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Audit Readiness Assessment

A specialized matter handled by a CPA firm.

Direct representation, not advice from the sidelines.

At a glance

An audit readiness assessment is a check you do before the audit, not the audit itself. We look for the gaps an auditor would flag and help you close them first.
It is most useful before a first Single Audit, after a jump in federal funding, or after a year that ended with findings.
The goal is fewer findings, a faster audit, and no surprises. It is a separate engagement from the audit, since an independent firm cannot both prepare your records and audit them.

The worst time to learn your records are not audit-ready is during the audit. An audit readiness assessment moves that discovery earlier, when there is still time to fix things and no clock running on a submission deadline.

We walk your federal programs the way an auditor would, flag what would become a finding, and help you correct it before fieldwork begins.

When you should do an audit readiness assessment

You are heading into your first Single Audit.
Your federal funding jumped and pushed you over the threshold.
Last year's audit ended with findings you do not want to repeat.
You took on a new grant or program with rules you have not worked under before.
Finance or leadership turnover means the people who ran compliance are gone.

What we look at in an audit readiness assessment

A readiness review covers the areas that produce most findings:

Your SEFA: is it complete, accurate, and reconciled?
Internal controls over compliance with federal requirements.
Allowable costs and cost principles (2 CFR 200.403).
Procurement, suspension, and debarment checks (2 CFR 200.318).
Subrecipient monitoring, if you pass funding through.
Reporting and documentation behind your federal spending.

The compliance requirements behind an audit readiness asessment

For each major program, auditors test only the compliance requirements the OMB Compliance Supplement identifies for it, like allowable costs, eligibility, reporting, and matching. A readiness assessment checks the same requirements, so what we review maps to what the audit will examine.

What you get in an audit readiness assessment

Here is what you walk away with:

A gap report listing what an auditor would likely flag.
A prioritized list of fixes, with the highest-risk items first.
A dry run of your SEFA.
A corrective action plan you can work through before fieldwork.

Readiness versus the audit itself

These are two different engagements, and the line between them matters. Independence rules mean a firm cannot fix your books and then audit them as if at arm's length. We are clear up front about which role we are playing. The audit itself is described on our A-133 audit requirements page.

When to start

Earlier is better. The Single Audit has a firm submission deadline of nine months after fiscal year end, so the room to fix things shrinks fast once the year closes. A readiness review a few months before year end leaves time to actually act on what it finds.

How we run a readiness assessment

A readiness review runs in three moves:

Match it to your programs

We size the review to your federal programs and funding.

Work the requirements

We go through the same compliance requirements an auditor would.

Hand you a plan

You get a prioritized corrective action plan to work through before fieldwork.

Need the audit itself or year-round help? Those are on our federal grant compliance page.

Going into an audit blind is a choice, and an avoidable one. A readiness assessment trades a few weeks of preparation now for a faster, calmer audit later, with far less chance of a finding catching you off guard.

What a readiness assessment costs

There is no flat price. A readiness review scales with the size of your federal program and how much there is to check. The main drivers are:

How many federal programs and funding sources you run.
Whether this is your first Single Audit or a tune-up before a repeat one.
How much funding you pass through to subrecipients, which adds monitoring scope.
How current your controls and documentation are going in.

Our Single Audit track record

Tell us where you are in your funding year and whether you have been through a Single Audit before, and we will size a readiness review to fit. A CPA firm does the work, and nothing leaves the room.

Audit Readiness Assessment

Every review includes a dry run of your SEFA and a corrective action plan you can work through before fieldwork. Tell us where you are in your funding year and we will give you a fixed quote before you commit.