Request for Proposals (RFP) | External Audit Engagement

RFP Number RFP-HWM-0108

Issuance Date Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Deadline for Offers Friday, 25 October 2024

Currency of Proposal Local Currency NGN

Description External Audit Engagement

Project Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity

Funded By United States Agency for International Development (USAID),

Contract No. 7200AA18D00027/72062020F00009

Implemented By Banyan Global

Contact hwmprocurement@banyanglobal.com

Introduction

Banyan Global is a development consulting firm, founded on the principle that integrating expertise and experience from the development community and private sector will achieve a broad and lasting impact. Our unique team comprises seasoned private sector and international development professionals. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. Banyan Global maintains staff around the world. Banyan Global is a women-owned small business.

BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte, a fully owned subsidiary of Banyan Global, is implementing the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity. The HWM Activity supports establishing a cost-effective, well-trained, and motivated health workforce in targeted rural and remote areas of Bauchi, Ebonyi, Kebbi and Sokoto States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Banyan Global wishes to engage an audit firm to provide external audit services for the HWM Activity. The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals from eligible vendors. Offerors are invited to submit proposals for the services described herein in accordance with the instructions to offerors and terms and conditions of this request for proposals (RFP). Issuance of this solicitation does not in any way obligate Banyan Global or USAID to make an award nor does it commit Banyan Global or USAID to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal.

Offer Deadline and Protocol Offers must be received by email no later than 530 PM Abuja time on 8 October 2024. The e-mail address is hwmprocurement@banyanglobal.com. Please reference the RFP number in any response. Banyan Global will consider offers received after the specified time and date only at its discretion.

Questions Potential offerors may submit questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP no later than 530 PM Abuja time on October 4, 2024. Banyan Global will not accept phone calls. Banyan Global will circulate relevant questions and he responses to all offerors who have indicated an interest in

Only the written answers issued by Banyan Global will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of Banyan Global or any other entity should not be considered an official response to any questions regarding this RFP.

Proposals Proposals in response to this RFP must be priced on a fixed-price, all-inclusive basis, including delivery and all other costs. Offerors must present pricing in naira. Offers must remain valid for not less than 30 calendar days after the offer deadline. Offerors must provide proposals on their official Proposal format or letterhead.

In addition, offerors responding to this RFP must submit the following

• Copies of their official registration or business license, Company profile, Tax Identification Number (TIN), and Tax Clearance Certificate (all legal business registration documents and tax identification numbers)
• Reference of past performance on similar services
• Copies of their identification cards
  
  
  

Delivery The delivery location for the items described in this RFP is House 1, 16B P.O.W. Mafemi Crescent, Utako. As part of its response to this RFP, each offeror must provide an estimate (in calendar days) of the delivery timeframe (after receipt of the order). The offeror must uphold the delivery estimate in the performance of any resulting

Source/Nationality/Manufacture All services offered in response to this RFP or supplied under any resulting award must meet USAID Geographic Code 937 in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 22 CFR

• 228. The cooperating country for this RFP is Nigeria.
  
  
  

Taxes and VAT The HWM Activity is exempt from cooperating country taxes, duties, and value-added tax (VAT). HWM must withhold the “subcontractor/vendor” taxes from the gross amount payable to all Nigerian for-profits. In accordance with this requirement, HWM shall withhold applicable taxes on the total invoiced amount

Eligibility By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, the offeror certifies that it and its principal officers are not debarred, suspended, or otherwise considered ineligible for an award by the U.S. Government. Banyan Global will not award a contract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or considered to be ineligible by the U.S.

Specifications and Technical Requirements The sectiom below contains the technical requirements of the commodities/services. Banyan Global requests offerors to provide proposals containing the information below on official letterhead and in official proposal format. In the event this is not possible, offerors may complete this Section 3 and submit a signed/stamped version to Banyan Global.

Proposed Guideline - Terms of Reference

• Audit Objective
  
  
  

Audit and Report of on the Financial Statements of BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2024

The above undertaking shall be performed in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Chapter C20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and compliance with the Financial Reporting Council Act Ng 6, 2011 and accordingly include such tests of the accounting records as deemed necessary under the circumstances.

• Scope of Work (SoW)
  
  
  

The objective of the engagement is to perform a statutory audit and express an opinion on whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of (or present fairly, in all material respects) the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte through the performance of an audit and report on the financial statements, including the fund accountability statement of BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte for the year ending 30 September 2024.

This engagement is also informed by the requirement for BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte to submit its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 returns to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), for presentation at the annual general meeting.

The offeror shall communicate any limitations in the scope of work as soon as possible to the Country Director, BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte.

• Deliverables (Reports)
  
  
  

The offeror shall submit the Audit and Report of the Financial Statements to BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte Office not later than 30 November 2024.

• Pre-Audit Steps
  
  
  

The offeror should review the applicable documents considered necessary to perform the audit

• The agreement (including amendments)
• The sub-agreements between the recipient and other implementing entities, as applicable
• The budgets, project implementation letters, and written procedures
• USAID Automated Directives System Chapter 636 – Program Funded Advances
• Federal Acquisition Regulations
• Mandatory Standard Provisions for U.S. Nongovernmental Grantees (USAID Automated Directives System, Series 300)
• All project financial and progress reports; charts of accounts; organizational charts; accounting systems descriptions; procurement policies and procedures; and receipt, warehousing, and distribution procedures for materials, as necessary to successfully complete the required work
• Compliance with Agreement Terms and Applicable Laws and Regulations
  
  
  

The auditor's report on compliance should set forth all material instances of noncompliance as findings. The auditor shall include nonmaterial instances of noncompliance in a separate management letter.

The auditor's report should include all conclusions, based on evidence obtained, that an irregularity or illegal act either has occurred or is likely to have occurred. In reporting material irregularities, illegal acts, or other noncompliance, the auditor should place its findings in proper perspective. To give the reader a basis for judging the prevalence and consequences of these conditions, the auditor shall relate the instances identified to the universe or the number of cases examined and be quantified in terms of dollar value, if appropriate.

• Internal Control Structure
  
  
  

The auditor shall review and evaluate the recipient's internal control structure related to projects to obtain a sufficient understanding of the design of relevant control policies and procedures and whether those policies and procedures have been placed in operation. The auditor should document its understanding of the internal control structure in the working papers.

• Financial statements
  
  
  

The auditor shall examine the financial statements and the costs reported by the recipient as incurred during the period ending 30th September 2024.

The auditor should use the steps outlined in the proposed activity chart (Annex 1) and as supplemented elsewhere in the contract as the basis for the audit programs and the review. Banyan Global does not consider the steps all-inclusive or restrictive in nature and does not consider the steps to constitute relief from exercising due professional care and judgment

Annex 1 Statutory Audit

• Meeting with BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte Management
• Review of the management meetings Minutes for approval of major BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte’s transactions
• Review of volatility, complexity, and subjectivity of accounting rules
• Review of the quality of internal controls over BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte ’s transactions
• Request for existing policies and procedures
• Review of financial budget
• Compliance Audit Work
• Interview of relevant BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte personnel
• Data collection and analysis
• Preliminary evaluation of the control environment through flowcharts, etc.
• Documentation of project transaction processes
• Identification of risks areas
• Documentation of controls
• Assessment of the effectiveness of the design of the controls
• Test of controls
• Comments and recommendations where appropriate for improvement
• Substantive Audit Work
• Confirming the occurrence of the recorded BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte project transactions (statement of financial activities items) and the existence of the recorded balances (statement of financial position items)
• Review the presentation and disclosure of the accounts in the financial statement to ascertain whether they comply with the International Standards on Auditing (ISA)
• Confirm that the statement of counterpart funds and external funds represent the rights and obligations of the BG Laurel International Services Nigeria Ltd/Gte as at the end of the period under review
• Confirm that all project transactions that occurred and all the liabilities that resulted have been completely recorded
• Reconcile summary schedules to general ledger to confirm that the balances in the financial statements are properly valued
• AUDIT REPORT – Draft and Final Reports
• Prepare draft audit report
• Prepare draft management letter
• Discuss draft management letter and draft audit report
• Resolve issues arising from the discussion
  

Evaluation and Award Banyan Global will make the award to a responsible offeror whose offer follows the RFP instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, meets or exceeds the minimum required technical specifications, and is judged to be the best value based on a lowest-price, technically acceptable basis and delivery

Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFP, Banyan Global may deem an offer “non-responsive” and thereby disqualify it from consideration. Banyan Global reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.

Banyan Global requests best-offer Proposals. Banyan Global anticipates that it will make an award solely on the basis of original proposals. However, Banyan Global reserves the right to do any of the following

• Banyan Global may conduct negotiations with and/or request clarifications from any offeror prior to award.
• While preference will be given to offerors who can address the full technical requirements of this RFP, Banyan Global may issue a partial award or split the award among various offerors.
• Banyan Global may cancel this RFP at any
  
  
  

Please note that in submitting a response to this RFP, the offeror understands that USAID is not a party to this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented—in writing with full explanations—to Banyan Global for consideration, as USAID will not consider protests regarding procurements carried out by implementing partners. Banyan Global, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the protest for this procurement.

Terms and Conditions This is an RFP only. Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate Banyan Global, the HWM Activity, or USAID to make an award or pay for costs incurred by potential offerors in the preparation and submission of proposals.

This solicitation is subject to Banyan Global’s standard terms and conditions. Any resultant award will be governed by these terms and conditions; a copy of the full terms and conditions is available upon request. Please note the following terms and conditions will apply

• Banyan Global’s standard payment terms are net 30 days after receipt and acceptance of any commodities or deliverables. Banyan Global will issue payment only to the entity submitting the offer in response to this RFP and identified in the resulting award; Banyan Global will not issues payment to a third
• Any international air or ocean transportation or shipping carried out under any award resulting from this RFP must take place on U.S.-flag carriers/vessels.
• United States law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. The supplier under any award resulting from this RFP must ensure compliance with these
• Banyan Global is not obligated to pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this RFP nor is it obligated to award a contract in response to this RFP.
• Eligible offerors may not be registered to do business in a prohibited country as determined by the U.S. State Department nor in a country on the sanctions list issued by the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control.
• Banyan Global expressly reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel the selection process without making a selection.
• The terms and conditions expressed here govern only the selection of the implementation partner. A contract between Banyan Global and the selected supplier shall govern actual performance of the activities contemplated under this RFP.