In many cases, a federal agency's Office of Inspector General will have issued a program-specific audit guide that provides guidance on internal control, compliance requirements, suggested audit procedures, and audit reporting requirements for a particular federal program. The auditor should contact the Office of Inspector General of the federal agency to determine whether such a guide is available and current. When a current program-specific audit guide is available, the auditor should follow Government Auditing Standards and the guide when performing a program-specific audit. However, if there have been significant changes made to a program’s compliance requirements and the related program-specific audit guide has not been updated with regard to the changes, the auditor should follow section 235 of Circular A –133 and the OMB Circular A – 133 Compliance Supplement ( Compliance Supplement) in lieu of an outdated guide. If a guide is current with regard to a program's compliance requirements but has not been updated to conform to current authoritative auditing standards and requirements, such as current revisions of generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) or ( Government Auditing Standards), the auditor should follow current applicable professional standards and guidance in lieu of the outdated or inconsistent standards and guidance in the guide.

When a program-specific audit guide is not available, the auditee and the auditor have basically the same responsibilities for the federal program as they have for an audit of a major program in a single audit.