Audits of Local Governments and Non-Profit Agencies

Description

Below is a brief summary of the audit requirements for local governments and nonprofit agencies under the Municipal Auditing Act (Chapter 111 of Connecticut General Statutes), and the State Single Audit Act (Chapter 55b of the Connecticut General Statutes). The Office of Finance - Municipal Finance Services (MFS) Unit of the Office of Policy and Management provides technical assistance for, and ensures compliance with both of these Acts.

For your convenience commonly requested forms and documents can be found by clicking on the links below. For Further Information, Please Contact: William Plummer: phone (860) 418-6367 - e-mail bill.plummer@ct.gov

MUNICIPAL AUDITING

Connecticut General Statutes require that the appointing authority of a municipality, audited agency, regional school district and tourism district (hereinafter referred to as the auditee), notify the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management of the independent auditor appointed to perform the audit. Such notification must be made not later than thirty days before the end of the fiscal year of the entity to be audited.

Before undertaking any audit of an auditee, the auditor must be approved to perform the audit by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.

Section 7-393 of the General Statutes provides that a copy of the audit report shall be filed with the Secretary at the same time it is filed with local officials, and that such copy shall be filed within six months from the end of the fiscal year of the auditee.

The Municipal Auditing Act is codified in Connecticut General Statutes, Section 7-391 through 7-397.

STATE SINGLE AUDIT

Pursuant to Sections 4-230 through 4-236 of the Connecticut General Statutes as amended by P.A. 09-7, each municipality, audited agency, tourism district and not-for-profit organization with a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2009, that expends state financial assistance equal to or in excess of three hundred thousand dollars in any such fiscal year of the entity, shall have a single audit made for such fiscal year in accordance with the provisions of the above-referenced General Statutes. If total state financial assistance expended for the fiscal year is for a single state program, a program-specific audit may be conducted in lieu of a single audit provided such audit is allowed under the provisions of C.G.S. 4-231.

Note that for nonstate entities with fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024 or after, the State Single Audit threshold has been increased to $500,000 as amended by P.A. 24-132.

Copies of the state single audit report package must be filed with state grantor agencies, the cognizant agency and pass-through agencies (if applicable). Submission of the report package must be made within 30 days of completion of the audit report, if possible, but no later than six months after the end of the audit period. Cognizant agencies must be notified of the Independent Auditor appointed to conduct the audit. Such notification must be made not later than thirty days before the end of the fiscal year of the entity to be audited.

The Office of Policy and Management is the cognizant agency for municipalities, tourism districts, other quasi-governmental entities and nonprofit organizations under the State Single Audit Act.

Electronic Filing of Audit Reports:

The Office of Policy and Management’s Electronic Audit Reporting System (EARS) allows state agencies and the public to view and access audit reports that have been filed with OPM.  State agencies have agreed to use the electronic reports filed on EARS in lieu of receiving individual hardcopies of the reports. Independent auditors are required to file these audit reports electronically on EARS, on behalf of their clients.  Filing on EARS is mandatory for all parts of the Audit reporting package.

New:  For audits with a fiscal year end of June 30, 2021 or after, hardcopies of the audit report packages are not required.  Audit report packages must continue to be filed on EARS by the audit report due date.

Many state agencies pass-through significant federal financial assistance to local governments and nonprofit organizations.  The Reporting Package filed on EARS normally includes the Federal Single Audit report if a federal single audit was conducted.  Including the Federal Single Audit report as part of the reporting package filed on EARS eliminates the need to submit copies of the report to the various state agencies that may seek the report if it is not filed on EARS. 

If you are new to using the Electronic Audit Reporting System, click below to view useful information.

Instructions for First Time users of EARS

FREQUENTLY REQUESTED FORMS AND DOCUMENTS