INVITATION TO TENDER TO PROVIDE EXTERNAL AUDIT SERVICES
CLOSING DATE: 17 February 2023

Background Information:

The Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust (SAT) is a regional African NGO that has been operating in the East and Southern African region for over 30 years, working for universal adolescent access to gender transformative Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). We are an integral part of a network of partnerships with NGOs, CBOs, service providers, Youth Hubs, & activists with whom we share values, principles, and programming. Currently SAT has offices in five Southern African Countries as follows: Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa (where the Regional Office is located). Each SAT office is a separate legal entity in the country in which it is registered and requires its own statutory audit each year in line with IFRS for SMEs and local legislation.

SAT is primarily funded by two large international donor agencies – Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and Plan Netherlands, Break Free (BF!) project who provide programme support through separate funding agreements. Sida current agreement runs until June 2023 and Plan Netherlands agreement runs until December 2026. SAT also undertakes various smaller ‘once off’ projects funded by other donors at national levels (eg Global Fund, DFID, Amplify Change, UNAIDS, UNFPA, HIIVOS, CAF, UNICEF…to name but a few). All such projects are governed by a grant agreement with the respective donor with which SAT is obligated to comply.

We would like to engage a reputable audit firm to carry-out the statutory audit of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, in each of our offices. The contract will be renewable for a five-year period.

Our current auditors, SNG GT (South Africa ,Botswana, Zambia , Zimbabwe,  and Bhagya and Shankar (Malawi), have completed five years as SAT’s auditors and in line with good practice we are therefore opening the doors to appoint a new firm for the next 5 years. SAT’s relationship with the current auditors is good and the only reason we are ‘going out to tender’ is good practice. The current auditors are also formally invited to submit their proposal to SAT for a further five-year term.

Audit Objective:

The objective of the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust audit is to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements reflect a true and fair view of the financial position of the organisation. The audit will be performed in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium Enterprises (“IFRS for SMEs”) and International Standards of Auditing (“ISA”). The audit report will include an Independent Auditors Report (Opinion) on the financial statements. The audit will also include such other required schedules or analyses as Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust has determined are necessary to ensure that program resources are being properly managed. The auditors should assess the organization’s compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act and the relevant applicable regulatory authorities e.g. SARS in South Africa.

Scope of Work:

The successful External Auditor will cover the offices chosen and, in the countries, where they are based and falling within their jurisdiction of performance of their work. The audit will be in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium Enterprises (“IFRS for SMEs”) and International Standards of Auditing (“ISA”). The findings and recommendations shall include an action plan for SAT’s organizational and accounting improvements depending on findings and its implications and shall accommodate management comments.

The audit will also include, where relevant, Agreed Upon Procedures that will be guided by our donors’ audit guidelines, scope, and requirements.

The auditor selected for the Regional Office, in Johannesburg, will also be responsible for coordinating the regional audit process. All country offices auditors will be collaborating with the Regional Office Auditors.

Eligibility Criteria:

Eligible Audit firm should meet the following criteria:

  1. Compliance with legal requirements of registration.
  2. Certificate of Incorporation/Certificate of Registration in the Country
  3. Ability to conduct audit in one of the following countries: Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe or South Africa.
  4. Experience of the audit firm with audit reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium Enterprises (“IFRS for SMEs”) and International Standards of Auditing (“ISA”).
  5. Experience in reviewing various projects funded by Official development assistance (ODA) countries / agencies:
  6. References letters for similar audits performed within the last three years (From 2019 and above)
  7. Provide Audit Methodology, Proposed Work-plan, Curriculum Vitae for the partner, manager and key staff proposed for the audit team.
  8. Audit firm and staff must be independent of SAT and affirm their independence in the proposal submission.
  9. Any actual or potential conflict of interest in taking up this role should be highlighted.
  10. Indicate estimated fees based on available information.

Note: A detailed evaluation criteria is presented in Appendix 1 below.

Deliverables:

SAT compiles all financial statements through a drafting services consultant to ensure uniformity of the Annual Financial Statements to facilitate the consolidation process to produce consolidated Annual Financial Statements that are audited by the Regional Office, South Africa Auditor. As such, the key deliverables from each auditor, excluding compilation, will be:

  1. Audited Financial Statements indicating if accounting standards have been applied and whether they reflect a true and fair view of the financial position of the organisation for the relevant office.
  2. Management Letter where matters that are not material to the financial statements, but which the auditors wish to communicate to SAT may be reflected for management action.
  3. Where Agreed Upon Procedures (AUPs) are concerned. 1 & 2 above, in relation to the specific donor, and any additional reports that may be required as per the donor’s auditing guidelines.
  4. Audit Timeframes – audit starts 1st week of May and ends 3rd week of June with all deliverables signed off timeously to enable audited AFS to be available 1st week in July.

Submission Guidelines:

The proposal submitted should have a maximum of 20 pages exclusive of the statutory requirements which shall be attached separately. The proposal subject line should clearly read, “EOI: EXTERNAL AUDITORS (The SAT Country Applying for).” 

The proposal should be addressed to: General Manager: Finance

  1. Mode of submission: ONLY electronically submitted proposals will be accepted. It should be submitted to the following email: procurement@satregional.org
  2. The deadline for submission of the proposal is: 17 February 2023 at/or before 12:00 hours South African time.
  3. Only shortlisted bidders will be invited to present themselves for interview at SAT offices or virtually at a date to be communicated. For any questions, send an email to: ncube@satregional.org not later than 7 days after the date of the advert.
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