Due Date Of Reports And Consequences Of A Late Report

Questions:

Is there any kind of grace period for submission of a report?

LLA does not allow a grace period in which to submit a report past the statutory due date. If an agency does not think it will be able to submit its report by the statutory due date, it should consider requesting an extension.

My agency receives more than $750,000 of federal funds and is required to provide for a Single Audit. The federal government requires a Single Audit report to be submitted by the earlier of 30 days after the release of the audit report, or 9 months after my agency’s fiscal year end. How does this affect the date by which I am required to file my audit report with LLA?

The statutory due date of audit reports, including Single Audit reports, of agencies that must report to LLA is six months after the agency’s fiscal year end. Although the federal government allows reports to be submitted, in certain cases, up to nine months after an agency's fiscal year end, an agency that is required to report to LLA must observe Louisiana state law regarding the due date of their report, and must submit their audit report and their Single Audit report to LLA within six months after the agency's fiscal year end.

An exception is made if a local auditee's audit report is ready to be submitted to LLA, but because of delays in federal guidance related to the expenditure of federal funds the local auditee has received, the Single Audit will be delayed. If an local auditee wishes to submit their audit report to LLA without the Single Audit report due to a delay in federal guidance, the local auditee or the CPA must notify LLA through the extension request form on LLA's website before the due date of the audit report. A full explanation of the reason for the delay of the Single Audit report must accompany the request, and the request must plainly state that the extension is for the Single Audit report only, not the audit report, the statewide agreed-upon procedures report, the school board/charter school performance measures agreed-upon procedures report, or any other report that is required by Louisiana statute or LLA policy.

Upon receipt of the original audit report and other reports required by Louisiana statue or LLA policy, LLA will review and issue the report package as a public document. If the extension is approved by LLA and the audit report and other required reports except the Single Audit are submitted to LLA by the statutory due date, no late report finding is required to be included in the audit report or the Single Audit report.

When the Single Audit is completed, the CPA submits it with together with the audit report and other reports originally submitted to LLA, with a letter prepared on the letterhead of either the local auditee or the CPA firm stating that the original report package that was submitted to LLA has been revised to include the Single Audit report. The letter will be issued with the audit report and the Single Audit report, as the first page of the report package.

I received an email from LLA stating that my agency’s audit report is delinquent; and my agency’s name is on the noncompliance list. My CPA said that he submitted the report. How do I resolve this?

Call LLA’s Local Government Services; we can review our records and will advise you verbally whether we have received the report. If it has not, you will be advised to call the CPA firm that performed your agency’s audit.

My agency’s report was late through the fault of the CPA firm that performed the engagement. Must my report include a finding for the late report?

Yes. The finding may state that the lateness of the report was the fault of the CPA firm. You should consider the advisability of hiring the CPA firm to perform your agency’s engagements in the future, especially if the CPA firm has a history of submitting your reports past the statutory due date.