01. BACKGROUND:
The Moldovan Association of ICT Companies (“ATIC”) is the business Organization more than 88 companies. Umbrella Organization gathering over 5000 employees. Being established in 2006, ATIC is the action leading association and the voice of the Moldovan ICT industry that promotes the development of the ICT sector in the Republic of Moldova through viable partnerships between companies, similar organizations, government, state institutions and international organizations. The association was founded to represent the industry on different policy and legislative issues and to facilitate the exchange of best-practices between members. ATIC mission is to protect and promote the Association members’ interests as well as facilitate a more favorable ICT business climate.
Based on the growing of the its activities ATIC is currently looking for the Audit Firm that will provide services of the Internal Auditor of the Association
02. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE:
Overall Objectives of the Internal Audit:
• To express an independent professional opinion with regard to efficiency, effectiveness and economy of the program operations.
• To evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the financial management and internal control framework.
• To report on compliance status of the laid down policies, financial norms, local regulations, guidelines, and donor regulations.
• To identify and report on areas for improvement and critical weaknesses if any
• To provide the Board of Directors and Executive Director with timely information and recommendation on financial management aspects to enable timely corrective actions.
Scope of the Engagement:
The scope of assignment shall be comprehensive and shall cover the project activities and transactions of all the cost centers. The responsibility of Internal Auditor includes reporting on the adequacy of internal controls, the accuracy and propriety of transactions, the extent to which assets are accounted for and safeguarded and the level of compliance at all levels
The Internal Auditor shall include the activities and operations of all departments, organizational and functional units.
This includes an assessment of adequacy of financial management systems, financial controls and should include aspects such as:
• adequacy and effectiveness of accounting, financial and operational controls;
• level of compliance with established policies, plans and procedures;
• reliability of accounting systems, data and financial reports;
• methods of remedying weak controls;
• verification of assets and liabilities;
• goods and services financed had been procured in accordance with relevant procurement procedures;
• all necessary supporting documents, records and accounts have been kept in respect of each projects/grants;
• economical and efficient use of resources
• compliances with laws and regulations
The Internal Auditor must review ATIC annual budgets, management plans, financial policies, procedures, records, accounts and plans and appraise the effectiveness by which ATIC meets its objectives. The Internal Auditor shall consider the adequacy of controls necessary in all areas and will seek to confirm that management have taken the necessary steps to achieve these objectives.
The Internal Auditor shall be responsible for providing relevant, reliable and sufficient audit evidence of the adequacy and effectiveness of operational and other control arrangements which will allow management to evaluate the findings and confirm the level of assurance which emerges.
03. REPORTING AND APPROVALS:
The Internal Auditor is subordinated to the General Assembly of the Association. The Internal Auditor presents the report to the Executive Director and Board of Directors.
The Executive Director is organizationally responsible for the successful operation of the internal audit program and therefore works closely with the Internal Auditor and the Board to coordinate reviews, reports and management responses.
The Board shall review and approve the Internal Audit Strategy, the annual Audit & Risk Assessment Plan and more detailed program of reviews to ensure that they are consistent with the audit needs of ATIC.
The Internal Auditor shall present the major findings of internal audit reports and ATIC management responses to the Board on a quarterly basis and to the General Assembly once a year.
04. PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT:
The Internal auditors shall be appointed for a period of 1 years (F.Y. 2022-2023) from the date of the agreement.
05. DELIVERABLES/REPORTING:
1. Post review, the Internal Auditor is expected to meet and present the findings to the ATIC’s Board of Directors. Final signed report will be issued based on final discussion with the Board;
2. The audit report will highlight key issues for management and shall have the following sections:
• Executive Summary;
• Objective of the audit;
• Methodology of audit;
• The status of implementation of the financial management records, systems and controls;
• The status of compliance of the previous audit report, including major audit observations pending compliance;
• The key area of weaknesses needing improvement;
• Recommendation for improvements;
• The comments from the Board and concerned officers at ATIC must be incorporated as Management Comments;
3. The audit shall be carried out on a quarterly basis and the report must be submitted within 30 days of completing the field work.
06. REQUIREMENTS:
Applying organizations should be:
a) legal entity registered in Republic of Moldova
b) registered in the public registry of the audit companies (http://cspa.md/extrasul-din-registrul-public-al-entitatilor-de-audit).
c) at least 3 audit reports provided to NGO
The proposed expert(s) should meet the following requirements (cumulatively):
• Background in accounting, audit and taxation
• At least 10 years of experience with accounting and Moldovan fiscal legislation
• At least 5 years of experience with external audit
• Proven experience in work with Government institutions
• Fluency in Romanian, Russian
Note: Based on ATIC Statute the Internal Auditor cannot be an entity currently contracted by ATIC.
07. CONFIDENTIALITY:
By virtue of this assignment, the audit team/firm might gain access to some sensitive information or data. The auditors are required to maintain utmost confidentiality of the matter and undertakes not to divulge such information or documents to anyone other than the contracting party / authority without prior consent of ATIC. This condition shall survive beyond Contract period
08. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS:
8.1 Questions and Requests for Clarifications
Questions regarding the technical or administrative requirements of this RFP may be submitted no later than April 18, 2022, 18:00 local Chisinau time by email to mbzovii@ict.md, cc achirita@ict.md and osuruceanu@ict.md. Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification—and the responses thereto—that ATIC believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFP recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.
Only the written answers issued by ATIC will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and subsequent evaluation. Any verbal information received from employees of ATIC or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFP.
8.2 Offer Deadline
Offerors shall submit their expression of interest to participate and propose offers until April 18, 2022 via e-mail to: mbzovii@ict.md; achirita@ict.md and osuruceanu@ict.md.
Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. Late offers may be considered at the discretion of ATIC.
8.3 Protocol for Submission of Offers
Electronic Submissions:
The Offeror must submit the proposal electronically with attachments compatible with MS Word, Excel, or Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format in a Microsoft environment. Those pages requiring original manual signatures should be scanned and sent in PDF format as an email attachment.
Proposal format:
Interested organizations are requested to provide the following documents and information:
1. A short technical proposal outlining:
• Cover letter, including understanding of the assignment and proposed timetable
• CVs of proposed expert(s)
• Copy of the company registration certificate in the Republic of Moldova, any available license, permit, professional qualification certificate available;
2. Financial proposal including:
• the rates and a total budget expressed in MDL,
• company bank data, including bank name and IBAN for MDL (all in a separate sealed envelope).
Technical and financial proposals should be in separate files.
All offers must be prepared in English or Romanian or Russian.