Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) Issues updated Data Collection Form (DCF)

This notice applies to nonprofit and government agencies required to file a Single Audit in accordance with Uniformed Guidance: 

The following is an excerpt of the GAQC Alert #310 issued July 18, 2016 by the Governmental Audit Control Center of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA):

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Final DCF Issued; FAC Further Extends Submission Date

Late on Friday, July 15, 2016, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) issued the updated Data Collection Form (DCF or Form) and related instructions. The new Form is to be used for fiscal periods beginning on or after December 26, 2014, and can be accessed on the FAC Web site. 

Changes to the DCF and Access Instructions

After several rounds of due process (see GAQC Alert #296 andGAQC Alert #306) the FAC has issued an updated DCF andrelated instructions. It can be found by going to the FAC Web siteand clicking on the Quick Link titled, "Instructions and Documents."

The vast majority of the changes made to the Form are to address new requirements in OMB's Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards at 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance). Keep in mind that the new Form is only to be used for audits of fiscal periods beginning on or after December 26, 2014 (generally December 31, 2015, and later year-end single audits). If you are still working on single audits under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, the previous version of the DCF should be used.

With any new Form and system launch, there are bound to be bugs that need to be worked out. If you are having any problem with the system or making submissions, contact the FAC staff using the FAC contact information provided on the FAC Web site.

The first thing members should do is to print the new Form and instructions to begin getting familiar with them. Some key changes you will note include the following:

• The Form and instructions have been revised to clarify the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) field, including defined numbering protocols for how to address situations when a CFDA three-digit extension is unknown both for the Research and Development program and other programs.
• The Form and instructions have been updated to add (or describe) fields related to new Uniform Guidance requirements. For example, the following are now included:

• Name of pass-through entity and pass-through identifying number field.
• Fields noting whether federal awards are passed through to subrecipients and, if so, the amount passed through.
• Fields to identify whether there are repeat audit findings and to provide prior year finding reference numbers.
• End of audit period loan balance outstanding field.
• New fields that will apply when the auditee uses a special-purpose framework (e.g., cash, regulatory, etc.).
• The instruction for the Types of Compliance Requirement field that the auditor completes to note which compliance requirements apply to an audit finding has been clarified to state that the Type of Compliance Requirement is the requirement the auditor was testing which generated the audit finding.
• A new field will be used to identify whether an award is part of a cluster of programs, and if so, the name of the cluster,
• Both the auditee and auditor statements have been updated. The auditee statement was expanded to address new Uniform Guidance requirements and to provide a separate certification statement for Indian Tribe or Tribal Organizations. The auditor statement was also updated and streamlined.

• More auto-generated fields have been incorporated into the Form. For example, the field for "name of federal program" will be auto-generated once the CFDA number is entered. Additionally, federal program totals and cluster totals will be auto-generated.

• More edit checks have been incorporated into the FAC system. For example, the system will only permit a 3-digit CFDA extension.

• Several formatting and ordering changes were also made.

Members should also note several other items under the "Instructions and Documents" Quick Link as follows:

Updated Data Entry Instructions. An updated version of the instructions for the FAC Internet Data Entry System (IDES) has been posted. The updates were needed to address certain nuances of the new Form and the related submission process.

Updated Upload Worksheets. Two updated worksheets (i.e., the Federal Awards Worksheet and the Federal Awards Audit Finding Worksheet) used to upload certain information into the Form have been updated to address changes to the Form. Additionally, the Federal Awards Worksheet has some new features. For example, it will now auto-generate federal program and cluster totals and allow those completing the worksheet to select the federal program name from a drop down list.

Components Checklist. The PDF version of the Form includes a Single Audit Components Checklist which is intended to help preparers ensure all required parts of the reporting package are being included in the FAC submission, as well as provide space to identify the page number for each item within the PDF file to be submitted.

Older Versions of Form and Instructions. You can also access older versions of the Form, instructions, and the IDES instruction document in the event you are working on audits of periods prior to the effective date of the new Form.