Nonprofit audit guides
39 guides answering the questions nonprofits, boards and auditors actually ask about audits and single audits. Every fact carries a link to the regulation, the IRS page or the agency that says it, and a verification date. Where we could not verify something, the guide says so instead of guessing.
Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Every figure links its source.
Federal funding and the single audit
- What triggers a single audit?
- Does a PPP loan trigger a single audit?
- Are ARPA funds subject to single audit?
- Are EIDL loans subject to single audit?
- What is a program-specific audit?
- How is a single audit different from a regular audit?
Findings and reports
- What does no findings on a single audit mean?
- Material weakness vs significant deficiency
- What are questioned costs in a single audit?
- Single audit corrective action plan
- Repeat findings: what they mean
- How to read a single audit report
Deadlines, roles and process
- When is the single audit due?
- Who can audit a nonprofit?
- Who signs the single audit?
- How to prepare for a single audit
- What happens in a nonprofit audit?
- How long does a nonprofit audit take?
- How to qualify as a low-risk auditee
- What is a major program in a single audit?
- Common SEFA mistakes
Cost, choosing an auditor and RFPs
- How much does a nonprofit audit cost?
- What is the best CPA for nonprofits?
- How often do nonprofits change auditors?
- What is an audit RFP?
Form 990 and 501(c)(3) basics
- What is a 990?
- What is a 990-N, and how do the Form 990 versions differ?
- What is a 501(c) organization?
- Do nonprofit board members get paid?
- What is nonprofit accounting?
- What does the IRS want when it conducts a nonprofit audit?
State rules, governance and records
- State nonprofit audit thresholds explained
- What is a state single audit?
- Is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) required to have an audit?
- Why does a nonprofit need an audit?
- Does a nonprofit need an audit committee?
- How to perform a nonprofit self audit
- Are nonprofit audits public record?
- How long for a nonprofit to retain audit reports?
How these guides are written
- Every number comes from a named source: the eCFR for 2 CFR part 200, OMB for the Compliance Supplement, the IRS for Form 990 and exempt status, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse for filings, or our own copy of that data with the method stated.
- Figures from our data carry the snapshot date — currently 2026-09-20 — not the date the page was written.
- We describe what filings show, not what organizations intend: an auditor is the one observed on a filing.
- Nothing here is accounting or legal advice, and none of it is written by a model at request time; the pages are static files in our repository.
The data behind the figures: 402,827 single audit records for 67,971 organizations, of which 34,572 are nonprofits, plus 18,430 organizations with parsed Form 990 returns (as of 2026-09-20).
Source: Federal Audit Clearinghouse · IRS Form 990 series downloads · 2 CFR part 200, subpart F · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Nonprofits: post an audit RFP at no cost. CPA firms: see what AuditRadar tracks.
This is public-record information, not accounting or legal advice.