1131PL19PSA41091P00002.pdf

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

(a) By completing items 8 and 15, and returning or (c) By separate letter or electronic communication which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by letter or electronic communication, provided each letter or electronic communication makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT 1. CONTRACT ID CODE

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NUMBER 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQUISITION NUMBER 5. PROJECT NUMBER (If applicable)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6) CODE

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 11/2016)

Prescribed by GSA FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

FACILITY CODE

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NUMBER

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers is extended. is not extended.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted;

13. THIS ITEM APPLIES ONLY TO MODIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS.

IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NUMBER AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT ORDER

NUMBER IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation data, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15C. DATE SIGNED

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

16C. DATE SIGNED

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

6. ISSUED BY CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (Number, street, county, State and ZIP Code) (X)

CODE

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

(Signature of person authorized to sign)

16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

Previous edition unusable

1131PL19RSA41091P00002

1131PL

GARTH A. HIBBERT

The purpose of this modification is to:

1. Attach the final Questions and Answers; and

2. Extend the solicitation close time and date to 12 Noon, March 25, 2019.

1131PL

US TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT

1101 WILSON BLVD., SUITE 1000

ARLINGTON, VA 22209-3901

SAME AS BLOCK 6

1131PL19RSA41091

PAGE OF PAGES

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03/01/2019

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US Trade and Development Agency

Financial Audit Services

Solicitation No.: 1131PL19RSA41091

Questions and Answers

Q.1. The Past Performance Questionnaire in bullet 10 of the solicitation mentions that the questionnaire is attached, however it is not included with the solicitation. Can the government please provide the questionnaire required to be submitted by the Offeror’s references?

A.1. Past Performance Questionnaire is uploaded under Attachment 2.

Q.2. Does USTDA use any other service providers other than Interior Business Center? If so who are they and what services do they provide USTDA?

A.2. USTDA has multiple agreements with other Federal Agencies, however IBC is the only Finance and Accounting service provider.

Q.3. In regard to the security clearance, is a secret level clearance required for all personnel assigned to the engagement or is the secret level clearance required only at the organization level?

A.3. The firm must be a cleared facility in order to have cleared staff at the Secret

Level; therefore, both the facility and proposed staff must have at minimum an

Interim-Clearance. However, the Government reserves the right waive the clearance requirement.

Q.4. Are resumes required to be submitted for personnel assigned to the engagement? If so, are the resumes for each personnel included in the 10-page limit?

A.4. Yes, resumes should be submitted for each proposed candidate. Resumes are exclusive of the 10-page limit.

Q.5. Is the incumbent auditor, KPMG, allowed to bid? Are you pleased with the services they have provided to date?

A.5. This requirement is being competed as Full and Open Competition. All interested parties are encouraged to put their best proposal forward for consideration.

Q.6. When do you expect to announce the contract award?

A.6. The contract award announcement will be made shortly after the contract is awarded.

Q.7. On page 5 of 7, of the solicitation it states that the audit is performed in two phases

(Phase 1 July 15-September 15 and Phase 2 October 15-November 15), how soon after contract award are the contractors expected to start? The period of performance on page 7 of 7 states, the contractor should start work on April 24, 2019. Please provide clarification as to start date.

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A.7. As stated, the Period of Performance commences on April 24, 2019. The start date will be decided at the kick-off meeting.

Q.8. How much time did the previous engagement team incur working at USTDA? What amount or percentage of work was performed remotely?

A.8. The previous engagement team spent approximately 10 weeks on site (1 week in

August, 2 weeks in September and 7 weeks October to November). Approximately 20 to

25% of the work was done remotely.

Q.9. What is the typical number of people on the audit team from prior years?

A.9. Two to three people were on site in the past plus two to three people for the IT portion of the audit engagement.

Q.10 Were they any auditor proposed adjustments from FY2018, if so how many?

A.10. We did not receive any proposed audit adjustments in FY2018

Q.11. During FY2018, has there been any turnover of key USTDA personnel, or any anticipated turnover of key personnel during the audit period?

A.11. USTDA’s Director of Finance departed the agency in May of 2018, prior to the start of the FY18 audit. There have been no changes to the TDA practices and procedures.

Q.12. What is the status of the material weakness noted in FY2018? What is status of the

FY2018 audit finding, regarding “procedures for preparing, reviewing, and approving journal entries prior to submission to the service organization, as well as controls for ensuring that these journal entries are properly posted in the general ledger are documented and implemented”?

A.12. The material weakness is currently being addressed. We are working with our

Shared service provider, Interior Business Center (IBC), in developing better procedures and controls around the JV process.

Q.13. What is the audit finding status regarding “the AP calculation procedures are reviewed and updated”? Has there been any issue during the current year for USTDA management ensuring that the agency improves its adherence to its procedures for preparing, reviewing and approving accounts payable entries prior to submission to the service organization for posting into USTDA’s general ledger?

A.13. The audit finding has been addressed and remedied. No issues have occurred during the current year.

Q.14. Have there been any known significant matters, noncompliance findings or audit findings reported in previous audit reports? If so, can you provide details of those auditing or noncompliance findings or significant matters?

A.14. No recent findings have been reported.

Q.15. What are the required labor categories for this solicitation? What labor categories are considered key?

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A.15. Offerors are free to propose the necessary labor categories that will satisfy this requirement.

Q.16. Any difficulties in the past with the audit or obtaining audit information from your service provider(s), or the other offices or locations?

A.16. There have been no issues with the audit or obtaining any audit information.

Q.17. Any difficulties in the past with the audit or obtaining audit information? If so, please describe.

A.17. There have been no issues with the audit or obtaining audit information.

Q.18. In general, what audit experiences would you like to maintain and what would you like to improve upon? We would like to address in our proposal the areas that are most important to you.

A.18. All proposals should address the ability to conduct the audit according to all applicable audit standards.

Q.19. During fiscal year 2018, there was a significant increase for Undelivered Orders, Fund

Balance with Treasury, what activities are attributed to this increase?

A.19. The biggest attribute to these areas was the increased appropriation received from Congress and the slow spend rate due to a potential rescission in funding, which ultimately did not occur.

Q.20. Please describe the IT environment. What are the significant IT systems or applications being used? Does USTDA maintain its own network and servers? Are there any shared service providers? Is there an SSAE 18?

A.20. USTDA has one IT environment, General Support System (GSS) and multiple shared services environments to include Office 365 Cloud Services, MAX.gov - Web site hosting for our www.USTDA.gov public web site, and IBC- Department of Interior (DoI) shared services for Oracle financial services. DOI provides a SOC report to USTDA.

Q.21. Is there a page limitation for the price proposal and for the resumes?

A.21. Resumes should be no more than three pages and price proposal should be no more than five pages.

Q.22. 9. Proposal Content “…provide the necessary staffing,” Could the Government please confirm that it would like a staffing plan as well as resumes of proposed personnel (senior and above)?

A.22. A staffing plan is not required, only resumes of maxium three pages in length.

Q.23. 9. Proposal Content “…provide the necessary staffing,” Could the

Government confirm that resumes are excluded from the page limit?

A.23. Yes, resumes are excluded from the page limit.

http://www.ustda.gov/

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Q.24. Past Performance, page 3 “Also, ensure the attached Past Performance Questionnaire is forwarded by the Offeror to the contract POC for which the past performance reference is being provided.” Could the Government please provide the Past Performance Questionnaire referenced in Section 10. Past Performance?

A.24. Please see A.1.

Q.25. Solicitation, D.1 Performance Work Statement N/A Could the Government please consider adding the following to the solicitation: “The contractor may retain copies of audit documentation, to include its working papers and deliverables, for its files in accordance with applicable professional standards.”?

A.25.

Answer: It is usually up to each agency to decide how auditors will use copies of audit documentation. We can include this sentence but followed by another sentence:

However, this documentation cannot be used for unauthorized purposes.

Q.26. Solicitation, D.1.3 Scope of Work “USTDA has a requirement for an annual audit ...in accordance with …. OMB Circular 123, Management Accountability and Control.” Could the Government please consider removing the reference to OMB Circular A-123 in this paragraph, because financial statement audits are not conducted in accordance with this requirement? Instead, management follows this requirement in its internal assessment and reporting of its internal controls.

A.26.

Answer: Correct. OMB A-123 is an internal review process and doesn’t address external financial audits. So, “OMB Circular A-123” needs to be removed.

Q.27. Solicitation, D.1.3 Scope of Work “Review internal accounting and administrative controls to ensure that obligations and costs comply with applicable laws; all assets are safeguarded against waste, loss, unauthorized use, and misappropriations; and revenues and expenditures applicable to agency operations are recorded and accounted for properly.”

Could the Government please consider removing this paragraph, as it does not present the current AICPA or Government Auditing Standards requirements for considering internal control or compliance in a financial statement audit. Instead, we recommend adding “in accordance with AICPA AU-C 315” at the end of the preceding paragraph that starts with

“Consider the USTDA internal controls…”. That prior paragraph and the one that starts with

“Perform tests of USTDA’s compliance…” covers the auditors’ requirements for considering, testing, and reporting on internal controls and compliance as part of a financial statement audit.

A.27.

Answer: “Review” by itself is a separate engagement and auditors who conduct a financial statement audit are not supposed to perform a “review” unless the contract specifically includes this, which it doesn’t. However, the financial audit includes

“reports on internal controls” during financial audit if something comes to auditors’ attention when performing testing. So, the above-mentioned paragraph can be

5 | P a g e removed. But, I have concerns about AICPA AU-C 315, which is used primarily for non-federal entities. Instead, since we are supposed to comply with GAO’s Government

Auditing Standards as a federal entity, we can use “in accordance with GAO

Government Auditing Standards” instead of “in accordance with AICPA AU-C 315.”

Q.28. Solicitation, D.1.8 Security Clearance “Offeror must possess and maintain a Security

Clearance at the Secret level during the performance of this requirement.” Could the

Government please clarify whether this requirement applies to the key personnel of the audit or each assigned team member. If this requirement applies to assigned team members, does

USTDA plan on sponsoring their security clearance processing, and does USTDA require that the assigned staff be cleared prior to starting the audit engagement?

A.28. Refer to A.3. No, USTDA will not serve as a sponsor for this requirement.

Q.29. General N/A. Will the Government incorporate the proposal into the contract upon award?

A.29. No, the Government does not intend to incorporate the proposal into the contract.