Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Closing date: 23 Oct 2015
Mercy Corps seeks to engage a contractor to perform an expenditure verification audit for its IMAGINE Program in Goma/RDC and to report in accordance with the ‘Accountable Grant Agreement’ under DFID grant funding requirement.
Section II. Structural Requirements
- Responsibilities of the Parties to the Engagement
1.1. Mercy Corps Europe
• is responsible for providing an Annual Financial Report (“Financial Report”) for each year of the programme financed by the Accountable Grant Agreement which complies with the terms and conditions of the Accountable Grant Agreement, and for ensuring that this Financial Report reconciles to Mercy Corps Europe’s accounting and bookkeeping system and to the underlying accounts and records. Mercy Corps Europe is responsible for providing sufficient and adequate information, both financial and non-financial, in support of the Financial Report.
• accepts that the ability of the Auditor to perform the procedures required by this engagement effectively depends upon Mercy Corps Europe providing full and free access to its staff and its accounting and bookkeeping system and underlying accounts and records.
1.2. The Auditor
• is responsible for performing the agreed-upon procedures as specified in this SOW. ‘Auditor’ refers to the audit firm contracted for performing this engagement and for submitting a report of factual findings to Mercy Corps Europe. 'Auditor' can refer to the person or persons conducting the verification, usually the engagement partner or other members of the engagement team. The engagement partner is the partner or other person in the audit firm who is responsible for the engagement and for the report that is issued oBy agreeing this SOW the Auditor confirms that he/she meets at least one of the following conditions:
• The Auditor and/or the firm is a member of a national accounting or auditing body or institution which in turn is member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
• The Auditor and/or the firm is a member of a national accounting or auditing body or institution. Although this organization is not member of the IFAC, the Auditor commits him/herself to undertake this engagement in accordance with the IFAC standards and ethics set out in this SOW.
• The Auditor and/or the firm is registered as a statutory auditor in the public register of a public oversight body in an EU member state.
• The Auditor and/or the firm is registered as a statutory auditor in the public register of a public oversight body in a third country and this register is subject to principles of public oversight as set out in the legislation of the country concerned (this applies to auditors and audit firms based in a third country).
- Subject of the Engagement
The subject of this engagement is the performance of expenditure verification audits of the Annual Financial Reports for each of the 5 years of the implementation phase of the Accountable Grant Agreement for the programme entitled “Increase access to water, sanitation and hygiene in urban centres of eastern DRC (Bukavu, Goma and one other urban centre)”. The SOW contains information about the Accountable Grant Agreement.
The initial audit report will cover the 12 month period from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2014 (Extension to Inception period) and a 9 month period from 1 January 2015 to 31 August 2015 (initial 9 months of the Implementation period).
- Reason for the Engagement
Mercy Corps Europe is required to submit to DFID on an annual basis an audit report produced by an external auditor together with the annual financial report and the final financial report. - Engagement Type and Objective
This expenditure verification is an engagement to perform certain agreed-upon procedures with regard to the Financial Report for the Accountable Grant Agreement.
The objective of this expenditure verification is for the Auditor to carry out the specific procedures listed under section 2A of this SOW and to submit to Mercy Corps Europe a report of factual findings with regard to the specific verification procedures performed. Verification means that the Auditor examines the factual information in the Financial Report of Mercy Corps Europe and compares it with the terms and conditions of the Accountable Grant Agreement. As this engagement is not an assurance engagement the Auditor does not provide an audit opinion and expresses no assurance. The Contracting Authority assesses for itself the factual findings reported by the Auditor and draws its own conclusions from these factual findings. - Standards and Ethics
The Auditor shall undertake this engagement in accordance with:
– the International Standard on Related Services (‘ISRS’) 4400 Engagements to perform Agreed-upon Procedures regarding Financial Information as promulgated by the IFAC;
– the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, developed and issued by IFAC’s International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), which establishes fundamental ethical principles for Auditors with regard to integrity, objectivity, independence, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, professional behaviour and technical standards. Although ISRS 4400 provides that independence is not a requirement for agreed-upon procedures engagements, the Contracting Authority requires that the Auditor is independent from the Mercy Corps Europe and complies with the independence requirements of the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. - Procedures, Evidence and Documentation
The Auditor plans the work so that an effective audit can be performed. The Auditor performs the procedures listed under section 2A of this SOW (‘Listing of specific procedures to be performed’) and applies the guidelines under section 2B of this SOW (Guidelines for specific procedures to be performed). The evidence to be used for performing the procedures under section 2A is all financial and non-financial information which makes it possible to examine the expenditure claimed by Mercy Corps Europe in the Financial Report. The Auditor uses the evidence obtained from these procedures as the basis for the report of factual findings. The Auditor documents matters which are important in providing evidence to support the report of factual findings, and evidence that the work was carried out in accordance with ISRS 4400 and this SOW. - Reporting
The report on this expenditure verification should describe the purpose, the agreed-upon procedures and the factual findings of the engagement in sufficient detail to enable Mercy Corps Europe and the Contracting Authority to understand the nature and extent of the procedures performed by the Auditor and the factual findings reported by the Auditor.
The Audit report will be prepared according to a pre-specified format (See Annex 1, Required Format for Audit Report, available by separate download).
The use of the Required Format for Audit Report is compulsory.
- Other Terms on behalf of the firm, and who has the appropriate authority from a professional, legal or regulatory body.
How to apply:
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