EXTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES INVITATION TO TENDER

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1 INVITATION TO TENDER Tenders must be received at the Association s Head Office no later than 12 noon on Friday 7 February 2014

2 CONTENTS Section Description Page no Section A Background 3 Section B Statement of Requirements 4 Section C Documents to be Submitted 6 Section D Additional Information 7 2

3 Section A Background Habinteg Housing Association (Ulster) Ltd ( Habinteg or The Association ) wishes to engage a service provider to provide external audit services to the Association. The Association is a registered housing association with charitable status. Its current activities comprise-: development of new social housing in accordance with housing need management of over 2,000 units of housing stock comprising sheltered, general needs, housing-with-care and supported accommodation There is one other company associated with Habinteg however it is dormant. Habinteg Properties Limited wholly owned by Habinteg, is the Associations s private arm set up to take advantage of private housing opportunities A copy of the Association s last Annual Report and Accounts is available upon request. Additional information about our structure and activities can be obtained from our web site The Association is required to work within the regulatory framework for Northern Ireland Housing Associations which is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development (DSD). More details can be found from their website The Association is required to comply with the SORP for Registered Social Landlords. Tenderers should describe their experience in this area. 3

4 Section B Statement of Requirements SECTION C outlines the information that must be included in tender submissions. Failure to provide all or part of the information may result in your submission being excluded from the evaluation process. The contract will cover the external audit service for the three financial years 2014/2015 to 2016/2017 with the possibility of an extension of a further 2 years, subject to satisfactory performance. Scope of Services The services to be provided are: the audit of the statutory accounts of Habinteg; the audit of the statutory accounts of Habinteg Properties Ltd (based on current dormant position); the provision of a comprehensive Management Letter; the audit of any statutory returns. Other Requirements Working files or papers produced during the course of the contract will remain the Association s property and these must be handed over in the event of contract termination. Last date for submission of tenders is 12 noon on 7 February THREE copies of the proposal should be submitted. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. Firms will be judged on the following evaluation criteria: experience and expertise of the firm within the housing association and not-for-profit sector; experience and ability of the audit team; knowledge of and ability to interpret Housing Association Guide; the ability of the firm to add value rather than providing purely a compliance audit; cost of the audit. Short-listed companies will be invited to present and discuss their proposals (date to be notified in due course). Tender documents should be returned, marked Tender for External Audit Services. Habinteg will not be liable to reimburse any costs incurred by the service provider during this tender process. Habinteg wishes to maximise the value obtained from the available external audit resource, however does not bind itself to accept the lowest tender. Tenderers should note that, while they may tender for both internal and external audit contracts, a single provider will not be selected to deliver both services. Evaluation of tenders will be carried out by a Tender Panel, and the evaluators will, if necessary, contact tenderers to seek clarification of any aspect of a tender. Tenderers should identify any work they are currently carrying out or competing for which could cause a conflict of interest, and indicate how such a conflict would be avoided. 4

5 Section C Documentation to be submitted To facilitate the needs of the Tender Panel in the evaluation process, all proposals submitted must follow the following format. Failure to supply all or any part of the requested information in the required format may result in a proposal being excluded from the evaluation process. Section 1 Background information on your firm Section 2 Organisation chart for your firm or, in the case of multi-office firms, an organisation chart for the local office responsible for this contract. This should include the total number of staff within each department together with the number of staff (and full-time equivalents) working on external audit assignments. Section 3 Details of previous experience of providing external audit services to the public sector, the voluntary sector and the Registered Social Landlord/Housing Association sector. The Association is seeking a provider that is fully familiar with the operating environment and regulatory issues faced by Housing Associations. Please provide details of all Registered Social Landlords/Housing Associations that your firm currently acts for. The Association will want to take up references from at least two of your current clients. Our intention is to select these from the list that you provide to us. We will contact tenderers to advise which clients we shall be contacting and obtain contact points from you. Section 4 Personnel and employment details of the audit team should be provided in this section of your proposal. This should include: Name of employee; job title; accountancy qualifications; other professional qualifications; date that they joined your firm; current and previous work experience. Please include a table setting out the experience of the RSL/Housing Association sector, for each member of your nominated team i.e. Name Job Title Date of joining office servicing our contract No of years RSL/Housing Association Experience Please include a table showing the level of input from each grade nominated in your team: Partner or Director Manager Assistant Manager Other Qualified Part Qualified (MIIA, PIIA, QICA) Part Qualified (Other) Junior Total 100% 5

6 Section 5 Methodology Audit Planning Please provide details of your approach to audit planning, including the key stages of the process and whom this would involve. Audit fieldwork Please outline your approach to audit fieldwork, including the level of input that you would expect from Association staff Audit reporting Please provide an example of your standard report template(s) Section 6 Price Please confirm the annual fee (inclusive of expenses, excluding VAT) which your firm will levy. Tenderers should note that the Association expects these rates to remain constant 1 for the duration of the contract: Section 7 Quality is a key concern to the Association. Tenderers should set out the arrangements within their firm for ensuring that quality exists throughout the audit process. Section 8 Please provide the following additional information with your proposal: a copy of your Health & Safety Policy Statement a copy of your Equal Opportunities policy details of any rulings against your firm in respect of equality legislation details of your firm s Professional Indemnity Insurance 1 Subject only to an RPI increase 6

7 Section D ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Anyone requiring additional information should contact: David Duly Chief Executive Habinteg Housing Association (Ulster) Ltd 22Hibernia Street Holywood Co Down BT18 9JE Tel: (028) David.duly@habinteg-ulster.co.uk Any requests for additional information will be collated by the Association and a composite response sent to all firms who have been invited to tender. 7