Periodic audits and award-specific audits of for-profit participants.

§ 603.645 Periodic audits and award-specific audits of for-profit participants. The contracting officer needs to consider requirements for both periodic audits and award-specific audits (as defined in § 603.1295 and § 603.1220, respectively). The way that an expenditure-based TIA addresses the two types of audits will vary, depending upon the type of for-profit participant. (a) For for-profit participants that are audited by the DCAA or other Federal auditors, as described in §§ 603.650(b) and 603.655, specific requirements for periodic audits need not be added because the Federal audits should be sufficient to address whatever may be needed. The inclusion in the TIA of the standard access-to-records provision for those for-profit participants, as discussed in § 603.910(a), gives the necessary access in the event that the contracting officer later needs to request audits to address award-specific issues that arise. (b) For each other for-profit participant, the contracting officer: (1) Should require that the participant have an independent auditor (i.e., the DCAA or an independent public accountant (IPA)) conduct periodic audits of its systems if it expends $500,000 or more per year in TIAs and other Federal assistance awards. A prime reason for including this requirement is that the Federal Government, for an expenditure-based award, necessarily relies on amounts reported by the participant's systems when it sets payment amounts or adjusts performance outcomes. The periodic audit provides some assurance that the reported amounts are reliable. (2) Must ensure that the award provides an independent auditor the access needed for award-specific audits, to be performed at the request of the contracting officer if issues arise that require audit support. However, consistent with the government-wide policies on single audits that apply to nonprofit participants (see § 603.665), the contracting officer should rely on periodic audits to the maximum extent possible to resolve any award-specific issues.