Extension Policy

• An emergency extension, which may be requested when a gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency prevents an agency from submitting its report to the Legislative Auditor by the statutory due date.


• A non-emergency extension, which may be requested for any reason other than a gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency.

The Legislative Auditor may approve an extension for up to ninety days after the due date of an agency's report. Extension requests that are greater than ninety days after the due date of an agency's report must be approved by the Legislative Audit Advisory Council.

In the past, the Legislative Auditor has approved almost all emergency and non-emergency extension requests up to ninety days after the due date of an agency's report. While we recognize the need for the extension request mechanism so that agencies facing true hardships are not unnecessarily penalized, we have become increasingly concerned that extension requests are allowing some agencies to circumvent the statutory due date of their reports without a true emergency or hardship being present.

In order to ensure timely compliance with the audit law, we have decided to revise the Legislative Auditor's extension request approval policy.

Effective for reports with fiscal years ended June 30, 2012 (generally due December 31, 2012) and after, an agency may no longer assume that the Legislative Auditor will approve a non-emergency extension request of ninety days or less after the due date of its reports. We will consider each extension request on a case-by-case basis; and approval of an extension request will be the exception, not the rule. Again, agencies should be aware that non-emergency extensions will be granted only in exceptional cases.

The extension request form on the Legislative Auditor's website has been revised to eliminate the selection of reasons for requesting a non-emergency extension. The agency will instead be required to attach an electronic file containing its own written explanation for requesting the extension to the extension request form. The agency should also consider attaching an electronic file with corroborating evidence supporting the reason the extension is being requested.

Effective for reports with fiscal years ended June 30, 2012, the Legislative Auditor will not approve extensions in which:

• The agency did not procure the services of a CPA firm to perform the engagement within sixty days after the agency's fiscal year, as required by law


• The agency's report was not submitted to the Legislative Auditor by the statutory due date in any two of the prior three years

An exception to the above may be made in accordance with the provisions of the law pertaining to gubernatorially declared disasters or emergencies.

If an extension request is not approved and the agency's report is not submitted by the statutory due date, the agency's name will be placed on the noncompliance list on the Legislative Auditor's website. No state funds may be paid out to any agency whose name is listed on the noncompliance list on the Legislative Auditor's website.

We believe that the change in the current extension request policy will ensure compliance with Louisiana law and ensure timely financial reporting, which is a cornerstone of good financial management. If there are any questions, please call Suzanne Elliott at (225) 339-3802 or Joy Irwin at (225) 339-3975.