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Reporting Requirements for Annual Financial Reports of State Agencies and Universities

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Reporting Requirements for Annual Financial Reports of State Agencies and Universities

Introduction

SAO Information

The State Auditor’s Office (SAO) is the independent auditor for Texas state government. SAO performs various types of audits including financial statement audits, financial audits, compliance audits, economy and efficiency audits, effectiveness audits and other special audits. The responsibilities of the SAO in relation to Texas’ statewide annual financial report are as follows:

  1. Perform an Audit of the Statewide Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR)

    The state auditor conducts a statewide financial audit based on a single ACFR issued by the Comptroller’s office. The state auditor expresses opinions on the government-wide financial statements, the major funds, the aggregate discretely presented component units and remaining fund information. The audit is conducted in accordance with authoritative standards and guidelines that include but are not limited to:

    • Generally accepted auditing standards
    • Generally accepted government auditing standards
    • Statements and other authoritative pronouncements issued by GASB
    • Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance)
    • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) industry audit guides

    The legislative audit committee grants the state auditor approval to conduct a statewide audit. The state auditor prepares a plan for performing the statewide audit by outlining the extent of financial auditing to be performed.

  2. Issue Reports

    The state auditor issues three reports related to the statewide financial audit:

    • Opinions on the financial statements in the ACFR
    • Opinion on SEFA in relation to the ACFR statements
    • An audit report on the internal controls over financial reporting included in the State of Texas Financial Portion of the Statewide Single Audit Report

    The State of Texas Financial Portion of the Statewide Single Audit report includes topics such as:

    • Scope of the statewide financial audit
    • A report on internal control over financial reporting, compliance and other matters
    • Audit findings and recommendations
    • Management’s response to findings and recommendations
    • Follow-up review and evaluation of management’s progress regarding the findings from the audits of previous years

    The statewide financial audit reports are issued by March of each year.