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The Audit Connection Blog

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Update: How SAO will audit Washington’s Employment Security Department in light of major unemployment fraud

August 14, 2020

At the State Auditor’s Office, we’ve heard from members of the public, the Legislature and the media interested to know about the work we are conducting at the state Employment Security Department (ESD). The agency was targeted in a major unemployment benefits fraud scheme earlier this year. SAO is conducting a series of audits of ESD to address three main areas of concern in the unemployment insurance program.

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Single audit alert: Updated guidance for due dates and items reported on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)

December 23, 2020

In July, we told you about changes to the single audit due dates and information required to be reported on the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). Additional guidance was published in the 2020 Compliance Supplement Addendum on Dec. 22, 2020, by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. As you read through the entire addendum, here are some key items for your attention

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Annual report takes a 20/20 look at 2020

December 23, 2020

2020 has been a year unlike any other. However, we at the Office of the Washington State Auditor still have a responsibility to report on what we’ve done this year. We invite you to click through our interactive 2020 annual report in this blog post.

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GAAP and Cash BARS Updates are Done!

December 22, 2020

The Overview of Changes contains detailed descriptions of the changes and links to the appropriate sections of the Manuals. Please refer to the Alerts and Changes tab for determining which revisions might affect your 2020 annual reporting.

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Red flag

New red flags coming to Schedule 01

December 16, 2020

You might see some red flags on the Schedule 01 that you haven’t seen before. In previous years, you might have received a yellow flag with the error message: “This BARS account may not be allowable in this fund type.” Starting in 2021 (reporting year 2020), we have changed this yellow flag to a red flag. To help local governments with this new error message, we have compiled a list of all BARS accounts that will be affected and their applicable fund types. Red flags must be corrected before submitting your annual report.

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