What triggers a single audit?
One number triggers it: federal awards expended during your fiscal year. At $1,000,000 or more a single audit is required (2 CFR 200.501(a)), and expenditure is measured by when the activity related to the award occurs (2 CFR 200.502(a)), not by when the grant was signed or the cash arrived.
Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Every figure links its source.
When is a single audit required?
When a non-federal entity expends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards in its fiscal year. Below that, the entity is exempt from the audit requirement for that year, although its records remain open to review by federal agencies and the Government Accountability Office (2 CFR 200.501). For audit year 2024 the median nonprofit single audit in our copy of the Federal Audit Clearinghouse data reported $2,625,160 of federal awards expended (data as of 2026-09-20).
Source: 2 CFR 200.501 · Federal Audit Clearinghouse · Last verified: 2026-09-20
What counts as federal awards expended?
The determination is based on when the activity related to the award occurs. That covers expenditure transactions, amounts passed to your own subrecipients, the use of loan proceeds, the receipt of property, program income, food commodities, interest subsidies and insurance coverage periods (2 CFR 200.502(a)).
| Type of federal money | How it is counted | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or cooperative agreement | When the related activity occurs | 200.502(a) |
| Subaward received through a state, city or another nonprofit | Same as a direct award, reported with the pass-through entity's name and number | 200.510(b) |
| Loans and loan guarantees | New loans in the period, plus prior balances that still carry compliance requirements, plus interest subsidies and administrative cost allowances | 200.502(b) |
| Loans with no continuing compliance requirement | Prior-year balances are excluded | 200.502(d) |
| Federally restricted endowment funds | The cumulative balance counts in each period in which the funds are still restricted | 200.502(e) |
| Free rent | Not a federal award on its own; counts when received as part of an award | 200.502(f) |
| Medicare payments for patient care | Not considered federal awards expended | 200.502(h) |
Source: 2 CFR 200.502 · 2 CFR 200.510 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Who is subject to a single audit?
Non-federal entities: states, local governments, Indian tribes, institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations. The obligations flow to subrecipients, which carry out part of a federal program, but generally not to contractors, which simply sell goods or services (2 CFR 200.501, 200.332). For-profit entities are not covered by subpart F, although a federal agency or pass-through entity can impose its own audit requirement on a for-profit subrecipient through the award terms.
Source: 2 CFR 200.501 · 2 CFR 200.332 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Can you elect to have a single audit below the threshold?
You can buy an audit, but you cannot create the federal requirement, and that distinction has a cost consequence: the cost of an audit is generally not allowable against federal awards when the organization was below the threshold and the audit was not required, although a pass-through entity may charge federal awards for agreed-upon procedures used to monitor exempt subrecipients (2 CFR 200.425). Where only one program is involved, the program-specific audit option may be the cheaper answer (2 CFR 200.507).
Source: 2 CFR 200.425 · 2 CFR 200.507 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Questions and answers
What triggers a single audit requirement?
Expending $1,000,000 or more in federal awards during the fiscal year. Expenditure is measured by when the activity related to the award occurs.
When is single audit required for a nonprofit?
In any fiscal year in which the nonprofit expends federal awards of $1,000,000 or more, counting direct awards, subawards received through a pass-through entity, and loan amounts as valued by the rule.
Are single audits required below the threshold?
No. An entity that expends less than the threshold is exempt from the audit requirement for that year, but must keep records available for review by federal agencies and the Government Accountability Office.
What determines if I need to do a single audit?
The total of federal awards expended in your fiscal year, as shown on the schedule of expenditures of federal awards, compared with the threshold in 2 CFR 200.501.
Who is required to have a single audit?
Non-federal entities — states, local governments, tribes, institutions of higher education and nonprofits — that expend federal awards at or above the threshold.
Who does the Single Audit Act apply to?
Non-federal entities that expend federal awards. Subrecipients carrying out part of a federal program are covered; contractors selling goods or services generally are not.
Who is subject to a single audit?
The recipient or subrecipient that expended the federal awards in its own fiscal year, measured across all its federal programs.
Do single audits apply to for-profits?
Subpart F applies to non-federal entities, which does not include for-profit organizations. A federal agency or pass-through entity may still impose audit requirements on a for-profit subrecipient through the award terms.
Can single audit uniform guidance apply to a private company?
Not through subpart F itself. It can reach a private company through the terms and conditions of an award or subaward that require an equivalent audit.
Are private colleges subject to the Single Audit Act?
Institutions of higher education are non-federal entities, so a private nonprofit college that expends federal awards at or above the threshold has a single audit like any other non-federal entity.
Do private colleges single audit act requirements differ from nonprofits?
No. The same threshold, the same schedule of expenditures of federal awards and the same reporting package apply; student loan programs have their own valuation rule in 2 CFR 200.502(c).
Do schools have to do an A-133 single audit report?
A-133 was superseded by 2 CFR part 200, subpart F. A school district or college that expends federal awards at or above the threshold files a single audit under the current rule, not under A-133.
Can you elect for a single audit voluntarily?
You can commission one, but the audit cost is generally unallowable against federal awards when the organization was under the threshold and the audit was not required.
What type of audit does a nonprofit need for grants?
Below the federal threshold, whatever the grant agreement or state law requires — often a financial statement audit or a review. At or above the threshold, a single audit, or a program-specific audit where only one federal program is involved.
Run your own numbers: check the single audit threshold.
This is public-record information, not accounting or legal advice.