Single Audit Glossary

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: 2026-09-16 · Sources are linked on every fact below.

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: 2026-09-16

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: 2026-09-16

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: 2026-09-16

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: 2026-09-16

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: 2026-09-16

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: 2026-09-16

All single audit terms

Every definition below links the federal rule it comes from. Four terms have their own page: the single audit threshold, the Uniform Guidance, the Compliance Supplement and the data collection form (SF-SAC).

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
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. 2 CFR 200.501
Uniform Guidance: The federal rules at 2 CFR part 200 for administrative requirements, cost principles and audit requirements for federal awards. 2 CFR part 200
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
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
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 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. 2 CFR 200.512
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. 2 CFR 200.510
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. 2 CFR 200.510
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. 2 CFR 200.518
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. 2 CFR 200.518 · 2 CFR 200.519
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. 2 CFR 200.520 · 2 CFR 200.518
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
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. 2 CFR 200.516
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. 2 CFR 200.516 · 2 CFR 200.515
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
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. 2 CFR 200.516
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. 2 CFR 200.511
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. 2 CFR 200.511
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. Federal Audit Clearinghouse
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
Pass-through entity: A non-federal entity that provides a federal award to a subrecipient to carry out part of a federal program. 2 CFR 200.1 (definitions)

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.