Finding Text
Criteria: Uniform Guidance requirements mandate that a Single Audit be performed and submitted to OMB within nine months after the end of the fiscal year. HUD also requires that an audited Financial Data Schedule (FDS) be submitted within nine months after the end of the fiscal year. Condition: The Authority had an audit firm under contract before the end of the fiscal year end. The auditor withdrew from the engagement leaving the Authority without an auditor for the fiscal year. This resulted in a failure by the Authority to submit the audit in accordance with OMB and HUD timelines. Context: We understood during the initial engagement process that the Authority would not be able to submit their audit within the required deadlines as imposed by OMB and HUD regulations. Cause: Due to the prior audit firm withdrawing from the audit engagement, the Authority was not able to contract with another audit firm in time to meet the required deadlines for the audit submission. Effect: The audit process is a valuable tool that allow regulatory agencies to monitor the financial and compliance requirements for entities. This also provides the Board of Commissioners and the public a review of the Authority’s financial condition and report on compliance. Recommendation: It is recommended that the Authority obtain a contract before the end of the fiscal year. Criteria in the selection of an audit firm should include experience in the housing industry. Reply: We have focused on getting the audit for FYE June 30, 2023 completed. The audit firm that we had contracted with had performed over one-half of the audit work when they withdrew from the engagement. It was difficult by that time to engage a new auditor that would be able to meet the filing deadlines. We were unable to hire a new auditor prior to March 31, 2024. We anticipate hiring the auditor for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024 within the next week. The most important requirement in our contract with the auditor will be to meet the filing deadlines. From now on, we will hire the auditor prior to the end of our fiscal year. Prior to June 30, 2023, our audits and HUD filings have never been late. We will make sure that we are current in the future.