The audit law 
(
Louisiana Revised Statute (R.S.) 24:513 and
24:514) establishes the due dates of
local auditee reports:
Ø Audit, review/attestation, and compilation reports are due to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) no later than six months after the local auditee’s fiscal year end
Ø Sworn financial statements are due to LLA no later than ninety days after the local auditee’s fiscal year end
The Legislative Auditor believes that timeliness is a vital component of good financial reporting. Local auditees do not exist in a vacuum; their annual financial reports are of interest not only to regulatory agencies, but to taxpayers as well. Financial information loses its value as time passes.
A local auditee should take these steps to ensure that its annual financial report is submitted to LLA by the statutory due date:
Ø The local auditee should keep its books and records in good shape throughout the year
Ø If its statutorily required report is an audit, review/attestation or compilation report, the local auditee should hire a CPA firm from LLA’s approved list no later than sixty days after its fiscal year end; and resolve the CPA’s questions and requests for information in as timely a manner as possible.
Ø If its statutorily required report is sworn financial statements, the local auditee should call LLA’s Local Government Services section if they have not received an email or letter notification from LLA by sixty days after its fiscal year end. The email will include a link to the financial statement forms on LLA's website; the letter will include a copy of the blank financial statement forms.
During the 2007 Legislative Session, language was added to House Bill 1 (the General Appropriations Act) and House Bill 2 (the Capital Outlay Act) that prohibited the payment of funds authorized in these acts to any recipient that had failed to comply with the audit law; and had not obtained an extension from LLA.
In response to the language in House Bill 1 and 2, in 2007 LLA began publishing on its website a list of local auditees that had failed to comply with the audit law, mostly comprised of local auditees that have not submitted their reports by the statutory due date.
This
noncompliance list is reviewed by the Louisiana Department of Treasury and other state agencies before paying state funds to local auditees.
R.S. 39:72.1 prohibits the payment of Louisiana state government funds to any local auditee whose name appears on the noncompliance list.
A local auditee’s name will be removed from the noncompliance list when LLA receives their report, or when LLA approves an
extension request for the local auditee.
An audit, review/attestation, or compilation report that is submitted past the statutory due date must include a finding for the noncompliance with
R.S. 24:513, except when an emergency extension request has been approved.
QUESTIONS:
Q. Is there any kind of grace period for submission of a report?
A. LLA does not allow a grace period in which to submit a report past the statutory due date. If an agency does not think it will be able to submit its report by the statutory due date, it should consider requesting an extension.
Q. My agency receives more than $750,000 of federal funds and is required to provide for a Single Audit. The federal government requires a Single Audit report to be submitted by the earlier of 30 days after the release of the audit report, or 9 months after my agency’s fiscal year end. How does this affect the date by which I am required to file my audit report with LLA?
A. The statutory due date of audit reports, including Single Audit reports, of agencies that must report to LLA, is six months after the agency’s fiscal year end. Although the federal government allows reports to be submitted, in certain cases, up to nine months after an agency's fiscal year end, an agency that is required to report to LLA must observe Louisiana state law regarding the due date of their report, and must submit their report to LLA within six months after the agency's fiscal year end.
Q. I received an email from LLA stating that my agency’s audit report is delinquent; and my agency’s name is on the noncompliance list. My CPA said that he submitted the report. How do I resolve this?
A. Call LLA’s Local Government Services ; we can review our records and will advise you verbally whether we have received the report. If it has not, you will be advised to call the CPA firm that performed your agency’s audit.
Q. My agency’s report was late through the fault of the CPA firm that performed the engagement. Must my report include a finding for the late report?
A. Yes. The finding may state that the lateness of the report was the fault of the CPA firm. You should consider the advisability of hiring the CPA firm to perform your agency’s engagements in the future, especially if the CPA firm has a history of submitting your reports past the statutory due date.