Submitting single audit reports using the Federal Audit Clearinghouse

The Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) is the place to submit federal grant audits. All entities that spend $750,000 or more in federal grant funds in a fiscal year must submit an audit.

Our goal is to make the single audit submission process as easy as possible. To complete your audit, you'll fill out a series of webforms and upload a PDF of your audit reporting package. You'll also submit the SF-SAC as a series of XLSX workbooks.

Everyone who edits or certifies a single audit submission must have an account with Login.gov. This includes auditees and auditors. Creating a Login.gov account is fully online and secure.

This guide goes through the submission process step-by-step.

Getting started

Your submission will begin with the fac.gov homepage. To submit or review a single audit, you will need to sign in using Login.gov.

Logging in with Login.gov

Everyone involved in the single audit process must have an account with Login.gov. This includes auditees and auditors.

Creating a Login.gov account is fully online and secure. When creating your Login.gov account, be sure to use the email address you want associated with your single audit submission.

Your single audit submissions

Once logged in, you can create a new audit and see the status of audits currently in progress. You'll be able to view the status of all audits associated with your email address.

If you don't see the audits you expect after signing in, have the audit editor confirm the audit lists the email address on your Login.gov account. They can do this by going to the manage user access section of the audit.

Submission eligibility

Before starting a new audit, you'll answer a few questions to confirm your entity must submit an audit.

Per 2 CFR 200.501, the single audit submission process is for the following types of entities who spend $750,000 or more in Federal grant awards in a fiscal year:

  • Non-profits
  • State and local governments
  • Institutions of higher education
  • Indian tribes or Tribal organizations

ACEE submissions

At this time, the FAC is not accepting submissions for Alternative Compliance Examination Engagements (ACEE).

Auditee information

Like the federal government, the FAC uses the Unique Entity ID (UEI) for all single audit submissions.

  • UEIs are 12-character alphanumeric IDs assigned to entities by SAM.gov
  • Data entry, entity registration, and searching in the FAC now require use of an entity's UEI

For more information about this transition, visit SAM.gov.

Audit access

This is where you will list the auditee and auditor certifying officials, as well as anyone who will need to enter data or edit the single audit. Be sure to gather the names and email addresses of all individuals who will require access to the audit before proceeding with this step.

Enter the email address for everyone who will need to edit the audit submission. You should include your email address as well. Make sure these email addresses match the email addresses connected to the users' Login.gov accounts.

If you need to make changes to users after creating the audit submission, you can find instructions on our manage user access page.

The FAC doesn't notify users when they've been added to a submission. We recommend notifying them yourself.

General information form

Next, you'll enter general information about the audit and auditee, including the following:

  • Audit type
  • Audit period
  • Fiscal period
  • Auditee information
  • Auditor information

Audit information form

Use this form to submit information about the auditee's financial statements and federal programs according to 2 CFR 200.510.

This is also when you'll identify any federal programs covered in the single audit.

Submission checklist

Next you'll see your submission checklist.

This checklist allows you to track your progress towards completing a single audit submission.

Upload the audit reporting package PDF

You must merge all components of the audit report package into a single PDF file before uploading. Be sure your PDF file meets the uniform guidelines:

  • Less than 30MB
  • Unlocked with no password requirements
  • Converted from an electronic document and text searchable
  • Unencrypted
  • Printing and content copying allowed

The reporting package must include the:

  • Financial statements and schedule of expenditures of Federal awards outlined in Uniform Guidance codes 2 CFR 200.510(a) and (b), respectively;
  • Summary schedule of prior audit findings discussed in 2 CFR 200.511(b);
  • Auditor's report(s) discussed in 2 CFR 200.515; and
  • Corrective action plan discussed in 2 CFR 200.511(c).

Make sure to remove all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) before uploading your PDF.

PII includes but is not limited to Social Security Numbers, account numbers, vehicle identification numbers, copies of canceled checks, student names, dates of birth, personal addresses, or personal phone numbers.

Upload the SF-SAC

Next you'll upload the SF-SAC. This is a series of XLSX workbooks that collects the data on any audit findings, corrective action plans, etc, per 2 CFR 200.512(c).

We've provided download links and instructions for each of these workbooks. We recommend reading the instructions carefully as you complete the SF-SAC.

Tribal data release

Per 2 CFR 200.512(b)(2), Indian Tribes or Tribal Organizations will need to opt in or opt out of making their reporting package publicly available. This step must be completed by the Auditee Certifying Official.

Pre-certification validation

This step confirms you entered your data correctly throughout your single audit package. It also cross-validates the data in the forms and the SF-SAC workbooks against each other.

The system will identify any errors. You'll be able to edit/re-upload any affected sections before certification.

Lock for certification

After validation, you'll lock your single audit submission for certification.

If you need to make edits after this step, you may unlock your submission from the audit status page. Before certification, you will have to re-validate and re-lock your data.

Making changes to your audit package

Anyone may unlock the audit package and make changes before final submission. To do this, click the "Unlock" button to return to the main audit checklist. From here you can edit the webforms and/or re-upload new workbooks for the SF-SAC.

Any changes will have to be re-validated and re-certified by both the Auditor and Auditee Certifying Officials.

Audit certification process

After you've completed the pre-certification validation, you can begin the certification process.

The Auditor Certifying Official must certify first.

Auditee Certifying Officials are responsible for the contents of the single audit. They must certify last and confirm the final submission.

Any changes made after certification by either party will have to be re-certified by all. This could include re-uploads of the audit package or workbooks.

Confirming submission

The Auditee Certifying Official must complete this step.

Once you submit your single audit package, you can't make any further changes. What you have submitted is what will be available via the FAC's audit search.

After you submit your report to the FAC, it can take up to 24 hours for the system to process your upload. After this time, you will be able to download your report when you search the FAC database.

The date the Auditee Certifying Official confirms submission is recorded as the FAC acceptance date.

We recommend you save a copy of your audit materials on your local machine. If you need to resubmit, having the originals will make the process much easier.