Local government agencies and quasi-public organizations (local auditees) provide annual financial reports to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) (see What Kind of Report Does My Agency Need to Provide to the Legislative Auditor?).
Local auditees that receive $500,000 or more in revenues and other sources (local government agencies and some quasi-public organizations) or local and/or state assistance (nonprofits) annually must provide for audited financial statements. The majority of audits submitted to LLA are performed under generally accepted government auditing standards or GAGAS. GAGAS requires the CPA performing the audit to test the local auditee’s compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements; and to report upon the results of these tests in the Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters Based on an Audit of Financial Statements Performed in Accordance with Government Auditing Standards.
Louisiana Compliance Questionnaires (for governmental agencies, quasi-public agencies, and charter schools) are used by the CPA in local auditee audit engagements as one of the tools to determine the laws, regulations, contracts and grant agreements to test during the audit; and to obtain management’s representation as to whether they have complied with these laws and regulations. These questionnaires provide a list of Louisiana laws that are material to the financial statements of local auditees (material means it is important for local auditees to follow these laws and regulations). They provide spaces for the local auditee to check, indicating that the agency has or has not complied with each of the laws and regulations, or if it is not applicable to their agency; and a space for the agency to date and sign the questionnaire. Different compliance questionnaires are available for local governments, quasi-public organizations, and charter schools.
Local auditees that receive between $200,000 and $499,999 of revenues and other sources (local and/or state assistance) annually must provide for reviewed financial statements, and a report, prepared by the CPA firm that performed the review, with the results of the CPA’s tests of laws and regulations that have been determined to be material to the local auditee’s financial statements.
Louisiana Attestation Questionnaires (for governmental agencies, quasi-public agencies, and charter schools), which are similar to Louisiana Compliance Questionnaires, are available on LLA’s website for use in review/attestation engagements. Like the Louisiana Compliance Questionnaires, there are also different attestation questionnaires for the review/attestation engagements of local governments, quasi-public organizations, and charter schools.
The local auditee prepares and signs the compliance or attestation questionnaire, and the local auditee board (if applicable) adopts it in an open meeting. The local auditee then provides the questionnaire to their CPA at the start of the engagement. The CPA bases his or her tests of compliance on the local auditee’s responses on the questionnaire.
The CPA retains the compliance/attestation questionnaire with their audit/engagement documentation. It is not necessary for the local auditee to provide the questionnaire to LLA.
Questions:
- Is there a compliance or attestation questionnaire used in a compilation engagement?