Announcement of Tender on Audit Company Selection

The Public Association „EcoContact” is a not-for-profit organization registered in 2010.

The Mission of the PA EcoContact is to support the improvement of the environmental quality and the partnerships for sustainable development of the communities from Moldova, contributing by that to forming a responsible society that respects human rights and ensuring a favorable environment for the current and future generations. PA “EcoContact” intends to evaluate the general financial situation of the implemented activities for the fiscal year 2022.

PA “EcoContact” is searching for an external, independent, qualified auditor.

I. Objectives and goals of the audit

The Objective is to:

• Carry out the audit of the PA “EcoContact” 's general financial situation for 01.01.2022-31.12.2022.

II. Additional requirements according to the agreed proceedings ISRS 4400, International Standards on Auditing (ISA), issued by IAASB and Standards IFAC/INTOSAC Terms of Reference (ToR)

During the audit, the major accent will be focused on the following aspects:

• Correct organization of the accounting evidence and the financial reporting system;
• Respecting the national legislation on the calculation and payment of obligatory contributions, duties, and social security taxes;
• Use of financial resources, including the debited salary costs, according to their destination, their registration, as well as of the foreign exchange gains and losses during the audited period and systematically and the existence of the justification financial-accounting documents;
• Respecting the conditions and assumed obligations indicated in the financing/granting contracts;
• Respecting the internal policies and procedures for the procurement of goods and services, as well as the PA EcoContact Integrity and Anticorruption Policy, including provisions on conflict of interests;
• Examination of the output balance for the previous period and the balance of the current entry;
• Implementation of the recommendations of the System Based Audit and the follow-up report and of the previous financial audit;
• Other aspects relevant to the audit.

III. Procedure and Reporting

1. The Audit will be conducted from 21 March to 21 April 2023. The final audit report should be submitted by April 21, 2023.

2. The Audit Report must contain the audit's goals and methodology.

3. The Report has to include:

• the Report of the independent auditor according to the standard format ISA 800/805
• the Management Letter.  The Management Letter will include the audit findings and the weak issues identified. If the auditor assesses that no findings or weaknesses have been identified during the audit that would result in a Management Letter, this assessment must be explained in the audit reporting.

4. The Audit Report and the Management Letter have to offer comments on the following:

• If the procurement process of PA “EcoContact” is in accordance with the procurement regulation of the PA “EcoContact”;
• If the procedures for payments and transfers of funds and the management of bank and cash holdings at PA “EcoContact” are appropriate and correspond to national norms;
• If admitted situations of conflict of interest, reported and solved according to the internal principles of PA “EcoContact”;
• Observations formulated during the audit process and recommended actions.

5. The Auditor has to evaluate the financial amount for which the justification documents are absent.

6. The Auditor will propose recommendations for addressing the identified gaps presented in the priority order to be solved.

7. The measures taken by PA “EcoContact” to solve the identified deficiencies identified in the previous audits have to be indicated in the Report.

8. The Report is signed by the auditor who carries out the audit (title) and the Audit Company.

9. The auditor's opinion and recommendations must be presented in the Report and the Management Letter. The Report and the Management Letter will be prepared in Romanian and English and will be presented, both on paper and in electronic format, not later than 1 week from the date of the finalization of the audit.

IV. Confidentiality

10. The Auditor, which will carry out the audit (title), and the Audit Company will submit a Declaration of Confidentiality, assuming the responsibility for keeping the data and information confidential, which they will examine during the audit process.

11. The Audit is carried out according to the International Standards on Auditing (ISA), issued by IAASB and Standards IFAC/INTOSAC.

V. The Responsibilities of the Beneficiary

12. PA “EcoContact” will ensure access to all documents requested by the auditor and will provide the necessary space for conducting audit works.

13. PA “EcoContact” will offer all necessary support to the auditor to facilitate the audit works.

14. PA “EcoContact” will offer a Management Response to the audit conclusions in Romanian and English.

VI. Qualification requirements

Obligatory requirements

• Audit certification for key personnel involved
• Main sphere for activity is auditing, confirmed by excerpts from state authorities.
• Experience in the domain of a minimum of 5 years;
• Experience in conducting audits for NGOs financed by national and international organizations (at least 2 national and 1 international);
• Good command of Romanian/Russian and English at the adequate level to analyze and present the documents, as the Audit Report and the Management Letter must be presented in English and Romanian.

Structure of the offer:

1. Name of the company, address, contact person, and phone number;
2. Copy of the license for the audit activities;
3. Description of the company and arguments for the opportunity of its selection;
4. List of organizations for which the audit company carried out audits during the last 5 years;
5. Description of the qualification of the members of the audit team;
6. CV-s of the auditor or auditors who will carry out the audit with the list of organizations for which they carried out the audit and a list of 3 reference persons/companies;
7. Financial offer.

Evaluation criteria:

• Presentation of the complete set of documents indicated in the Structure of the offer indicated above;
• Relevant experience in the requested audit, specific to non-governmental organizations according to the International Standards on Auditing (ISA), issued by IAASB and Standards IFAC/INTOSAC;
• Qualification of the auditor/auditing team which will carry out the audit;
• The most advantageous offer respecting the indicator quality/price.

The negotiation stage will follow for the pre-selected audit companies.

The Submission of the offers:

The deadline for the submission of the offers is March 17, 2023, at 14:00 

The offers could be sent by e-mail to procurari@ecocontact.md with the statement “Tender on Audit Company Selection 2023”.

Additional information could be obtained at the phone at +373 22 996162, email: anastasia.pogor@ecocontact.md  (Anastasia Pogor – Financial Manager)