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Single Audit Glossary
Clear definitions for the terms in a nonprofit single audit, each one carrying the federal rule it comes from. Look a term up, read the rule, then go and read a real filed audit.
Popular searches:Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC)Compliance SupplementSingle auditUniform GuidanceForm SF-SAC
A single audit is the organization-wide audit required by 2 CFR part 200, subpart F when a non-federal entity spends $1,000,000 in federal awards expended for a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2024, and $750,000 for fiscal years that began earlier. It covers the financial statements and compliance with federal program requirements.
Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Sources are linked on every fact below.
Featured terms
The terms a nonprofit board runs into first — each one has a page of its own, with the rule text and the edge cases.
Compliance Supplement
The guidance issued each year by the Office of Management and Budget that identifies the compliance requirements auditors test for federal programs in a single audit.
2 CFR part 200 · FAC Compliance Supplement library
Regulations & guidanceRead Compliance Supplement
Form SF-SAC
The data collection form submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse with the reporting package; its fields become the public single audit record.
2 CFR 200.512 · FAC SF-SAC resources
Reporting & filingRead Form SF-SAC
SEFA
The schedule of expenditures of federal awards, which lists each federal program the entity spent money on during the audit period and the amount expended.
Reporting & filingRead SEFA
Single audit threshold
The amount of federal awards expended that triggers a single audit: $1,000,000 in federal awards expended for a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2024, and $750,000 for fiscal years that began earlier.
Audit & assuranceRead Single audit threshold
Uniform Guidance
The federal rules at 2 CFR part 200 for administrative requirements, cost principles and audit requirements for federal awards.
Regulations & guidanceRead Uniform Guidance
Browse glossary (A – Z)
Jump to a letter, or filter the list by category or by search above. Every definition carries the federal rule it comes from.
A2 terms
Assistance Listing Number (ALN)
The number that identifies a federal program on the schedule of expenditures of federal awards; it was previously called the CFDA number.
Federal programsOpen Assistance Listing Number (ALN)
Audit finding
A deficiency the auditor is required to report in the schedule of findings and questioned costs, with the elements listed in 2 CFR 200.516.
Findings & deficienciesOpen Audit finding
C2 terms
Compliance Supplement
The guidance issued each year by the Office of Management and Budget that identifies the compliance requirements auditors test for federal programs in a single audit.
2 CFR part 200 · FAC Compliance Supplement library
Regulations & guidanceOpen Compliance Supplement
Corrective action plan
The auditee's written plan, prepared separately from the auditor's findings, describing the action planned for each current-year finding, with a contact and a completion date.
Costs & corrective actionOpen Corrective action plan
F2 terms
Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC)
The federal repository that receives single audit reporting packages and publishes them, together with the data collection form, as public records.
Federal Audit Clearinghouse · 2 CFR 200.512
Reporting & filingOpen Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC)
Form SF-SAC
The data collection form submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse with the reporting package; its fields become the public single audit record.
2 CFR 200.512 · FAC SF-SAC resources
Reporting & filingOpen Form SF-SAC
G2 terms
GAGAS
Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, published by the Government Accountability Office and known as the Yellow Book; a single audit is performed under them.
GAO Government Auditing Standards · 2 CFR 200.514
Audit & assuranceOpen GAGAS
Going concern
A disclosure in the auditor's report about substantial doubt over the entity's ability to continue operating for a reasonable period, evaluated under AICPA AU-C section 570. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse records whether such a disclosure was made.
Audit & assuranceOpen Going concern
L1 term
Low-risk auditee
An auditee that met every condition in 2 CFR 200.520 for the two preceding audit periods, which lowers the share of federal awards the auditor must cover with major program testing.
Federal programsOpen Low-risk auditee
M3 terms
Major program
A federal program the auditor selects for compliance testing using the risk-based approach, which first separates programs into Type A and Type B by size and then considers risk.
Federal programsOpen Major program
Material noncompliance
Noncompliance with the requirements of a federal program that is material to that program, which the auditor reports in the schedule of findings and questioned costs.
Findings & deficienciesOpen Material noncompliance
Material weakness
A deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control severe enough that a material misstatement or material noncompliance might not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. Auditors report it under 2 CFR 200.516 following AICPA AU-C section 265.
2 CFR 200.516 · GAO Government Auditing Standards
Findings & deficienciesOpen Material weakness
P1 term
Pass-through entity
A non-federal entity that provides a federal award to a subrecipient to carry out part of a federal program.
Federal programsOpen Pass-through entity
Q1 term
Questioned costs
Costs the auditor questions because of a possible violation of a requirement, a lack of supporting documentation, or because the cost appears unreasonable.
2 CFR 200.1 (definitions) · 2 CFR 200.516
Costs & corrective actionOpen Questioned costs
R2 terms
Repeat finding
A finding that also appeared in a prior audit period; the auditee reports its status in the summary schedule of prior audit findings required by 2 CFR 200.511.
Findings & deficienciesOpen Repeat finding
Reporting package
The set of documents submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse: the financial statements and schedule of expenditures of federal awards, the auditor's reports, the schedule of findings and questioned costs, the summary schedule of prior audit findings and the corrective action plan.
Reporting & filingOpen Reporting package
S4 terms
SEFA
The schedule of expenditures of federal awards, which lists each federal program the entity spent money on during the audit period and the amount expended.
Reporting & filingOpen SEFA
Significant deficiency
A control deficiency less severe than a material weakness but important enough to merit the attention of those charged with governance; reported under 2 CFR 200.516.
Findings & deficienciesOpen Significant deficiency
Single audit
The organization-wide audit of an entity's financial statements and its compliance with federal program requirements, required by 2 CFR part 200, subpart F once federal awards expended reach the single audit threshold.
2 CFR part 200, subpart F · 2 CFR 200.501
Audit & assuranceOpen Single audit
Single audit threshold
The amount of federal awards expended that triggers a single audit: $1,000,000 in federal awards expended for a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2024, and $750,000 for fiscal years that began earlier.
Audit & assuranceOpen Single audit threshold
T1 term
Type A and Type B programs
The two size categories used in major program determination; the dividing amount is calculated from total federal awards expended under the rules in 2 CFR 200.518.
Federal programsOpen Type A and Type B programs
U1 term
Uniform Guidance
The federal rules at 2 CFR part 200 for administrative requirements, cost principles and audit requirements for federal awards.
Regulations & guidanceOpen Uniform Guidance
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What is a single audit?
A single audit is the organization-wide audit of an entity's financial statements and of its compliance with federal program requirements, required once federal awards expended reach the single audit threshold.
Source: 2 CFR part 200, subpart F · 2 CFR 200.501 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
What is a SEFA?
A SEFA is the schedule of expenditures of federal awards: the schedule that lists every federal program the organization spent money on during the audit period and how much it expended.
Source: 2 CFR 200.510 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Material weakness vs significant deficiency
A material weakness is severe enough that a material misstatement or material noncompliance might not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is less severe but still important enough to report to those charged with governance.
Source: 2 CFR 200.516 · GAO Government Auditing Standards · Last verified: 2026-09-20
What is a repeat finding?
A repeat finding is an audit finding that also appeared in a prior audit period. The auditee reports the status of every prior finding in the summary schedule of prior audit findings.
Source: 2 CFR 200.511 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
What is a low-risk auditee?
A low-risk auditee met every condition in 2 CFR 200.520 for the two preceding audit periods. That status lowers the share of federal awards the auditor must cover with major program testing.
Source: 2 CFR 200.520 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
What is a major program?
A major program is a federal program the auditor selects for compliance testing using the risk-based approach in 2 CFR 200.518, which separates programs into Type A and Type B by size and then weighs risk.
Source: 2 CFR 200.518 · 2 CFR 200.519 · Last verified: 2026-09-20
Where to look up a real single audit
Every term above appears on a filed report. To read one, use the Federal Audit Clearinghouse lookup guide, or see when a nonprofit needs an audit and which CPA firms audit nonprofits in your state.
Longer explanations
Each term below has a page that carries the rule text, the numbers and the edge cases. For context on how often the findings terms actually appear: of 22,398 nonprofit single audits for audit year 2024, 9.3% reported a material weakness, 13.5% a significant deficiency and 5.6% a repeat finding.
One row per organization and audit year in our copy of the FAC bulk data. Source: Federal Audit Clearinghouse · Data as of 2026-09-20
- SEFA: schedule of expenditures of federal awards
- Material weakness vs significant deficiency
- What questioned costs are
- Repeat findings: what they mean
- How to qualify as a low-risk auditee
- Major program determination: Type A and Type B
- What does no findings on a single audit mean?
Questions this page answers
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