting) for each major program.
• Segregation of duties is in place for authorization, recordkeeping, and custody of federal funds
  No single employee has unchecked authority to authorize expenditures, record transactions, AND handle assets for federal programs.
• Management review controls (approvals, reconciliations) are documented and consistently applied
  Evidence of supervisory review — signed approvals, reconciliation sign-offs, or system audit trails — exists for the current fiscal year.
• Prior audit findings and corrective action plan (CAP) items are tracked and remediated
  All findings from the prior year's single audit report have a documented status. Open items have updated corrective action plans.

Allowable Costs & Activities (Compliance Requirement 1 & 2)

• Sample of expenditures tested: costs are allowable under 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E and the award terms
  Pull a sample of at least 10 transactions from major programs. Confirm each cost is allowable (not on the unallowable list per 2 CFR §§200.420–200.476), allocable, and reasonable.
• Number of transactions sampled for allowable costs review
  Record the number of expenditure transactions pulled for the allowable costs sample test.
• Number of exceptions (unallowable or unsupported costs) identified in sample
  Record the count of sampled transactions that were found to be unallowable, unsupported, or misallocated.
• Activities charged to the award align with the approved scope of work and budget
  Verify that program activities are consistent with the award agreement and that budget line items have not been exceeded without prior approval (per 2 CFR §200.308 budget revision thresholds).
• Unallowable costs (e.g., entertainment, lobbying, fines) are excluded from federal charge codes
  Chart of accounts or cost allocation methodology prevents unallowable cost categories from being charged to federal award accounts.

Cash Management & Procurement (Compliance Requirements 3 & 4)

• Federal cash drawdowns are made on a reimbursement or just-in-time basis, minimizing idle federal cash
  Per 2 CFR §200.305, recipients must minimize the time elapsed between drawdown and disbursement. Review the last 3 drawdowns for timing compliance.
• Average number of days between federal cash drawdown and disbursement
  Calculate the average lag time for the last 3 drawdown cycles. Acceptable threshold is typically ≤3 business days for advance payment methods.
• Procurement transactions sampled comply with competition requirements and documented cost/price analysis
  Contracts and purchase orders over the micro-purchase threshold ($10,000) have documented competition or sole-source justification. Contracts over the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000) include cost/price analysis per 2 CFR §200.324.
• Contracts include required federal provisions (e.g., debarment, equal opportunity, Byrd Amendment where applicable)
  Contracts funded with federal dollars include mandatory clauses per 2 CFR Part 200 Appendix II.

Eligibility & Matching/Level of Effort (Compliance Requirements 5 & 6)

• Eligibility determination records exist for a sample of program participants/beneficiaries
  Pull a sample of participant files. Each file must contain documentation that eligibility was determined prior to service delivery, per program-specific requirements.
• Number of participant files sampled for eligibility review
• Matching or cost-share commitments are tracked in the general ledger and meet the required percentage
  If the award requires matching funds or cost-sharing, verify the cumulative match-to-date meets or exceeds the required ratio and is supported by source documentation per 2 CFR §200.306.
• Maintenance-of-effort (MOE) baseline is documented and current-year expenditures meet the MOE threshold
  For programs with MOE requirements, the prior-year baseline is on file and current-year non-federal expenditures are tracked against it.

Reporting & Subrecipient Monitoring (Compliance Requirements 7 & 8)

• Federal financial reports (e.g., SF-425, program-specific reports) were submitted on time for all reporting periods
  Review the submission log for all required federal financial reports in the current fiscal year. Confirm no late submissions or missing reports.
• Reported federal expenditures on financial reports reconcile to the general ledger within an acceptable variance
  Spot-check the most recent SF-425 or equivalent report against the GL. Variance should be $0 or immaterial and explained.
• Subrecipient agreements include all required pass-through information per 2 CFR §200.332(a)
  Each subaward agreement identifies the federal award name, ALN, total amount, applicable compliance requirements, and audit requirements.
• Subrecipient monitoring activities (desk reviews, site visits, audit report review) are documented for the current year
  Evidence of monitoring — checklists, correspondence, site visit reports, or review of subrecipient single audit findings — is on file for each active subrecipient.

Special Tests, Equipment, Real Property & Suspension/Debarment (Compliance Requirements 9–12)

• Program-specific special tests and provisions have been identified and controls are in place to ensure compliance
  Review the program's compliance supplement section for special tests unique to the program (e.g., Davis-Bacon wage rates, SNAP eligibility verification). Confirm controls address each.
• Federally-funded equipment is tagged, inventoried, and the inventory was physically verified within the past two years
  Per 2 CFR §200.313, equipment with a unit cost ≥ the capitalization threshold must be tagged, tracked in a property record, and physically inventoried at least every two years.
• All expenditures are within the approved period of performance; no costs charged before start date or after end date
  Review the award start/end dates and confirm no transactions fall outside the period of performance without prior written approval from the federal awarding agency.
• Vendors and contractors are checked against SAM.gov exclusions (suspension/debarment) prior to award
  Procurement records include SAM.gov exclusion search results for all contracts above the $25,000 threshold, or a system-based check is documented.

Personnel & Time & Effort Documentation

• Personnel activity reports or equivalent time-tracking records exist for all employees charging time to federal awards
  Per 2 CFR §200.430(i), charges for salaries must be supported by records that reflect actual activity for each employee. Semi-annual certifications are acceptable only for employees working solely on one federal program.
• Time records are signed/certified by the employee or supervisor with direct knowledge of work performed
  Timesheets or activity reports bear the signature (or electronic equivalent) of the employee and/or a supervisor who has first-hand knowledge of the work.
• Payroll charges to federal awards reconcile to the time records for a sample of employees
  Pull a sample of at least 5 employees. Confirm the hours charged to each federal award in the payroll system match the time records on file.

Audit Package & Submission Readiness

• Financial statements are drafted and reviewed by management prior to audit fieldwork
  A substantially complete draft of the financial statements (including SEFA) is available for the auditor at the start of fieldwork.
• Audit support binder/document repository is organized with key schedules, grant agreements, and prior-year workpapers
  A centralized repository (physical or electronic) is prepared with award agreements, drawdown reports, financial reports, time records, procurement files, and prior-year audit report.
• Anticipated audit submission date (single audit report due to FAC)
  Enter the planned submission date. The single audit report must be submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) within 30 days of receiving the auditor's report, or 9 months after fiscal year-end, whichever is earlier (2 CFR §200.512).
• Management has reviewed and is prepared to respond to the management representation letter
  Finance leadership understands the assertions they will be asked to make in the management representation letter and has no known unresolved issues.
• Overall readiness assessment rating
  Rate the organization's overall single audit readiness based on findings from this self-assessment.

Inspector Sign-Off & Findings Summary

• Assessor name and title
• Assessment date
• Fiscal year under review
  Enter the fiscal year end date (e.g., 06/30/2025 or 12/31/2025).
• Summary of open deficiencies or non-conformances identified during this self-assessment
  List all items answered 'No' or flagged as exceptions, including the compliance requirement area, description of the gap, and planned corrective action owner and due date.
• Assessor signature confirming this self-assessment was completed in good faith and findings are accurately reported