Request for Expression of Interest - Financial Audit of the project “Building resilience of Eastern European LGBT+ movement”

Project name:    Building resilience of Eastern European LGBT+ movement

Project implementers:    GENDERDOC-M Information Centre

Project duration:             September 1, 2023 / October 31, 2024 / 14 months

Donor:  The State of the Netherlands, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Assignment Name: Project’s annual financial audit (Expenditure verifications)

GENDERDOC-M Information Centre now invites proposals from Audit Companies to provide the project’s financial audit (expenditure verifications) based on the requirements presented below.

The overall implementation period is 14 months and the project shall be completed latest in November 30, 2024. The budget of the project is 992,984 EURO.

The Auditor shall undertake this Engagement in accordance with:

• the International Standard on Related Services (‘ISRS’) 4400 (Revised) “Agreed-upon Procedures Engagements” 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 regarding integrity, objectivity, independence, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, professional behavior and technical standards.
• Auditor must be independent from the Grant Recipient and comply with the independence requirements of the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants.

The following underlying documents will be provided to the Auditor:

• Grant Agreement concluded between The State of the Netherlands, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Grant Recipient with all annexes, including contracts or agreements between the Grant Recipient and his/her partners, if any.
• Amendments to the Grant Agreement, if any.
• The Financial Report, including complete list of reported expenditures of project implementer and also for 6 subgrantees from Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Georgia.
• Original/Copies vouchers/receipts.
• Access to information related to bank and cash statements.
• Any other documents required by the auditor for the performance of its tasks.
• The Financial Report (consisting of a summary and a detailed breakdown) includes a comparison of actual vs budgeted expenditure and a detailed voucher list classified according to the relevant budget lines and covers all project expenses and funds received The State of the Netherlands, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Grant Recipient, other project partners or other donors.

The Auditor verifies based on original documents that:

1. the project is implemented in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and expediency;
2. proper book-keeping and sound financial management have been maintained by the Grant Recipient, the related expenditure practices are correct, Generally Accepted Accounting Standards have been met and an adequate, effective Internal control system exists;
3. the project funds have been used in conformity with the Grant Agreement, in particular:

• the project funds were spent exclusively for project related expenses and solely for the purpose intended;
• costs have been incurred during the implementation period;
• costs meet the eligibility criteria stipulated in the Grant Agreement and its annexes.

4. the Financial Reports presented by the Grant Recipient and subgrantees presents the actual expenditure incurred and the revenue received for the project for the respective reporting period accurately and in conformity with the Grant Agreement and annexes thereto,
5. the project expenditures are allocated to the last approved (allocated) Project Budget,
6. individual expenditures made from grant funds are clear evident from the project bookkeeping and are assigned to the correct budget items as specified in the approved Grant Application,
7. over expenditure, if any, lies within the thresholds stipulated in the Grant Agreement,
8. costs declared in the Financial Report are justified by the relevant supporting documents in form of invoices, receipts and vouchers bearing all necessary information; these supporting documents are clearly associated with the project and the project’s time frame,
9. all necessary supporting documents for employees’ costs are available and these costs are reported correctly. Specifically, the auditor verifies:

• the existence of employment contracts in accordance with the relevant national legislation,
• that the reported employees’ costs are calculated correctly in accordance with the approved Project Budget and respective provisions of the General Terms and Conditions,
• that only actually paid employees’ costs have been claimed under the Financial Report and this has been evidenced by the respective supporting documents.

10. usage of budget funds under “unexpected costs” or “emergency fund” has been approved by The State of the Netherlands, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
11. all assets and equipment have been incorporated in the asset list,
12. assets and equipment have been used for the project purposes,
13. sub-grants foreseen in the Project Document have been provided to third parties and have been properly accounted for based on actual costs.

Audit report

The Auditor will produce an Expenditure Verification Report that should describe the purpose, the agreed-upon procedures and the findings in enough details.

All reports shall be prepared and submitted electronically in the Word and pdf-format in English and Romanian. In addition, the final report shall be submitted in 3 hard copies in English and 1 in Romanian.

Letter to management

In addition to the audit report, the auditor will prepare a letter including the audit conclusion on:

• Control results;
• Auditor's recommendations to eliminate identified deficiencies (recommendations will be presented in order of priority);
• The audit report will contain proposals and recommendations for improving the organization's internal policies.

Offer structure

The Offer should include:

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;
4. List of NGO’s for which the audit company carried out project audits during the last 3 years;
5. Description of the qualification and CV of the members of the audit team;
6. Financial offer.

The offer has to be submitted in English.

8. Evaluation criteria

The Consulting Company’s bid will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

- Presentation of all documents indicated in Offer structure;

- The organization's experience in the field of audit, including in the specific field of public associations according to national and international standards (30%);

- Qualifications of the audit team that will perform the audit (20%);

- The required price (maximum 50%).

- Knowing at least three languages ​​of the countries where the subgrantees are will be an advantage.

Interested eligible bidders can obtain additional information at the e-mail address vresetnic.eeclgbte@gmail.com, no later than April 20, 2024.

The offers must be submitted by e-mail to the address email vresetnic.eeclgbte@gmail.com with the statement “Tender project audit 2024”, no later than April 23, 2024 3pm.