audit QandA 8.28.26.pdf

United States Department of Energy Southeastern Power Administration

1166 Athens Tech Road

Elberton, Georgia 30635

August 28, 2026

Southeastern Financial Audit RFQ Q&A

1. The RFQ states award will be made under FAR Subpart 8.4 from the vendor's GSA

Multiple Award Schedule (Professional Services / Financial Services, SIN 541211). Will

Southeastern consider a quotation from a qualified small CPA firm that is active in

SAM.gov under NAICS 541211 but does not currently hold a GSA Schedule?

GSA Multiple Award Schedule is not mandatory for this award, but will be considered if necessary.

2. If a current GSA Schedule is mandatory for award, may a non-Schedule firm participate as a subcontractor or teaming partner under a Schedule holder for this requirement?

Not mandatory, so teaming up as a sub-contractor is not necessary for award

3. Are there any minimum qualification requirements — such as a current GAGAS (Yellow

Book) external peer review report or prior federal financial-statement audit experience — that a quoter must meet to be eligible for award?

The position description has a few qualification that are required for key personnel.

Please refer to attachment 3. There are also submission instructions to note in attachment

4/attachment 5.

4. Given that the Government is not providing Government Furnished Equipment (GFE), would the contractor’s Information Technology (IT) system need only to meet the controls of NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in

Nonfederal Systems and Organizations which has specific requirements for non-federal

IT systems?

There will be no accessing of Southeastern’s network at any time. However, safeguards are always necessary. So this will suffice.

5. Performance Work Statement (PWS) Special Instructions state, “The Contractor shall certify that they are not providing non-audit or consulting services to the Department of

Energy or to the entities whose financial information are combined with Southeastern’s financial statements…” Attachments 7 and 8 require quoters to disclose organizational conflicts of interest (OCI).

Would the Government confirm that it is permissible for offerors to disclose any non-audit services being provided, along with detailed descriptions of mitigating measures and safeguards as allowed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

(AICPA) and Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) requirements?

Yes. Offerors may disclose any non-audit services being provided, together with descriptions of the mitigating measures and safeguards implemented to maintain independence in accordance with applicable AICPA and GAGAS requirements.

6. A Start-Up Plan is required for Criterion 1 and Criterion 2.

Would the Government confirm that a Start-Up Plan is only required for Criterion 2?

The start-up plan will be accepted in either section. However, Criterion 2 is preferred.

7. This section states, “…the Quoter shall submit resumes and supporting documentation to demonstrate the professional and technical qualifications for the proposed Key Personnel candidates.”

Would the Government clarify what offerors shall submit in regards to “supporting documentation”? Additionally, would the Government confirm that any supporting documentation is excluded from Volume II—Technical Proposal page limitation?

Please submit whatever documentation you have showing that your key personnel meet the requirement to be listed as key personnel on this contract. If Southeastern request

Yes, they are excluded from the page count…transmittal letter, title page, table of contents

8. This section states, “The Quoter shall provide written resumes in the format shown in

Attachment 6—Sample Resume Format…”

Would the Government confirm that Attachment 6 is provided as an example (i.e., offerors may deviate from this format, so long as they include the required information within each résumé to demonstrate individuals meet/exceed the position requirements)?

That is correct. Please ensure to include all of the information in attachment 6-sample resume format is in your submission. Please ensure your resumes are complete, concise, and easy to read.

9. Would the Government confirm that offerors may submit Past Performance

Questionnaires (PPQ) for active or completed contracts within the past five years from the solicitation closing dates?

Please provide questionnaires/references for completed contracts only

10. Would Government consider accepting Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting

System (CPARS) Reports in lieu of

Please have questionnaire submitted as requested. However, if unavailable we will consider CPARS reports.

11. Would the Government confirm offerors may submit different references for Criterion 3, Corporate Experience and Criterion 4, Past Performance?

This is completely up to the offeror. The references can be the same or deterrent, as long as they are relevant to the experience.

12. Would the Government allow offerors to submit a separate pricing narrative to accompany the required pricing spreadsheet?

You may submit a separate sheet if you would like, we just ask that you provide the requested price quote volume III in MS Excel file format. You may include additional documentation if you’d prefer.

13. This section references a Standard Form (SF)-1449; however, the SF-1449 was not provided.

Would the Government remove this requirement or provide the SF-1449?

The (SF 1449 Form) hyperlink listed on attachment 4 page 7 item 3, will take you directly to GSA’s website. Please download SF 1449 there. (Standard Form 1449 -

Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Products and Commercial Services)

14. Item 2 describes the on-site work requirements. Would the Government please clarify whether any travel is anticipated to Southeastern Power Administration’s

(Southeastern’s) offices or to any Corps locations where financial records are maintained?

Travel to SEPA’s office or CORP’s location is not required by Southeastern and is at the discretion of the offeror. Offeror’s should propose the approach they believe will best satisfy the contract requirement and allow the contractor to carry out the duties in which they will need to satisfy, once he contract is awarded.

15. Section G discusses the Contractor’s requirement to verify the compilation of

Southeastern’s Federal Agencies Centralized Trial Balance System (FACTS) in conjunction with the special purpose opinion. Given that FACTS has been replaced by the Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System (GTAS), would the Government please clarify the Contractor will be verifying the complation of

Southeastern’s GTAS submission in conjunction with the special purpose opinion?

https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/SF1449-21.pdf https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/SF1449-21.pdf

The Contractor will be responsible for verifying Southeastern’s crosswalk trial balance, which confirms that the balances reported by DOE and Southeastern agree. This verification will be performed in conjunction with the special-purpose opinion.

16. Would the Government please confirm if subcontractors’ conflict of interest disclosure needs to be included in the submission?

Yes, the submission must include conflict of interest disclosures for all proposed sub-contractors

17. Would the Government please confirm which prior-year findings have been resolved and which remain open? In particular, please provide the status of the Significant Deficiency related to financial reporting.

FY25 findings remain open at this time. Status to be released after FY26 closes

September 30,2026. The FY26 Audit determines if the underlying issues have been resolved.

18. Would the Government please confirm whether the Price Volume should include only the proposed fixed price(s), or whether offerors are also required to provide a supporting labor buildup showing the proposed labor categories, hours, and rates used to develop the pricing?

Including Supporting documentation is at the discretion of the offeror. Firmed Fixed

Price basis in accordance with FAR 16.202. Please be sure to submit the total price to the government, including option years. The price for the base year and each option year shall be listed individually.

19. Would the Government please clarify whether the Price Volume may include a narrative describing the offeror’s pricing methodology, assumptions, and labor buildup, or whether the submission should be limited to the pricing schedules and forms expressly required by the solicitation?

See question 21

20. Would the Government please confirm that the 12-point font-size requirement applies only to narrative body text, and that headers, footers, page numbers, figures, tables, captions, organization charts, and footnotes may use a smaller, legible font-size?

This requirement does not apply to figures, page numbers, or tables...we just ask that the main body text of your submission follows this guideline.

21. Would the Government please confirm whether the following items are excluded from the 50-page limitation set for Volume II: cover page, table of contents, cover letter, executive summary, and organizational chart?

Yes, they are excluded from the page count…transmittal letter, title page, table of contents

22. The RFQ cover letter identifies the solicitation as "RFQ Number: 895035081020206," while the header of Attachment 1 (Performance Work Statement) shows

"89503508102026." These two numbers do not match. Please confirm the correct solicitation/RFQ number that Quoters should reference on their quote volumes and on the

SF 1449 and advise whether an amendment correcting Attachment 1 will be issued.

89503508102026 is the solicitation number

23. PWS Exhibit C (Organization and Background, Section C – Audit History) states that

"Southeastern officials stated that no major audit findings remain open from prior years" and that "the latest FMFIA report, covering FY 2026, stated that no material weaknesses were uncovered." This appears inconsistent with the FY 2025 Southeastern Federal

Power Program Combined Financial Statements audit report (KPMG LLP, dated April

30, 2026), which was provided as part of the solicitation package and identifies (a) a material weakness in internal controls over post-retirement benefit (PRB) expense calculations, with a cumulative overstatement of approximately $49.4 million in PRB expense and $4.1 million in related interest payable from FY 2016 through FY 2024, and

(b) a significant deficiency in controls over financial statement preparation and review.

Separately, an FMFIA report "covering FY 2026" could not yet exist as of the RFQ issuance date (August 10, 2026), since FY 2026 does not close until September 30, 2026.

Please confirm the accurate, current audit history for inclusion in Quoters' risk assessments and technical approach, and clarify the intended reference for the FMFIA report cited in Exhibit C.

Correct, FY26 does not close until September, 09, 2026, so it has yet to be completed.

24. PWS Exhibit A, Work Task 7, Section 2.b(1) states that "Southeastern provides draft of combined financial statements including preliminary footnotes and supplemental schedules by January 09, 2026." As this deliverable supports the FY 2026 audit (fiscal year ending September 30, 2026) and follows the December 30, 2026 delivery of final combined financial statement schedules referenced in the same subsection, please confirm whether this date should instead read January 09, 2027.

January 09, 2027 is the correct date.

25. Attachment 4 (Quotation Preparation Instructions) states that Volume II – Technical Proposal has a 50-page limit "to include a 1-page Executive Summary/excluding Resumes and Letters of Commitment for Proposed Key Personnel, and Staffing Plan for Non-Key Personnel." Please confirm whether the Non-Key Personnel Staffing Plan

(Criterion 2.C) is excluded from the 50-page limit along with the Key Personnel resumes and letters of commitment, or whether it counts against the 50-page limit.

See question 24

26. Attachment 4 instructs that Volume III – Price Quote must be submitted in MS Excel file format, however, also requires inclusion of a completed SF 1449

(Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items), which is typically completed and submitted as a PDF form. Please confirm whether SF 1449 should be submitted as a separate PDF file alongside the Excel price workbook, or in some other manner, within Volume III.

Yes, please submits 1449 as a separate document

27. Attachment 5 (Evaluation Criteria) lists Criteria 1 through 4 in descending order of importance, then states that the Technical Evaluation Criteria "when combined, are significantly more important than Criterion 5 – Price Proposal." Price Proposal is not included in the initial numbered list of criteria. Please confirm that Price Proposal is properly designated "Criterion 5" for evaluation purposes and clarify whether any further breakdown or sub-criteria apply to it.

Yes, Price proposal is criterion 5 for evaluation purposes. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price.

28. The RFQ cover letter lists Attachment 9 as "Past Performance Cover Letter and Questionnaire," but the version of Attachment 9 provided in the solicitation package contains only the Past Performance Evaluation Questionnaire, without a cover letter.

Please confirm whether a separate Past Performance Cover Letter exists and, if so, provide it or clarify how Quoters should transmit the Questionnaire to their references without it.

Posted to SAM.gov, the cover letter contained the same information already in attachment 5(where and how to submit). However, it has been added.

29. Attachment 6, Sample Resume Format, provides a sample resume template. Please confirm whether Quoters are required to use the exact format provided in Attachment 6, or whether Quoters may submit resumes in an alternative format, provided that all required sections/headers and information are included.

See question 10

30. Attachment 1, Performance Work Statement, Section II – Performance Objective, bullet F requires that, in compliance with DOE requirements, the Contractor provide to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) a special purpose opinion on Southeastern’s federal-basis financial statements, accompanied by a statement of independence, based on accounting standards issued by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) and OMB Circular A-136.

However, the prior-year audit report opinion for FY 2025 and FY 2024 states that the accompanying combined financial statements were presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Please confirm whether a separate special purpose opinion (federal basis/FASAB/OMB

A-136) was issued in the prior year and, if so, please provide it for Quoter review. If no separate special purpose opinion was issued in the prior year, please clarify the expected format, scope, and deliverables for Quoters for the special purpose opinion (including the statement of independence) required by Attachment 1, Performance Work Statement, Section II – Performance Objective, bullet F, and whether it is required in addition to the

GAAP audit opinion.

Since KMPG was DOE’s auditors they did send a separate special purpose opinion report.

However, we do not have access to that report.

31. Attachment 3, Position Description and Qualifications, Key Personnel identifies a

“Managing Director” role and a “Concurring Review Partner” role, including GAGAS qualification and continuing professional education (CPE) requirements for each position.

Please confirm whether the “Managing Director” role is intended to be equivalent to an engagement partner/principal role for purposes of this RFQ and Quoter evaluation, and whether the “Concurring Review Partner” role is intended to be equivalent to a quality review partner/engagement quality reviewer role. This clarification is requested to ensure

Quoters identify and submit the appropriate personnel for evaluation and align proposed key personnel with the applicable GAGAS qualification and CPE requirements.

Offeror should best align the roles, responsibilities, and qualifications of their members and key personnel that will be working on the project to those roles listed and required meeting the GAGS requirements.

32. attachment 3, Position Description and Qualifications, requests that Quoters “provide an

Org chart with your submission.” Please confirm whether there are any required formatting, content, or level-of-detail requirements for the organization chart (including whether specific positions, reporting relationships, or lines of authority must be depicted), or whether Quoters may submit their standard organization chart format provided it clearly identifies the proposed project team structure and reporting relationships for performance of this requirement.

Your organization standard Org chart is acceptable as long as it clearly defines the teams structure