Tender Notice - Framework Contract for Project Specific Audit Services

Tender Notice - Framework Contract for Project Specific Audit Services

International IDEA - The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Tender Reference No: 2023-10-040

Assignment Name: Framework contract for Project Specific Audit Services
Project Name: Executive Division

Deadline for Submissions: Proposals must be submitted on or before 23:59 (CET), 05 December 2023. Late submissions will not be considered for evaluation.

Address for Submissions: E-mail: tendersubmissions@idea.int

This email address is set up with auto-response to acknowledge emails received. In the event that you do not receive an autoreply, please send a text message (NO CALLS, CALLS WILL NOT BE ANSWERED) to this number +46725375735. In your text message, please provide the following:

• Tender reference no. and title;
• Email address you used for submission;
• Date and Time, you sent your submission (e.g. 01 December 2021, 12:30 CET).

Format for Submissions: Proposals must be submitted by email. Technical and Financial proposals must be submitted in separate files and marked accordingly. Price should not be mentioned in the Technical Proposal.

The following text should be put in the subject field of the email: Tender No. (2023-10-040) Technical and Financial Proposals – Do not open before 23:59 (CET), 05 December 2023.

Email Address for Clarifications: E-mail: tender@idea.int

Clarifications may be requested via e-mail no later than 23 November 2023 at the above email address. Note a response to a request for clarifications will be issued to all tenderers on our website http://www.idea.int/. Therefore, tenderers are advised to check the website regularly during the process.

Note: there are two different email addresses as outlined above, one to be used for Submission of your final proposal and the second one to be used for clarifications and other related correspondence.  

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Section 1. General Information

1.1 The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1995, with Member States across all continents, which aims to support sustainable democracy world-wide and assist in the development of institutions and the culture of democracy. At the interface between research, fieldwork and the donor community, IDEA provides a forum for dialogue, builds networks of experts, develops training materials, and provides strategic advice at international, regional and national level, cooperating with a range of organizations.

1.2 International IDEA now invites proposals from qualified global audit firms for project audit services. The services include the audit of projects within specific regions as follows:

1.2.1 For the Latin America and the Caribbean region – Audit firm to be based in Panama. In this region, International IDEA currently has several active projects in Peru, Panama, and Paraguay.

1.2.2 For the European Region – Audit firm should be based in Belgium. In this region International IDEA has several active projects in Belgium, The Netherlands and in Sweden.

1.2.3 For the West Africa Region – Audit firm to be based in Ghana, Senegal, or Nigeria. In this region International IDEA has several active projects in Chad, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the Gambia. This is a growing region and there are likely to be more projects within the Framework contract timeframe.

1.2.4 For the East Africa Region – Audit firm to be based in Kenya. In this region International IDEA has several active projects in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

1.2.5 For the Southern Africa Region – Audit firm to be based in South Africa. In this region International IDEA has active projects in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

1.2.6 For the Asia and the Pacific Region – Audit firm to be based in Australia. In this region International IDEA has active projects in Nepal, Fiji, Bhutan, The Philippines, and Australia.

1.3 Generally, each project is expected to be audited once a year depending on the conditions of the Grant agreement.

1.4 The donors for these projects include, but are not limited to the EU, UN, Sida, USAID, the Dutch government, and the Canadian government.

1.5 Tentative timeframe: It is anticipated that the Framework contract will commence on 1 March 2024 until 28 February 2029. This contract, as per International IDEA policies, is not renewable.

Section 2. Preparation of Proposals

Essential Requirements

2.1 Language: The official language for the proposal, contract, reports and any other documents in relation to the assignment is English.

2.2 Estimated input: The proposal should include details of a mix of audit staff members for an audit of 100 hours. This will be used to do a like for like financial evaluation of the proposals. This mix should include ALL relevant hours for all levels of internal quality assurance by the audit firm and should include time for the Partner, Audit Manager, and all related Staff Members.

2.3 Required experience: The proposal should include a brief CV of the partner and Audit Manager that will be assigned to manage this contract on behalf of the bidder.

2.4 The proposal should include the following information:

1. A brief description of the audit firm and an outline of recent experience on assignments of a similar nature;
2. Details of the regions that you wish to bid for;
3. Copies of relevant certifications and practice certificates;
4. An outline of the demographics by gender of the management of the audit firm;
5. The proposed methodology and work plan for performing the assignment, along with any comments or suggestions on the Terms of Reference;
6. The list of the proposed staff by title (and name if already identified), the tasks that would be assigned to each staff team member, and their timing, estimates of the total staff input needed to carry out an assignment of 100 hours;
7. CVs for the Partner and Audit Manager (or similar) and other proposed professional staff, including information on their previous experience in similar assignments;
8. List of references for assignments that have been carried out for non-profit organisations where project specific audits have been concluded;
9. An indication of the rate per hour, including the currency used, for the various levels of audit team members to be assigned to audits and an indication of how these fees will be indexed over the life of the contract.

Financial Proposal

2.5 The price broken down in fees (showing unit rates and input) and incidental expenses likely to incurred for a 100 hour audit.

2.6 IDEA International is not exempt from taxes and does not have a VAT number. The Bidder must act in accordance with the tax legislation of its country regarding the provision of services/goods to customers. The Bidder shall be liable for its own tax obligations in accordance with the laws of its respective countries.

2.7 The evaluation of the financial tender shall be based on the price (including taxes) for the sample 100 hour audit as set out in the bidders proposal.

Declaration of Honor Form

2.8 Please tick YES/NO as applicable. Please complete the form and submit it together with Technical and Financial Proposal.

2.9 In Section 3 of the Declaration and Honour Form, in the absence of conflict of interest, please mark this section Yes.

Section 3. Submission of Proposals

3.1 Proposals should be submitted in electronic format by e-mail. Technical and Financial Proposals must be submitted in separate files and marked accordingly. The full details on how to submit proposals is under Tender Notice at the beginning of this document.

3.2 Proposals must remain valid for at least 90 days following the deadline for their submission stated under the Tender Notice and should be flexible for any unexpected delays on the tendering process.

Section 4. Evaluation of Proposals

Technical Evaluation

4.1 The proposals will be evaluated and scored against the following technical criteria with respective corresponding weights:

1. Specific experience in relevant sector (non-profit sector) (maximum 35 points); The proposal must show that the bidding firm has worked on assignments funded by donor organisations like the EU, USAID, Sida etc. The proposal must also demonstrate that the bidder has experience in working on assignments within the region for which they are bidding;
2. Gender responsiveness (5 points) 2 points will be awarded to bidders who have a Senior Management Team that has 25% or less female representation, 3 points will be awarded to bidders where the representation is between 25% and 49%, 5 points will be awarded where the representation is at least 50%;
3. Adequacy of the proposed methodology and work plan in responding to the ToR (maximum 30 points); The proposal must list methodologies that have previously been used in similar assignments;
4. Qualifications and experience of the key staff proposed to perform the assignment (maximum 30 points); The proposal must list the qualifications and experience of the planned senior assignment staff as indicated above.

The maximum technical score (T) is 100 points. To proceed to the financial evaluation, the technical proposal must score 80 points.

Financial Evaluation

4.2. The financial proposals will be verified and, if necessary, adjustments will be made to the prices to ensure consistency with the technical proposals in terms of work input and to eliminate arithmetical errors.

4.3. The corrected prices will then be converted to the currency of evaluation to obtain the evaluation price (E). The exchange rate is the IDEA monthly exchange rate which can be found on the inforeuro website.

4.4 The currency used for evaluation is EURO.

4.5 The financial scores (F) will be computed as follows:

The lowest evaluation price proposal (Em) will be given a financial score (Fm) of 100 points.

The financial scores of the other proposals will be computed applying the formula:

F = 100 x Em/E, where:

• Em is the lowest evaluation price; and
• E is the evaluation price of the proposal under consideration.

Consolidated Technical and Financial Score

4.6 The final consolidated scores (S) will be computed by applying the formula:

S = t x T + f x F, where:

• t is the weight given to the technical score;
• f is the weight given to the financial score.

4.7 The weights given to the technical and financial scores are:

• t = 70%;
• f = 30%.

4.8 The firms ranked highest will be invited to negotiate the contracts for each region as set out in paragraph 1.2 above and if negotiations are successful the selected firms will be awarded the contract/(s). Should the negotiations fail; the second ranked firm/(s) will be invited to negotiations.

4.9 International IDEA reserves the right during the negotiation stage to vary at the time of award of contract, the quantity of services and/or goods, or scope of work by up to a maximum of twenty-five per cent (25%) of the original TOR. This negotiation will not permit any changes to unit fee rates or other terms and conditions outlined in the tender proposal.

4.10 It is our intention to appoint an audit firm for assignments for each region as set out in paragraph 1.2 above. Contracts will not however be exclusive. Although it is our intention to award assignments to the specific audit firm appointed in each region, International IDEA reserves the right to select a different audit firm to deliver on a specific project assignment should operational reasons require this.

4.11 International IDEA reserves the right to directly award a follow up contract to the audit firm selected for the tender to carry out potential future work related to this initial assignment. This will depend on satisfactory delivery of the tender assignment.

Section 5. Final Considerations

5.1. International IDEA will not be bound to select any of the proposals.

5.2 The following documents are enclosed with this Request for Proposals:

• Terms of Reference;
• Declaration of Honour Form;
• Contract General Terms and Conditions.

5.3 Further information on International IDEA may be found on our website http://www.idea.int/.

5.4 Both the successful and unsuccessful bidders will be notified in writing following the completion of the evaluation and contract award process.

Complaints regarding any aspect of the tender process should be addressed in writing to both the Internal Auditor and the Executive Director at International IDEA. The address is tender.complaints@idea.int.

The Request for Proposals, Terms of Reference, Declaration of Honour Form and Contract General Terms and Conditions are available at: https://www.idea.int/about-us/procurement-and-tenders.

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