Audit & Assurance
A housing authority's audit answers to more readers than most — the board, HUD, the Federal Audit Clearinghouse, and the residents the programs exist for.
Goldenthal & Suss Consulting P.C. performs financial statement audits and single audits of public housing authorities (PHAs) and other HUD-funded housing entities. A PHA's audit is conducted under Government Auditing Standards (the Yellow Book) and, where federal expenditures reach the $1,000,000 threshold, the Uniform Guidance single audit requirements. The auditor also performs procedures on the Financial Data Schedule (FDS) that the authority submits to HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC).
Housing authorities are governmental entities, so their financial statements follow GASB standards rather than the FASB standards that govern nonprofits and businesses. Most are funded predominantly by HUD, which means a single audit of the major federal programs — typically the Housing Choice Voucher program, the Public Housing operating subsidy, and the Capital Fund — and a separate layer of HUD-specific reporting on top of it.
Common audit focus areas include tenant eligibility and rent calculations, Housing Assistance Payment accuracy, procurement under federal rules, use of reserves, and the allocation of costs across programs.
PHAs submit their financial data to HUD electronically on the Financial Data Schedule, first unaudited and then audited. The auditor attests to the FDS as supplementary information and the audited submission must agree to the audited financial statements. Mismatches between the two are one of the most common causes of HUD follow-up, and they are avoidable when the FDS is built from the final trial balance rather than an earlier draft.
A single audit is required when a non-federal entity expends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards during its fiscal year, for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024. Most housing authorities exceed that because their HUD funding counts as federal awards. Smaller authorities below the threshold are still subject to HUD's financial reporting requirements and usually to a financial statement audit.
Public housing authorities are governmental entities and report under GASB standards. Related nonprofit or for-profit affiliates — for example, a development corporation or a tax-credit partnership — may report under FASB, which is one reason component units and affiliates need careful attention in the audit.
HUD expects the audited Financial Data Schedule to agree to the audited financial statements. Differences typically trigger HUD questions and resubmission. The fix is procedural: prepare the FDS from the final adjusted trial balance after audit adjustments, not from a preliminary close.
Sources & review
Single audit threshold per 2 CFR 200.501 (FYs beginning on/after 2024-10-01); FDS submission through HUD REAC. FDS deadlines deliberately not stated — re-verify against current HUD/REAC guidance before adding them. Reviewed 2026-10-01. Thresholds and deadlines change — confirm current requirements before relying on them.
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