New audit data — Uplink Archive

The IRE and NICAR Database Library have released a new Federal Audit Clearinghouse database containing 170,900 audit records from 1997-2003 that track how government agencies and nonprofits spent federal funds of $300,000 or more annually. The database includes audit findings and contact information for audited organizations and auditors, providing journalists with tools to investigate federal spending and identify problems.

New audit data

How are government agencies and nonprofit groups spending money they received from Uncle Sam? A new database from the IRE and NICAR Database Library can help journalists find out. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse database lists all audits of state and local governments, and nonprofits that spent $300,000 or more a year in federal money. The database contains audits from 1997, when the federal government started requiring them, through February 2003. There are 170,900 records in all.

Unlike other databases available from the Database Library namely the Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR) and the Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS) - the Federal Audit database looks at the spending of federal assistance. It also includes audits of sub-recipients of federal aid. So if a state government gives some of its federal award money to local agencies, audits of those local agencies will also appear in the database.

The data contains information about whether the audits have revealed any problems, plus valuable contact information, including names, addresses and phone numbers for the audited organizations and the auditors. To order the database, call the Database Library at 573-884-7711 or go online to www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases/fedaudit.