TOWN OF SILVERTHORNE, COLORADO RFP for Independent Professional Auditing Services

Transcription

1 Nature of Services Required A. General The Town is soliciting the services of qualified firms of certified public accountants to audit its financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011, with the option to audit the Town s financial statements for each of the four subsequent fiscal years. These audits are to be performed in accordance with the provisions contained in this Request for Proposals (RFP). There is no express or implied obligation for the Town of Silverthorne to reimburse responding firms for any expenses incurred in preparing proposals in response to this request. During the evaluation process, the Town of Silverthorne reserves the right, where it may serve the Town s best interest, to request additional information or clarifications from the firms, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. At the discretion of the Town, firms submitting proposals may be requested to make oral presentations as part of the evaluation process. The Town of Silverthorne reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and to use any ideas in a proposal regardless of whether that proposal is selected. Submission of a proposal indicates acceptance by the firm of the conditions contained in this request for proposals, unless clearly and specifically noted in the proposal submitted and confirmed by the Town of Silverthorne. To be considered, two copies of a proposal must be received by Donna Braun, 601 Center Circle, PO Box 1309, Silverthorne, CO by 4:00 p.m. on September 20, Proposals submitted will be evaluated by the Town Manager, Finance Director and Town Accountant, with final selection to be approved by the Silverthorne Town Council. It is anticipated that the selection of a firm will be completed by September 30, B. Scope of Work to be Performed The Town of Silverthorne desires the auditor to express an opinion on the fair presentation of its financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The scope of the audit work will include financial/compliance audits for the reporting entities defined as the Town and the Silverthorne/Dillon Joint Authority Enterprise Fund. The opinions should be expressed on the general purpose financial statements. An "in-relation-to" report is to be provided on the combining and individual fund financial statements and supporting schedules based on the auditing procedures applied during the audit of the general purpose financial statements. Audit of the statistical section of the report is not required. The auditor shall also be responsible for performing procedures involving any required supplementary information required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board as mandated by generally accepted auditing standards. The audits shall be performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards as set forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and applicable state and federal regulations. In addition, the audits must conform to federal single audit requirements and be in accordance with government auditing standards and procedures issued by the Comptroller General 1

2 of the United States. In connection with the audits of financial statements, a Single Audit will be performed, if applicable, and a report of findings issued as required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133. If a Single Audit is required, the selected firm will be required to complete the submission form that accompanies the Single Audit (Form SF-SAC-Data Collection Form for Reporting on Audits of States, Local Governments and Non-Profit Organizations) as required by OMB A-133. At this time, the Town does not have any grants or funding that would require a Single Audit. The Town expects the selected auditing firm to issue an unqualified opinion on the Town's financial statements. If, during the performance of the audit, the auditing firm concludes an unqualified opinion cannot be issued, the auditing firm must promptly notify the Director of Finance in writing, stating all matters which preclude the issuance of an unqualified opinion. In connection with each annual audit, the selected auditing firm will be required to issue a letter of advisory comments containing recommendations for correction of internal control weaknesses and improvements in operating procedures. Respondent's proposals and bids should contemplate procedures necessary to issue opinions on annual financial statements to be included in the Town's Official Statements for issuance of general obligation bonds. The Town authorizes the Auditor to disclose immediately all findings of suspected fraud or embezzlement to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The Town believes the financial statements presented in its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) are in substantial conformance with generally accepted accounting principles. Furthermore, the Town currently is a participant in the Government Finance Officers' Association Certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting Program. In order for the Town to achieve this high level of reporting excellence, the selected auditing firm will be expected to assist with the CAFR by Advising the Town concerning mandatory or recommended modifications to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The Town is responsible for the completion, production and submission of the CAFR. C. Participation of the Town By March 10 th (and each year thereafter), the Town shall have closed and balanced all accounts. The Town shall also prepare working trial balances for all funds, work papers, reconciliation and account analysis and provide assistance in locating invoices, vouchers, canceled checks and other documents and records requested by the Auditor. The Town shall have prepared financial statements for all funds to be examined by the Auditor by May 10th (and each year thereafter). Such statements would be all those contained in the Town s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and the Silverthorne/Dillon Joint Authority. The Town shall provide space deemed adequate by the Auditor to efficiently conduct the examination. The Auditors should agree to utilize the Town s staff to perform all work of an assisting nature, consistent with generally accepted auditing standards, and whenever qualified Town employees are available. 2

3 D. Town s Accounting Systems and Funds The Town s accounting system is organized and operated on a fund basis. accounting functions are centralized under the Director of Finance. Substantially, all The funds and accounts of the Town to be audited shall include, but are not necessarily limited to the following: Town of Silverthorne Governmental Funds: General (1) Capital Projects/Debt Service (1) Special Revenues (3) Enterprise Funds Water (1) Sewer (1) Agency Funds Silverthorne/Dillon Joint Authority(1) Internal Service Fund Compensated Absences (1) Silverthorne/Dillon Joint Authority Enterprise Fund (This is an agency fund that the Town manages for ourselves and four other entities) E. Audit Schedule The following dates for the audit process are required by the Town and the respondent must commit to completing the requested audit for the year ended December 31, 2011 by: 1. Availability of general ledger March 10th 2. Completion of audit field work March 31 st 3. Completion by Town of draft of Annual Financial Report May 10th 4. Issuance of auditor s reports June 1st 5. Presentation of report to Mayor and Town Council to be determined if needed F. Audit Report The Finance Department staff will be responsible for the preparation, editing and printing of financial statements, notes and all required supplementary schedules and statistical data. The auditor shall provide all recommendations, revisions and suggestions for improvement to the Finance Director. A report, including a draft auditor s report(s) shall be delivered to the Finance Director by June1 st of each year. 3

4 The Finance Department staff will complete their review of the draft report as expeditiously as possible. During that period, the auditor should be available for any meetings that may be necessary to discuss the audit reports. Once all issues for discussion are resolved, the final signed report shall be delivered to the Finance Director within five working days. It is anticipated that this process will be completed and the final report accepted by June 15 th of each year. G. Financial Respondents must provide estimates of hours by staff classifications and key personnel within staff classifications, hourly rates for each staff classification, estimated reimbursable expenses and a maximum total price for each one year period. Please provide separate fees for services rendered in accordance with the US. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 and its Compliance Supplement. Such services will not be necessary if the Town receives less than the applicable level of federal assistance for major programs in any audit year. When estimating reimbursable expenses, the respondent should consider that the Town will provide adequate working space; access to local and metro telephone service, photocopying facilities and fax machines. Billings should be submitted in the month following the performance of the work and include details of hours worked by staff classification, hourly rates and reimbursable expenses. The Town will pay billings within 30 days of receipt. If unusual circumstances are encountered -- due to such conditions as lack of cooperation from the Town's employees, incomplete records, additional requirements, or poor working conditions - additional compensation may be made upon demonstration that such unusual conditions exist. Please provide information on how your firm would calculate fees for additional financial/compliance audits and/or performance audits that may be awarded throughout the four-year period as additions to the basic annual audit contract but are not intended to be an integral part of that contract. The Town reserves the right to award any or all additional engagements to other firms. During the subsequent four-year period, either party may annually and, prior to the audit period, terminate the auditing services contract by giving written notice thereof to the other. Said notice of termination must be given on or before July 1st of the audit year. H. Technical Proposal The purpose of the Technical Proposal is to demonstrate the qualifications, competence and capacity of the firms seeking to undertake an independent audit of the Town of Silverthorne in conformity with the requirements of this request for proposals. The Technical Proposal should demonstrate the qualifications of the firm and of the particular staff to be assigned to this engagement. It should also specify an audit approach that will meet the request for proposal requirements. The Technical Proposal should address all the points outlined in the request for proposals. The Proposal should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise 4

5 description of the firm s capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the request for proposal. While additional data may be presented, the following items must be included, as they represent the criteria against which the proposal will be evaluated: 1. The firm should provide an affirmative statement that it is independent of the Town of Silverthorne as defined by applicable standards. The firm should provide an affirmative statement that it is independent of all the entities included in this proposal. In addition, the firm shall give the Town of Silverthorne written notice of any professional relationships entered into during the period of the engagement. 2. An affirmative statement should be included that the firm and all assigned key professional staff are properly licensed to practice in Colorado. 3. The firm should state the size of the firm, the size of the firm s governmental audit staff, the location of the office from which the work on this engagement is to be performed and the number and the nature of professional staff to be employed on this engagement on a fulltime basis and the number and nature of the staff to be so employed on a part-time basis. 4. If the firm uses subcontractors, the qualifications of each subcontractor should be separately identified and the portion of the audit work that will be subcontracted should be identified, if applicable. 5. The firm is required to submit a copy of the report on its most recent external quality control review, with a statement whether that quality control review included a review of specific government engagements. 6. The firm shall provide information on the results of any federal or state desk reviews or field reviews of its audits during the past three (3) years. 7. The firm shall provide proof of workers compensation insurance as well as proof of professional liability (errors & omissions) insurance of at least one million dollars of coverage. 8. The firm shall provide information on the circumstances and status of any disciplinary action taken or pending against the firm during the past three (3) years with state regulatory bodies or professional organizations. 9. Identify the principal supervisory and management staff, including engagement partners, managers, other supervisors and specialists, who would be assigned to the engagement. Audit personnel may be changed at the discretion of the firm, provided that replacements have substantially the same or better qualifications or experience. 10. List all engagements performed in the last three years that are similar to the engagement described herein, based on the office that will be directly responsible for this project. These engagements should be ranked on the basis of total staff hours. Indicate the scope of work, date, engagement partners, total hours and the name and telephone number of the principal client contact. 11. The proposal shall include a work plan, including an explanation of the audit methodology to be followed. In developing the work plan, reference should be made to such sources of information as the Town s budget and related materials, organizational charts, manuals and programs, and financial and other management information systems. 5

6 Firms will be required to provide the following information on their audit approach: a. Proposed segmentation of the engagement (the Town s requirement is for interim fieldwork to commence mid-december with final field work commencing in March) b. Level of staff and number of hours to be assigned to each proposed segment of the engagement c. Sample size and the extent to which statistical sampling is to be used in the engagement d. Type and extent of analytical procedures to be used in the engagement e. Approach to be taken to gain and document an understanding of the Town of Silverthorne s internal control structure f. Approach to be taken in determining laws and regulations that will be subject to audit test work g. Approach to be taken in drawing audit samples for purposes of tests of compliance The proposal should identify and describe any anticipated potential audit problems, the firm s approach to resolving these problems and any special assistance that will be requested from the Town of Silverthorne. I. Sealed Cost Proposal The sealed cost proposal should contain all pricing information relative to performing the audit engagement as described in this request for proposal. The total all-inclusive maximum price to be bid is to contain all direct and indirect costs including all out-of-pocket expenses. The Town of Silverthorne will not be responsible for expenses incurred in preparing and submitting the technical proposal or the sealed cost proposal. Such costs should not be included in the proposal. The first page of the sealed cost proposal should include the following information: a. Name of firm b. Certification that the person signing the proposal is entitled to represent the firm, empowered to submit the bid, and authorized to sign a contract with the Town of Silverthorne c. Costs for the standard audit should be separate from the cost of the single audit (if needed) and should also include the total all-inclusive maximum price for each engagement for the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 d. Any charges for accounting/procedural inquiries throughout the year that are not part of the audit work for the current year 6

7 Also included should be the hourly rate, anticipated hours for each partner, specialist, supervisory and staff level expected to perform the necessary services. The second page of the proposal should include a schedule of professional fees and expenses. Include the requirement for progress payments. J. Evaluation Procedures A point formula will be used during the review process to score proposals. The technical proposal will first be scored by each of the criteria described below under Evaluation Criteria. Firms with an unacceptably low technical score will be eliminated from further consideration. After the technical score for each firm has been established, the sealed cost proposal will be opened and additional points will be added to the technical score based on the cost proposal. The maximum score for price will be assigned to the firm offering the lowest total all-inclusive maximum price. Appropriate fractional scores will be assigned to other firms. The Town of Silverthorne reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and use any idea in a proposal regardless of whether that proposal is selected. K. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be evaluated using three sets of criteria. Firms meeting the mandatory criteria will have their proposals evaluated and scored for both technical qualifications and price. The following represent the principal selection criteria that will be considered during the evaluation process. 1. Mandatory Elements a. The audit firm is independent and licensed to practice in Colorado b. The firm has no conflict of interest with regard to any other work performed by the firm for The Town of Silverthorne c. The firm adheres to the instructions in this request for proposal on preparing and submitting the proposal d. The firm submits a copy of its last external quality control review report and the firm has a record of quality audit work 2. Technical Quality a. Expertise and Experience 1. The firm s past experience and performance on comparable government engagements 2. The quality of the firm s professional personnel to be assigned to the engagement and the quality of the firm s management support personnel to be available for technical consultation b. Audit Approach 1. Adequacy of proposed staffing plan for various segments of the engagement 2. Adequacy of sampling techniques 7

8 3. Adequacy of analytical procedures 3. Price 4. Reference Check L. Final Selection It is anticipated that a firm will be selected by September 30, M. Right to Reject Proposals The Town of Silverthorne reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. 8