Tender Advertisement #926123

REQUEST FOR TENDER

Independent External Audit of the Pacific Trade and Invest Network for years ending 31 December 2016, 2017 and 2018

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is seeking the services of a suitably qualified audit firm to undertake three annual financial audits of the Pacific Trade and Invest offices located in Auckland, Beijing and Sydney for each of the financial years January to December 2016, 2017 and 2018.

2. The purpose of the audit is to provide positive assurance to member governments, the PT&I host governments and other stakeholders that the PT&I’s financial statements:

• are free of material misstatement;
• meets financial reporting deadlines/requirements as part of their respective funding arrangements;
• comply with the their financial processes and procedures;
• comply with applicable international reporting standards; and
• meets PIFS Governing Council related mandates.

3. The auditor will carry out all necessary tests and evaluations of the PT&I’s own accounting policies, procedures and records to provide the above assurance. The auditor will also provide advice where appropriate on possible improvements to the PT&I’s accounting systems, policies and procedures to comply with international best practice.

4. The auditor will conduct the audit of each office located in Auckland, Beijing and Sydney, in close consultation with the PT&I’s Heads, and Administration and Finance Manager, and with the Forum Secretariat’s Corporate Services teams. Where required, the auditor will also consult with other functional areas of the Forum Secretariat.

5. The auditor may arrange for the individual audits to be carried out by different partners of the same firm, provided that the firm applies the same international standards and approach for the audit of each PT&I office’s financial statements.

6. We are pleased to invite you to consider the downloadable Terms of Reference and submit for our consideration your technical and financial proposal to undertake this work.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
7. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the tender:
Criteria Score %
Audit Firm Experience
• External Audit experience 10
• Not for profit sector experience 5
Audit Personnel
• Audit Partner
o Qualifications 7.5
o Relevant experience 7.5
• External Audit Manager
o Qualifications 10
o Relevant experience 10
• Senior Auditor
o Qualifications 7.5
o Relevant experience 7.5
Proposed Methodology 15
Total Technical Evaluation 80%

Financial Evaluation (Total cost) 20%

HOW TO APPLY

8. Submissions should be clearly marked as: REQUEST FOR TENDER - “Independent External Audit of the Pacific Trade & Invest for years ending 31 December 2016, 2017 and 2018.”

Method of Submissions:
9. Submissions must be forwarded in PDF format following the instructions at: www.tenders.net/forumsec.

*All interested bidders will need to register at www.tenders.net/forumsec.

Deadline for Submissions:
10. Submissions need to reach the Forum Secretariat by 5pm (Fiji time) Tuesday 31 January 2017.

Late or incomplete tenders will not be considered.

All queries or requests for information must be submitted via the Question and Answer Forum on www.tenders.net/forumsec before 5pm on Tuesday 17 January 2017.

All queries will be responded to via the Question and Answer Forum on www.tenders.net/forumsec before 5pm on Wednesday 25 January 2017.

Note: The Secretariat will not be responsible for non-receipt/non-delivery of the Bid documents due to any reason whatsoever.

Any complaints regarding the Secretariat’s tender must be directed to the following email: Tender.Complaints@forumsec.org. This email address will forward your complaint to a person that is independent and removed from the tender process. Complaints must be well founded and should not be used as a mechanism for notifying displeasure with the outcome of a tender award. Further information on making a complaint can be found on the Policies & Information page at http://tenders.forumsec.org.

In the event that further information is required by the Secretariat in relation to the Request for tender, the Secretariat reserves the right to seek the required information without the need for calling for resubmission of proposals.