*The following article was updated in March 2024*
When a business goes through an EDD audit, it generally starts with a pre-audit questionnaire. You receive an inquiry of records notice and attach to it as this pre-audit questionnaire. You will complete this documentation and send it back to the EDD. About a month later, depending on scheduling, you’ll be contacted by the auditor to set up the appointment and the initial appointment will occur. Generally speaking, most EDD audits are resolved within two to three months.
The EDD auditor reviews the documentation provided. At the end of it, you’ll receive a proposed assessment. Once the proposed assessment is provided to you, you have the ability to talk to the agent, and potentially the manager, if you disagree. Once the proposed assessment is done, the next document you received is the notice of assessment. The notice of assessment is extremely important because that has a 30 day deadline. If you don’t file a petition to continue up the chain of command, you may lose the opportunity to stay away from collections and the collections department wants to collect the money.
You want to keep your case on the assessment side. When you file that petition, you will have to do it within 30 days of the notice of assessment. On the way to petitions, there’s an opportunity to stop off and settlement. settlement is a department in the add you have to submit a settlement letter and lay out your arguments of why you believe that the notice of assessment was incorrect. Once you go through settlement, you have the opportunity to work with an agent. In the event that you disagree with settlement you also have the ability to continue up the chain of command in your appeal.
