A nonprofit or governmental organization with federal expenditures in excess of $750,000 must prepare a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and arrange for an audit of their federal assistance to be conducted by an independent auditor. This audit is known as the Single Audit.
A Single Audit is often referred to as a Uniform Guidance Single Audit. This is because the general provisions applicable to most federal awards are contained in Title U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), a portion of the federal law that contains the requirements for obtaining, operating, and auditing federal programs.
A Single Audit includes an audit of both the financial statements and the federal awards, and reviews how an organization managed the grant to ensure that applicable rules for dollars associated with the grant or award were followed. 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.