Audit & Assurance
A New York City nonprofit answers to the Attorney General, to City agencies, to the State, and to its own funders. All four want the same thing: financial statements a CPA has stood behind, delivered on time.
Goldenthal & Suss Consulting P.C. is a New York City CPA firm, headquartered in Staten Island, that performs independent audits and CPA reviews for nonprofits in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. A New York charity registered to solicit contributions with gross revenue and support over $1 million must attach an independent CPA audit to its annual CHAR500 filing with the Attorney General's Charities Bureau; between $250,000 and $1 million it must attach a CPA review. Those same financial statements are what New York City and New York State ask for when a nonprofit prequalifies for City Council discretionary awards, City human services contracts, and State grants.
The audit-or-review question for a New York City nonprofit is rarely answered by one rule. It is usually whichever of these binds first:
The City's Mayor's Office of Contract Services will not process a City Council discretionary award until the nonprofit has an approved prequalification application in PASSPort. Organizations funded only through discretionary awards can use the shorter Discretionary prequalification application; organizations that also want to compete for City human services contracts complete the HHS prequalification application instead.
Nonprofits that file annual reports with the New York State Charities Bureau must update their prequalification every year to keep it approved, and both applications allow a 30-day extension request for audited or reviewed financial statements. In practice that means your audit calendar decides when City money can move. We schedule fieldwork with that date in mind, not just the CHAR500 deadline.
For an organization registered to solicit in New York, the CHAR500 is due four and a half months after fiscal year end: May 15 for a calendar-year organization, November 15 for a June 30 year end. The Charities Bureau grants an automatic 180-day extension without a written request. Many organizations funded by the City run a June 30 fiscal year to line up with the City's own.
An extension buys time with the Attorney General. It does not buy time with a program officer waiting on an audited statement for prequalification, which is why we plan the engagement around whichever deadline actually comes first.
Our main office is on Amboy Road in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs, and our partners lead every engagement through fieldwork and reporting. We are a Corporate Partner of NYCON, the New York Council of Nonprofits, and offer NYCON members a discount on our services.
No. The audit and review tiers are set statewide by Executive Law § 172-b: over $1 million in gross revenue and support requires an independent CPA audit with the CHAR500, $250,000 to $1 million requires a CPA review, and $250,000 or less allows an unaudited report. What differs in the city is the funder layer: City agencies and the City Council require prequalification in PASSPort, which relies on the same financial statements.
The City requires an approved prequalification application in PASSPort before a discretionary award can be processed, and organizations that file with the Charities Bureau must update it every year. The application asks for your financial documents, and the CPA review or audit you file with your CHAR500 is normally what satisfies it. A 30-day extension can be requested for audited or reviewed statements.
Yes. Our main office is in Staten Island and we serve nonprofits throughout all five boroughs, as well as New Jersey from our Freehold office. Much of the planning and document exchange happens remotely, with on-site fieldwork where the engagement calls for it.
Yes. Goldenthal & Suss is a Corporate Partner of NYCON, the New York Council of Nonprofits, and offers NYCON member organizations a discount. Mention your membership when you request a proposal.
Sources & review
NY tiers per Executive Law § 172-b (effective 2021-07-01). CHAR500 due dates and the automatic 180-day extension per the AG Charities Bureau notice of 2015-03-17, still linked from the AG's CHAR500 page on 2026-10-29. PASSPort prequalification per nyc.gov/mocs 'Prequalification for Discretionary' (checked 2026-10-29). NYCON discount per the NYCON partner directory listing. Reviewed 2026-10-29. 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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