Data from Federal Agencies

HUD Single Audits Database

Entities that receive federal funds, including states, local governments, and not-for-profit organizations (NPOs), are subject to audit requirements commonly referred to as “single audits” under the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended in 1996. The Single Audit Act was enacted to standardize the requirements for auditing federal programs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires Single Audits of entities participating in various HUD programs. HUD maintains a database cataloging Single Audits. This data is available for download from HUD’s website. Boards of accountancy may find access to this database helpful as they work through enforcement cases, to identify licensees of their jurisdiction that have conducted HUD Single Audits.

The HUD database includes the contact information for each audited entity and the CPA firm that completed its HUD Single Audit, arranged by fiscal year. For records beginning in fiscal year 2013, the database also includes Employee Identification Numbers (EINs) for both.

To download information from this database, visit HUD’s website, select the fiscal year(s) for which you wish to download audit data, and click “Generate Downloads.” HUD provides instructions on how to open the downloaded data in Excel, as well as a key to the fields in the database.

For more information on Single Audits, visit the AICPA’s website, where you will find a wealth of information, including:

• HUD Consolidated Audit Guide
• Illustrative HUD Audit Reports
• Submission and Audit Requirements for PHAs and Multifamily Program Participants

PTIN Holders

The IRS requires tax preparers to indicate whether or not they are a licensed CPA when registering as a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) holder. All PTINs expire on December 31 of each year. PTIN renewal open season begins approximately October 16 each year for the following year.

In the past, NASBA has obtained the current PTIN listing from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request each year. In turn, we provided each Board with the listing data for its individual state, to support its enforcement efforts. This information may be very helpful to boards in identifying individuals who are “holding out” as a CPA without proper CPA licensure.

Great news: The IRS has now made this information available online at https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/ptin-information-and-the-freedom-of-information-act.

Here you will find links to files containing PTIN data by jurisdiction, including the 50 U.S. states, District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and International locations. There is also a “Consolidated PTIN List” file that contains data from all individual files accessible on the web page. Data is updated twice annually, on March 1 and September 1.

To access the PTIN information:

1. Click once on the jurisdiction for which you wish to download PTIN data.
2. A zip file will begin downloading.
3. Once the download is complete, open the folder containing the zip file.
4. Once you open the folder, you will see an Excel document entitled, “FOIA_[Jurisdiction]_extract.” Double click on the Excel file to open it.

The Excel files are in CSV format, so you will need to expand the width of some of the columns to make all the data visible.

EBP Audits

NASBA previously worked closely with the Department of Labor (DOL) to obtain an annual listing of Employee Benefit Plan (EBP) audits. This information allows the Boards to verify whether proper firm licensure and/or peer review requirements were met by firms performing EBP audits for a plan sponsor located in its jurisdiction. The spreadsheets linked below can be filtered to allow each Board to view the audits performed for plans in its jurisdiction, as well as providing the value of the assets, the CPA firm EIN number, and other information gathered from the 5500 filing. Helpful guidance for effective use of this information is provided in the TIP sheet below. A link to the AICPA guidance for audits document is also provided.

Unfortunately, NASBA no longer receives EBP Audit Information from the Department of Labor. Please contact the DOL directly for any current audit information.

> Auditor Population Statistics – FY 2015
> Auditor Population Statistics – FY 2014
> Auditor Population Statistics – FY 2013
> Tips for Understanding Auditor Statistical Information
> AICPA Audit Guidelines