Re – Advertisement – External Audit for the period December 1, 2020 through and ended May 31, 2022

  • Consultancy
  • Lusaka, Zambia
  • This position has been filled

TechnoServe Zambia

TechnoServe Zambia, is an independent, non-governmental organization providing professional support to entrepreneurial men and women. TechnoServe’s mission is to help entrepreneurial men and women break the cycle of poverty by building businesses that create jobs, income, and economic opportunities for their families, their communities, and their countries.

TechnoServe, hereafter referred to as the “Cooperation partner” wishes to engage the services of an audit firm for the purpose of auditing the Food Enterprise Development Project (FED), as stipulated in the agreement between the Cooperation partner and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The audit shall be carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by IAASB In addition, an assignment according to International Standards on Related Services (ISRS) 4400 (Revised) shall be carried out. The audit and the additional assignment shall be carried out by an external,
independent, and qualified auditor.

TechnoServe Zambia invites firms in bidding of audit services for the period from December 1, 2020 through and ended May 31, 2022.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS & SCOPE OF WORK

I. Objectives and scope of the audit

The objective is to audit the financial report for the period 1st December 2020 to 31st May 2022 as submitted to Sida and to express an audit opinion according to ISA, applying ISA 800 (Revised)/ISA 805(Revised), on whether the financial report of FED project is in accordance with the Cooperation partner´s accounting records and Sida’s requirements for financial reporting as stipulated in the agreement including appendices between Sida and Cooperation partner, which is incorporated by reference

II. Additional assignment: according to agreed-upon procedures ISRS 4400(Revised), review the following areas in accordance with the Terms of Reference below Mandatory procedures that must be included:

1. Observe whether the financial report is structured in a way that allows for direct comparison
with the latest approved budget

2. Observe and inspect whether the financial report provides information regarding:

a) Financial outcome per budget line (both incomes and costs) for the reporting period and columns for cumulative information regarding earlier periods under current agreement.
b) Where applicable, compare if the opening fund balance for the reporting period matches with what was stated as closing fund balance in the previous reporting period.
c) A disclosure of exchange gains/losses. Inquire and confirm whether the disclosure includes the entire chain of currency exchange from Sida’s disbursement to the handling of the project/programme within the organisation in local currency, if applicable.
d) Explanatory notes (such as, for instance, accounting principles applied for the financial report).
e) Amount of funds that has been forwarded to implementing partners, when applicable.

3.

a) Inquire and inspect with what frequency salary costs during the reporting period are debited to the project/programme. Choose a sample of three individuals for three different months and:
b) Inquire and inspect whether there are supporting documentation+ for debited salary costs.
c) Inquire and inspect whether actual time worked is documented and verified by a manager. Inquire and inspect within which frequency reconciliations between debited time and actual worked time is performed.
d) Inspect whether the Cooperation partner comply with applicable tax legislation with regard to personal income taxes (PAYE) and social security fees.

4.

a) Inspect and confirm that the unspent fund balance (according to the financial report) at the end of the financial year is in line with information provided in the accounting system and/or bank account.
b) Applicable the final year: Inspect and confirm the unspent fund balance (including exchange gains) in the financial report and confirm the amount that shall be repaid to Sida.
III. Follow up of funds that are channeled to implementing partners Mandatory assignments that must be included if the Cooperation partner forward funds to implementing partners (IP’s):

1. Inspect and confirm that the selection of the grant recipients is in accordance with their policy and procedures
2. Inspect and confirm that the selection is properly documented
3. Inspect and state that the procurement of the equipment is done in accordance with the procurement policy
4. Inspect and state whether the equipment procured is in line with beneficiaries’ proposal and line of production
5. Inspect and confirm that the equipment is handed over to and received by the intended beneficiary
6. Confirm that TechnoServe has a documented procedure for following up

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance of any contract resulting from this solicitation is anticipated to begin on 1th August  2022 for a period of 4 weeks after signing of the Engagement letter.

Proposals shall detail the estimated length of time required to accomplish all requirements, www.technoserve.org with detail on individual activity implementation dates, as referenced in the Scope of Work. Specification of the Auditor

The auditor should:

  • Be an external, independent, and qualified auditor that adheres to the IAASB. Provide authorized public accountants or chartered accountants with competence to perform audits in accordance with international auditing standards issued by the IAASB (The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board).
  • Have documented resources, knowledge, and experience to perform assignment/s within the requested area/s of competence/s.
  • Have extensive experience of auditing multi nation Non- Profit Organization
  • Have very good knowledge regarding local procedures, rules, and regulations.

ACCOUNTING STANDARDS TO BE FOLLOWED

The audit will be conducted in reference to the relevant;

  • International Financial Reporting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) applicable to our organisation
  • Donor rules and regulations for the different donors of the organisation

REPORTING

Reporting from the ISA assignment

The reporting from the auditor shall include an independent auditor’s report in accordance with the format in standard ISA 800/805(Revised) and the auditor’s opinion shall be clearly stated. The financial report that has been the subject of the audit shall be attached to the audit report. The reporting shall also include a Management letter that discloses all audit findings, as well as weaknesses identified during the audit process. The auditor shall make recommendations to address the identified findings and weaknesses. The recommendations shall be presented in priority order and with a risk classification.

Measures taken by the Cooperation partner to address weaknesses identified in previous audits shall also be presented in the Management Letter. If the previous audit did not have any findings or weaknesses to be followed-up on, a clarification of this must be disclosed in the audit reporting. If the auditor assesses that no findings or weaknesses have been identified during the audit that would result in a Management Letter, an explanation of this assessment must be disclosed in the audit reporting.

Reporting from the ISRS 4400(Revised) assignment

The additional assignment according to agreed-upon procedures ISRS 4400(Revised) under section II, shall be reported separately in an “Agreed-upon procedures report”. Performed procedures should be described and the findings should be reported in accordance with the requirements in the International Standard on Related Services 4400(Revised). The sample size shall be stated in the report.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

The evaluation of each response to this RFP will be based on the requirements set out in the solicitation and any addenda thereto. At the sole discretion of TechnoServe, the top proposals may be selected for follow-up questions or to provide an oral presentation.

The following weighting and points will be assigned to the proposal for evaluation purposes:

  • Technical Proposal: 30%
  • Financial Proposal: 40%
  • Vendor Experience: 30%

TechnoServe reserves the right to award the contract to the organization whose proposal is deemed to be in the best interest of TechnoServe and its Donors. The Organization with the winning proposal will be notified in writing. Those who were not selected may or may not be notified, at the sole discretion of TechnoServe.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. The Request for Proposal is and shall not be considered an offer by TechnoServe.
2. All responses must be received on or before the date and time indicated on the RFP. All late responses will be rejected.
3. All unresponsive responses will be rejected.
4. All proposals will be considered binding offers. Prices proposed must be valid for entire period provided by respondent.
5. All awards will be subject to TechnoServe contractual terms and conditions and contingent on the availability of donor funding.
6. TechnoServe reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal or cancel the solicitation process at any time and shall have no liability to the proposing organizations submitting proposals for such rejection or cancellation of the request for proposals.
7. TechnoServe reserves the right to accept all or part of the proposal when award is provided.
8. All information provided by TechnoServe in this RFP is offered in good faith. Individual items are subject to change at any time, and all bidders will be provided with notification of any changes. TechnoServe is not responsible or liable for any use of the information submitted by bidders or for any claims asserted therefrom.
9. TechnoServe Zambia reserves the right to require any bidder to enter into a nondisclosure agreement.
10. The bidders are solely obligated to pay for any costs, of any kind whatsoever, which may be incurred by bidder or any third parties, in connection with the Response. All responses and supporting documentation shall become the property of TechnoServe, subject to claims of confidentiality in respect of the response and
supporting documentation, which have been clearly marked confidential by the bidder.

FORM/CONTENT OF RESPONSE

All proposals shall:

1. Be in the English language.
2. Contain detailed cost in ZMW Zambian Kwacha, with applicable Tax/Charges clearly identified.
3. Provide requested payment terms and conditions.
4. Describe the qualifications, experience, and capabilities of the firm in providing the type of services being request by this RFP. Resumes or CVs of “key personnel” shall be submitted as an attachment.
5. Include a contact name, email address, and telephone number to facilitate communication between TechnoServe and the submitting organization.
6. A brief outline of the organization and services offered, including:

  • Full legal name, jurisdiction of incorporation and address of the company
  • Full legal name and country of citizen of company’s President and / or Chief Executive Officer, and all other officers and senior managers of the company
  • Year business was established

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

1. Questions regarding this request may be addressed to Mwape Kalamba-Phiri, [email protected] and Sain Sinkolongo , [email protected] .This must be received no later than 22nd July 2022. Responses to questions will be distributed to
all interested parties no later than 25th July 2022.

2. Responses to the RFQ should be addressed to the attention of Country Director not later than 27th July 2022.

3. Responses should be sent to the email [email protected]


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