The Single Audit is an entity-wide financial statement and federal awards' audit of a non-federal entity that expends $750,000 or more in federal financial assistance in one year. It is intended to provide assurance to the Federal Government that a non-federal entity has adequate internal controls in place and is generally in compliance with program requirements.
The Single Audit Act of 1984 standardized audit requirements for states, local governments, and Indian tribal governments that receive and use federal financial assistance programs. Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 were enacted to streamline and improve the effectiveness of audits of federal awards expended by 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. The Single Audits must be submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse along with a data collection form, Form SF-SAC. The Single Audit requirements can be found in Subpart F of the 2 Code of Federal Regulations Part 200 also referred to as Uniform Guidance. Per these requirements, auditee's prepare for inclusion in the Single Audit report: Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA), note disclosures, corrective action plans, and summary schedule of prior audit findings.