The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor
Summary
North Carolina's constitutional fiscal watchdog runs on a $25.4 million net General Fund appropriation and 204 positions in FY2025-26 -- about $2.26 per resident -- and in FY2025 caught a state agency misstating $872.8 million before the books went public.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
OSA's biggest recurring job is tracking where North Carolina's money went. Its FY2025 Statewide Single Audit⧉ tested $28 billion of the $43.9 billion North Carolina spent in federal awards that year -- the 14 highest-risk programs across 13 agencies -- and produced 19 findings, including $342,093 in questioned costs; DHHS has since recouped a $113,115 improper payment the audit found. State law also requires OSA to audit the figures⧉ in the state's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report; its FY2025 review caught the Department of Commerce misstating $872.8 million before publication.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
North Carolina's certified budget⧉ funds OSA at $32.7 million in total requirements for FY2025-26, and the same again in FY2026-27; after $7.4 million in receipts, chiefly audit fees billed to grantee agencies, the net General Fund appropriation is $25,351,019 each year. That funds 204 positions -- 66 in Administration and 138 doing field audit work. Against North Carolina's 11,197,968 residents⧉ as of July 2025, the appropriation works out to about $2.26 per person.
View data as table
| Field Audit Division | 22.3 | 138 positions |
|---|---|---|
| Administration | 10.4 | 66 positions |
Why is it good for society?
OSA's audits catch errors before they become the public record, not after. Its FY2025 review of the state's financial statements found the Department of Commerce had overstated figures by $872.8 million and understated others by $262.5 million -- corrected before publication, not left standing as North Carolina's official financial position. The same year's federal-grants audit surfaced a $113,115 improper DHHS payment that the agency has since recouped. The counterfactual is direct: without an auditor independent of the agencies it reviews, misstatements and improper payments of that kind go uncorrected and unrecovered.
- OSA's FY2025-26 net General Fund appropriation ($25.35M) works out to about $2.26 per NC resident, funding 204 positions.
- OSA's FY2025 audits caught an $872.8M state financial-statement misstatement before publication and got a $113,115 improper payment recouped.
Your handles.* Report suspected fraud, waste, mismanagement, or misappropriation of state resources through OSA's Tipline⧉ -- toll-free at 1-800-730-8477, by web form, fax, email, or mail; you may remain anonymous. To read OSA's published audits and performance reports yourself, search its report library. The Auditor is a statewide-elected office, up for election again in 2028 -- your ballot is a direct lever on who holds it.
Sources(8) ▾
- North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Certified Budget, Form BD 307 -- State Auditor - General Fund (Code 13300), Biennium 2025-27 (2025-10-27) — OSBM's own certified budget for the Office of the State Auditor's General Fund appropriation, approved October 27, 2025 -- gives the FY2025-26 and FY2026-27 total requirements, receipts, net appropriation, and certified position counts by division (Administration vs. Field Audit Division). This entry's budget and headcount KPIs and the division-split chart come from this document. osbm.nc.gov · original document
- North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, Statewide Single Audit Report, For the Year Ended June 30, 2025 (FSA-2025-8730) (2026-04-01) — OSA's own statutorily required annual audit of the State's federal grant spending, transmitted to the Governor and General Assembly -- source for this entry's FY2025 workload figures (federal awards audited, findings, questioned costs, the DHHS recoupment). auditor.nc.gov · original document
- North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report -- Report Summary, Fiscal Year 2025 (FIN-2025-8720) (2025-12-09) — OSA's own summary of its statutorily required audit of the figures in the State's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (published by the Office of the State Controller) -- source for the Department of Commerce misstatement figures and the State's audited net position cited in this entry. auditor.nc.gov · original document
- North Carolina General Assembly, North Carolina Constitution, Article III (Executive Department) (2026-07-16) — The official text of Article III, Sections 7 and 8 of the state constitution -- the Auditor's status as a statewide-elected, four-year-term Council of State officer. ncleg.gov · original document
- North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes of North Carolina, Chapter 147, Article 5A (Auditor) (2026-07-16) — The statutory article establishing OSA's independence and duties -- auditing agency financial statements and operating procedures, and investigating misappropriation, mismanagement, waste, and fraud. ncleg.gov · original document
- North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, History of the Office of State Auditor (2026-07-16) — OSA's own account of the office's creation under the 1868 Constitution and its 1955 separation from accounting functions -- source for this entry's identity paragraph. auditor.nc.gov · original document
- North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, Demographic Outlook (2026-04-07) — The state's own demographic office reproducing the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 population estimate for North Carolina -- the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. Independently corroborated by the Census Bureau's own January 2026 Vintage 2025 release (widely reported at 11.2 million) and North Carolina press coverage (WUNC, Carolina Journal) citing the same figure. osbm.nc.gov · original document
- North Carolina Office of the State Auditor, State Auditor's Tipline (2026-07-16) — OSA's own tipline page -- channels, confidentiality protections, and anti-retaliation assurances for public reports of fraud, waste, or abuse. Source for this entry's 'Your handles' block. auditor.nc.gov · original document
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North Carolina's State Auditor is a constitutional officer, one of the statewide-elected Council of State⧉ members under Article III of the state constitution, chosen by voters every four years. The Constitution of 1868⧉ first charged the office to superintend state fiscal affairs and settle claims against the state; a 1955 reform moved the Auditor's remaining accounting duties to a separate position, leaving the office independent of what it audits -- a separation state law⧉ makes explicit policy. Dave Boliek has held the office since 2025.