Single Audit Tool

Abstract

Systems and techniques are disclosed for planning and performing an audit. The systems and techniques determine whether a Single Audit or a program-specific audit is to be performed for an entity, and automatically select one or more compliance procedures that are to be used during the auditing process.

1 . A computer-implemented method for planning an audit comprising:
 determining whether a Single Audit or a program-specific audit is to be performed for an entity based at least in part on a financial award received by the entity and entity-related information, the financial award associated with a funding program;   determining whether the funding program is to be evaluated as a major program by assessing risk and coverage information associated with the financial award;   determining whether the entity is low risk or not low risk;   selecting automatically or enabling selection of at least one compliance procedure to be used during the Single Audit or the program-specific audit from a plurality of compliance procedures; and   providing the at least one compliance procedure to conduct the Single Audit or the program-specific audit.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising conducting the Single Audit or the program-specific audit using the at least one compliance procedure. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein conducting the Single Audit or the program-specific audit comprises documenting the Single Audit or the program-specific audit. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the entity-related information comprises information describing a type of entity, the type of entity selected from the group consisting of “Local Government”, “Local Education Agency”, “Indian Tribal Government”, “State Government”, “State Education Agency”, “Nonprofit Organization”, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 clustering a plurality of funding programs into a grouping based on a similarity characteristic associated with each of the plurality of funding programs; and   selecting automatically or automatically guiding the user in selecting the at least one compliance procedure based at least in part on the clustering.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising customizing the at least one compliance procedure. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein customizing the at least one compliance procedure includes adding, deleting, and modifying the at least one compliance procedure. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting automatically or enabling selection of the at least one compliance procedure is based on a Compliance Supplement. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting automatically or enabling selection of the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award and the funding program. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting automatically or enabling selection of the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award, the funding program, and the entity-related information. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting automatically or enabling selection of the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award, the funding program, the entity-related information, and risk and coverage information. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the funding program is to be evaluated as a major program comprises analyzing whether the funding program qualifies as a ‘Type A’ program or a ‘Type B’ program. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing a first set of questions through a graphical user interface to obtain the entity-related information. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising providing a second set of questions through the graphical user interface to obtain the risk and coverage information associated with the financial award; 
     
     
         15 . A system for planning an audit comprising:
 a data store comprising a plurality of compliance procedures;   a server operatively coupled to the data store, the server including a processor and memory storing instructions that, in response to receiving a first request for access to a service, cause the processor to:
 provide a first set of questions and a second set of questions to an entity; 
 determine whether a Single Audit or a program-specific audit is to be performed for the entity based on a response to the first set of questions; 
 determine whether a funding program associated with a financial award received by the entity is to be evaluated as a major program based on a response to the second set of questions; 
 determine whether the entity is low risk or not low risk; 
 select automatically or enable selection of at least one compliance procedure from the plurality of compliance procedures to be used during the Single Audit or the program-specific audit; 
 generate a signal associated with the at least one compliance procedure; and 
 transmit the signal. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the memory stores instructions that, in response to receiving the first request, cause the processor to display the first set of questions, the second set of questions, or combinations thereof, on a display device. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one compliance procedure is based on a Compliance Supplement. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the first set of questions are entity-related questions. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the second set of questions relates to risk and coverage information associated with the funding program. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15  wherein the memory stores instructions that, in response to receiving the first request, cause the processor to:
 cluster a plurality of funding programs into a grouping based on a similarity characteristic associated with each of the plurality of funding programs; and 
 select automatically or enable selection of the at least one compliance procedure based at least in part on the grouping. 
 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the memory stores instructions that, in response to receiving a second request, cause the processor to customize the at least one compliance procedure. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein customization of the at least one compliance procedure includes adding, deleting or modifying the at least one compliance procedure. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one compliance procedure is based on at least the financial award. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award and the funding program. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award, the funding program, and the entity-related information. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one compliance procedure is based on the financial award, the funding program, the entity-related information, and risk and coverage information. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the memory stores instructions that, in response to receiving the first request, cause the processor to analyze whether the funding program qualifies as a ‘Type A’ program or a ‘Type B’ program. 
     
     
         28 . An article comprising a machine-readable medium storing machine-readable instructions that, when applied to the machine, cause the machine to:
 determine whether a Single Audit or a program-specific audit is to be performed for an entity based at least in part on a financial award received by the entity and entity-related information, the financial award associated with a funding program;   determine whether the funding program is to be evaluated as a major program by assessing risk and coverage information associated with the financial award;   select automatically or enable selection of at least one compliance procedure to be used during the Single Audit or the program-specific audit from a plurality of compliance procedures; and   provide the at least one compliance procedure to conduct the Single Audit or the program-specific audit.   
     
     
         29 . The article of claim  33  including instructions that, when applied to the machine, cause the machine to:
 cluster a plurality of funding programs into a grouping based on a similarity characteristic associated with each of the plurality of funding programs; and 
 select automatically or enable selection of the at least one compliance procedure based at least in part on the cluster.