Audit finding

A deficiency an auditor reports — a control that did not operate, a requirement not met, a cost that should not have been charged. It is reported to the recipient and, on a single audit, to the federal government.

Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.

Also called Finding · Compliance finding

In detail

Findings are graded, and the grade decides the consequences. A significant deficiency is a warning; a material weakness in a major programme reaches an agency’s risk assessment of you for years.

Every finding requires a corrective action plan, and repeat findings are treated far more seriously than first-time ones because they say the plan was not followed.

Against a questioned cost

A questioned cost is a specific amount an auditor cannot accept. A finding is the underlying deficiency, which may involve no money at all — a missing policy, an unperformed check. One finding can carry many questioned costs, or none. Neither is a field here: we hold no recipient records.

How GrantTrove stores it

  • Nothing about a recipient’s audit history is stored, and no record scores an organisation.
  • What the product does carry is provenance on the data itself: `verify_method` and `last_verified_at` record how and when a field was last checked against its source, which is our own auditable trail rather than a claim about anyone else.

Common questions

Does a finding stop future funding?

Not usually by itself. Unresolved and repeat findings weigh more heavily.

Are findings public?

Single audit reports are submitted to a federal clearinghouse and are public.

Do you show them?

No. We hold opportunities and funders, not recipient compliance records.