Recovery Act Resource Center - GAQC Tools

The following is a list of tools being offered by the GAQC, as well as a summary of communications that the Center has issued to member firms regarding the Recovery Act. Some of these tools are open and available to the general public as a public service.

Archived Center Web Events and Conference Calls

NEW The Recovery Act: Information You Need to Plan and Perform Your 2010 Single Audits, the purpose of this archived GAQC Web event is to help auditors better understand the implications of Recovery Act funds on both auditees and your single audits. While this archived event primarily covers Recovery Act considerations, it also provides an update on several other important matters for you to consider for your 2010 single audits. Click here to listen to the call and to download the slides.
This archived Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) member-only conference call titled, The Recovery Act: A Practitioner's Perspective, was presented by panel of CPA practitioners and moderated by Mary Foelster of the AICPA. The GAQC held this call to provide you with another resource to help your firm better understand the implications of Recovery Act funds to your clients and your single audits. To date, the GAQC has issued a number of GAQC Alerts and other resources on this topic area. With so much information on the Recovery Act and the rate at which guidance is being issued, we thought it important for members to have the opportunity to hear how other practitioners with clients affected by the Recovery Act have been addressing some of the related challenges. Whether you are an auditor in the midst of performing a June 30th single audit with Recovery Act considerations or you have clients that have not yet received Recovery Act funds but will in the future, this call should be of interest to you. Click here to listen to the call and to download the slides.
In June 2009, the Center held a call titled, The Recovery Act and Its Potential Impact on 2009 Single Audits, which is available in an archived format. The purpose of the call was to provide auditors with Recovery Act information for both the purpose of communicating with clients, as well as understanding the implications for June 30, 2009, single audits and in the future. The call, led by three federal presenters that included representatives from the Office of Management and Budget and federal Inspectors General offices, was extremely informative. It included two walk-through exercises to illustrate the impact of the Recovery Act on major program determination, as well as a question and answer session that included many practical questions from practitioners. Click here to listen to the call and to download the slides and related handouts.
Preparing for Your Single Audit: An Auditee Perspective This archived GAQC conference call is extremely useful for first time single audit auditees and is primarily intended to help clients better understand the requirements of the Single Audit Act and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations (Circular A-133), the various responsibilities placed on auditees, and tips for preparing for a single audit. While educating auditees is the primary goal of this call, member firm designated audit quality partners (DAQPs) and member firm staff may also find it beneficial as a refresher. Learn More>>

Archived GAQC Alerts

NEW GAQC Alert #141, sent on March 26, 2010, provides information about a recent OMB memorandum to federal agencies titled, M-10-14, Updated Guidance on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the OMB Memorandum). This guidance could have implications on your single audits performed under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations (Circular A-133). Please note that even though the title of the OMB Memorandum indicates that it provides guidance relating to the Recovery Act, some of its provisions will affect single audits that that do not involve Recovery Act expenditures.
GAQC Alert #133, sent on December 30, 2009, informs readers about the new Department of Education (ED), sent on December 30, 2009, informs readers about the new Department of Education (ED) Guidance for Grantees and Auditors State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program (SFSF) and OMB's memorandum titled, Updated Guidance on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – Data Quality, Non-Reporting Recipients, and Reporting of Job Estimates. If you are auditing the ED SFSF program as part of a single audit, you should review and become familiar with new guidance issued by ED on December 24, 2009. The SFSF guidance can be accessed directly by clicking here or via a link on the ED Web site (under the “Guidance” subheading) at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/applicant.html. The jobs created and retained reporting guidance issued on December 10, 2009, should be of particular interest to auditees that are recipients of federal assistance awards under the Recovery Act and required to report under Section 1512 of the Act. Updated Guidance for recipients of federal assistance awards received under the Recovery Act on estimating jobs created and retained for purposes of reporting under Section 1512 of the Recovery Act. Click here to view this memorandum from OMB.
GAQC Alert #132, sent on December 10, 2009, informs about the AICPA Auditing Standards Board response to questions about "early" communication of deficiencies in internal control over compliance through the issuance of Interpretation Nos. 2–4. The OMB has encouraged auditors to early communicate deficiencies in internal control over compliance relating to Recovery Act funds, prior to the completion of the single audit. As noted in GAQC Alert #127, the OMB has a pilot project underway at the state government level that is requiring auditors of states that have volunteered for the project to early communicate to management, in writing, the significant deficiencies and material weaknesses relating to certain major programs with Recovery Act funding. Click here to learn more.
GAQC Alert #127, sent on October 9, 2009, informs members about recent news out of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the applicability of the single audit to Build America Bonds. Additionally, this Alert provides an update on several other matters related to the Recovery Act including: 1) Recently launched updated version of the www.recovery.gov Web site; 2) The availability the most recent GAQC member call on the Recovery Act in an archived format; and 3) A new OMB Recovery Act pilot project for volunteer state governments.
GAQC Alert #123, sent on September 11, 2009, provides readers with updated information that the OMB has asked us to relay to GAQC members relating to major program determination when an entity has expended funds received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act). After reading this Alert you will be aware of: (1) The federal government's latest thinking on the effect on major program determination when Type A programs that have both Recovery Act and non-Recovery Act expenditures. Keep in mind that this information could affect your June 30, 2009, single audits that may already be underway, and your future single audits; (2) Other recent Recovery Act activities including a Senate oversight hearing held September 10, 2009; and (3) Recovery Act resources available to you on the GAQC Web site.
GAQC Alert #118, sent on August 6, 2009, and informs members that the Office of Management Budget (OMB) issued the long awaited addendum to the March 2009 Compliance Supplement titled, Compliance Supplement Addendum #1 (the Addendum) on August 5. The purpose of GAQC Alert #118 is to provide members with information about the Addendum that you need to be aware of and also other recent activities relating to the Recovery Act. Click here to view this GAQC Alert.
GAQC Alert #112, sent on May 26, 2009, provided members with the new Appendix VII of the 2009 OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement, which includes information and guidance for auditors on the Recovery Act. The Alert discusses the Appendix and its implications on audits performed under Circular A-133. You will also find information on the other changes made to the 2009 Compliance Supplement. Click here to view this GAQC Alert.
GAQC Alert #111, sent on May 19, 2009, provided the latest OMB guidance issued on the Recovery Act; a summary of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Recovery Act Report, and an update on what auditors can expect going forward. Click here to view this GAQC Alert.
GAQC Alert #106, sent on March 16, 2009, provided background on the Recovery Act, initial information on the first round of OMB Recovery Act guidance, and the potential implications for single audits. Click here to view this GAQC Alert.

Other GAQC Recovery Act Tools

Click here to access nonauthoritative examples to illustrate the impact of the Recovery Act on planning a single audit and major program determination.
Click here to access client Recovery Act talking points for auditors to use with clients, even with those that have not yet received Recovery Act funds but likely will in the future.

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