Impact of late filed Independent Audits on State Aid Payments

  • Pursuant to Education Law Section 2116-a, the deadline for submission of the independent audit to SED is October 15th for school districts other than Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Yonkers and New York City. For the large city school districts, the deadline is January 1st. As these deadlines are statutory, SED is not able to affect an extension.

  • Due to a statutory 30 day “grace period,” the November State Aid payment is not withheld if the audit is not received by October 15th (unless this date falls on the weekend, in which case the due date is Monday following the 15th). No State Aid is withheld due to a late-filed independent audit until after November 15th, (assuming all other required State Aid claim forms have been received).

  • The November 15th State Aid payment is processed before November 15th; therefore, the November payment is not withheld from districts due a November State Aid payment (assuming all other required State Aid claim forms have been received).

  • The December State Aid payment is the first payment that potentially will be withheld if the independent audit is not received by SED by November 15th.

  • Barring unforeseen circumstances beyond SED control, the December 15th State Aid payment is processed approximately during the fourth week in November. Therefore, independent audits received in the Office of Audit Services during the third week in November are likely, though not guaranteed, to be processed in time to avoid having the December payment withheld (assuming all other required State Aid claim forms have been received).

  • In general, payment files are processed three weeks prior to the date districts are to receive a payment. Districts submitting their independent audit report late or very late should be aware of this lag in determining whether their December, January, February, etc. State Aid payments might be withheld.

  • Districts should submit their completed independent audit to the Office of Audit Services as soon as it is complete, even if the Board of Education has not approved the audit.

The Independent Audit Report must be submitted using the NYSED Portal. Data can be entered when information is available, but not after the due dates provided above. A tutorial is available on the portal, under the supporting document section.

The NYSED requires that all documents be submitted on the NYSED Portal. In extenuating circumstances when a school district must send a hard copy, the district should use a delivery service that tracks receipt of the documents, since the NYSED has experienced instances where school districts state that the financial information was sent and the NYSED has no record of receiving it. In these circumstances, the Independent Audit Report should be sent to the following address:

New York State Education Department
Office of Audit Services
89 Washington Avenue, Room 475 EBA
Albany, NY 12234

All questions regarding the content and submission of the independent audit should be directed to:

New York State Education Department
Office of Audit Services
e-mail: FsandSingleAudit@nysed.gov

Last Updated: September 28, 2020