2-02. Attachment A - Scope Of Work - Forensic Audit and Related Professional Services.pdf

Scope of Work

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR CITY OF AMARILLO FORENSIC

AUDIT AND RELATED SERVICES

RFQ 317-26

The City of Amarillo (City) is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from qualified external audit firms to provide forensic audit and related professional services. This Request for

Qualifications is intended to identify firms with demonstrated experience, technical expertise, and successful performance in forensic audit and related investigative or analytical services, particularly within governmental and municipal environments.

At this stage, the City has not defined a specific engagement scope. Accordingly, this

RFQ is intended to gather information regarding respondent qualifications, relevant governmental experience, technical capabilities, and availability to perform future work as requested by the City.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CITY OF AMARILLO

The City of Amarillo is located in Potter and Randall Counties in the High Plains of the

Texas Panhandle and serves as a regional trade and service center for a multi-county area. The City provides a broad range of governmental services, including public safety, public works, parks and recreation, public health, water, sewer, solid waste, stormwater utilities, airport, and general administrative services.

INTENT

a) The City of Amarillo (hereinafter called "City") is soliciting Statements of Qualifications from interested audit firms (hereinafter called "Respondent" or "Firm") to provide forensic audit and related services on an as-needed basis.

b) The information contained within this document is intended to provide interested firms with the requirements and criteria that will be used to evaluate qualifications and identify firms with relevant governmental and municipal forensic audit experience.

GENERAL INFORMATION

a) The City is issuing this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify qualified external audit firms with demonstrated experience performing forensic audit and related investigative, analytical, and internal control review services for governmental and municipal entities.

b) No specific audit scope has been established at this time. The City is not issuing this

RFQ in response to a known compliance matter and is not seeking pricing for a defined engagement.

c) The City seeks information regarding each respondent's qualifications, related experience, staffing, technical approach, and experience in governmental environments, including work in one or more of the following areas:

Financial statement verification.

Asset tracking and capital asset review.

Internal control assessment.

Transaction-level testing and accounting record analysis.

Investigative review of suspected irregularities or misuse of public resources.

Debt funding.

Grant funding.

Construction in progress.

Utility processes and revenues.

Reporting of observations, findings, and recommendations to management, governing bodies, or legal counsel, as applicable.

d) Respondents should describe their experience performing similar work for municipalities, counties, authorities, school districts, special districts, or other governmental entities.

e) Respondents shall provide a list of governmental clients for whom the firm has performed audit, forensic audit, investigative review, internal control review, financial statement verification, asset tracking, or substantially similar services. For each client listed, provide:

Name of governmental entity.

Type of governmental entity.

General description of services performed.

Dates or period of service.

Primary client contact, title, phone number, and email address, if available.

f) The City has an Audit Committee that may be involved in the review of qualifications, interviews, recommendations, and communications regarding professional audit-related services.

g) The City's fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

The general administrative, contractual, insurance, legal, public records, conflict of interest, and other standard procurement provisions contained in the City's existing RFQ template shall remain applicable unless specifically revised by addendum or in the final issued solicitation.

FAMILIARITY WITH REQUEST

Because no specific scope of work has been established, respondents should focus their submissions on qualifications, related governmental experience, staff expertise, and the firm's demonstrated ability to perform forensic audit and related services in a governmental environment.

RFQ RESPONSE ELEMENTS AND FORMAT

The City requires comprehensive responses to every section within this RFQ. To facilitate the review of responses, respondents must follow the response format described below.

A response that does not provide all information requested may be deemed non-responsive.

A. Qualifications and Experience

Complete the Respondent Information and Signature Page (Attachment D).

Describe the firm's background, years in business, office locations, ownership structure, and professional licenses.

Describe the firm's experience performing forensic audit and related services for governmental and municipal entities.

Describe experience in financial statement verification, asset tracking, internal control assessment, investigative review, and other related forensic or analytical services.

Identify engagements involving public funds, capital assets, accounting irregularities, internal control weaknesses, or misuse of governmental resources.

Describe the firm's familiarity with governmental accounting, governmental operations, and reporting environments.

Provide a list of municipal and other governmental clients for similar services performed within at least the last five years.

B. Key Personnel and Credentials

Identify the partner, manager, and other key personnel who would likely be assigned to future engagements.

Provide resumes or summary qualifications for key personnel.

Identify relevant licenses and certifications, including CPA, CFE, CFF, CIA, or similar credentials.

Describe the governmental and municipal experience of the proposed team.

C. Technical Approach and Capabilities

Describe the firm's general approach to forensic audit and related investigative work in governmental settings.

Describe experience with data analysis, transaction testing, document review, interview techniques, internal control evaluation, and reporting.

Describe the firm's ability to respond to engagements with varying scope, complexity, sensitivity, and time constraints.

Describe tools, technology, and methodologies used to support forensic or investigative assignments.

D. Governmental Client List and References

Provide a list of governmental clients for whom the firm has provided similar services.

For each listed client, include entity name, type of government, services provided, period of service, and client contact information.

Provide references for key personnel or the firm for similar governmental or municipal engagements using Attachment B or equivalent format.

E. Independence, Conflicts, and Disclosures

Confirm that the firm is independent and legally authorized to perform the services requested in Texas.

Disclose any conflicts of interest, disciplinary matters, sanctions, litigation, or regulatory actions that could affect the firm's ability to serve the City.

Confirm the firm's ability to enter into a contract with the City and comply with applicable requirements.

RFQ SCOPE OF WORK

No specific scope of work has been established for this RFQ. The purpose of this solicitation is to obtain statements of qualifications from firms with relevant experience in governmental and municipal forensic audit and related services.

The City may use responses received under this RFQ to evaluate qualifications, create a shortlist of firms, request interviews or presentations, develop a more defined future scope of services, or issue a subsequent solicitation or engagement request.

This RFQ is not based on a known compliance issue. Rather, the City seeks to identify firms with demonstrated expertise in areas such as financial statement verification, asset tracking, internal control assessment, transaction review, forensic accounting, and related governmental audit services.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

This proposal will be awarded to the best evaluated proposer. The following scoring will be used to evaluate each proposer’s response to the RFQ. Evaluation criteria are not necessarily listed in the order of importance. The City reserves the right to weigh its evaluation criteria in any manner it deems appropriate and to create a shortlist of candidates to be invited to interview. In addition, the City reserves the right to reject any or all RFQ responses and too waive informalities and irregularities in RFQ responses received. Final approval of contract award is subject to the action of the Amarillo City Council.

# Criteria Points

1 Qualifications and Related Governmental Experience 35 2 Key Personnel and Professional Credentials 20 3 Technical Approach and Forensic Capabilities 20 4 Governmental Client list and References 15 5 Independence, Disclosures and Overall Responsiveness 10 Total possible points: 100