Audit & Assurance
For most charities the audit is not optional — it is the price of staying registered, keeping funders, and giving the board something it can rely on.
In New York, a registered charitable organization with gross revenue and support over $1 million must file an independent CPA audit with its CHAR500; between $250,000 and $1 million it must file a CPA review; at or below $250,000 an unaudited report is accepted. New Jersey requires audited financial statements from charities with gross revenue over $1 million. Goldenthal & Suss Consulting P.C. performs these audits and reviews for 501(c)(3) public charities, private foundations, and membership organizations throughout the New York–New Jersey metro region.
New York sets the requirement by gross revenue and support, and the tiers have been in place since July 1, 2021, when the audit threshold rose from $750,000 to $1 million:
New Jersey raised its audit threshold from $500,000 to $1 million in gross revenue under legislation signed on January 18, 2022. One detail is easy to miss and can change which side of the line you land on: mission-related in-kind donations — food for a pantry, supplies for a shelter — are excluded from the gross revenue figure used to test the threshold.
Organizations registered in both states should test against both rules. They are close, but they are not the same rule.
State registration is only one source of an audit requirement, and often not the first one to bind. Check these before assuming you are below the line:
The mechanics that distinguish a nonprofit audit from a commercial one are mostly about restrictions and disclosure: tracking net assets with and without donor restrictions, releasing restrictions correctly as conditions are met, functional expense allocation across program and supporting services, revenue recognition for contributions versus exchange transactions, and in-kind contribution valuation.
Getting functional expense allocation wrong is the single most common finding we see, and it is also the number every watchdog rating and prospective major donor looks at first.
Gross revenue and support over $1,000,000 requires an independent CPA audit to be filed with the CHAR500. Between $250,000 and $1,000,000, a CPA review is required instead. At or below $250,000, an unaudited annual financial report is accepted. These tiers took effect July 1, 2021.
New Jersey requires audited financial statements from charitable organizations with gross revenue over $1,000,000, a threshold raised from $500,000 by legislation signed in January 2022. In-kind donations directly related to the organization's charitable mission are excluded from the gross revenue calculation.
Not automatically — they are separate engagements. The audit produces financial statements and an opinion; the Form 990 is an information return filed with the IRS. They draw on the same underlying records and should agree with each other, so many organizations have the same firm do both. We prepare Form 990 as a distinct service.
Generally no. Independence rules prohibit an auditor from auditing records they themselves maintained, because it would mean auditing their own work. If we perform your audit, your bookkeeping needs to sit with your staff or another provider.
Sources & review
NY thresholds per Executive Law § 172-b (effective 2021-07-01). NJ threshold per the Charitable Registration and Investigation Act as amended by legislation signed 2022-01-18. Reviewed 2026-08-20. Thresholds and deadlines change — confirm current requirements before relying on them.
Tell us about your organization and the deadline you are working toward. We will tell you what the engagement involves and what it costs.
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