audit services FY09 - task order 1-att2.pdf

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/091

Contract # DOL099RP20767 Task Order: 1 Date:

TASK ORDER REQUEST

for ATTESTATION ENGAGEMENT SERVICES of USDOL’S OFFICE OF CHILD LABOR, FORCED LABOR AND HUMAN

TRAFFICKING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

I. INTRODUCTION

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) of the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) will award a Task Order to procure audit services to enhance financial management and oversight of the agency’s Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) Grantees by supplementing and expanding upon the coverage received under the Single Audit Act and comparable requirements imposed on OCFT’s for-profit and foreign-based Grantees under their cooperative agreement provisions. The audit services required are international attestation engagements, conducted in accordance with the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and applicable standards published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The objectives of the attestation engagements for cooperative agreements are to review and render an opinion on:

Grantee compliance with laws, Department of Labor’s regulations for grants (29 CFR part 95), the terms of their OCFT cooperative agreements, and applicable OMB circulars

Accuracy and reliability of Grantee financial reporting and records Accuracy and reliability of Grantee performance data from the grantees’ progress reports that support OCFT’s performance goals and measures in the Department’s performance budget and Annual Report on Performance and Accountability

This Task Order is established for the purposes of:

Developing an examination guide which details the procedures for testing to be conducted for all grantees that are examined. The examination guide will be based on the 2009 OCFT Grantee Examination Guide

Conducting three international attestation engagements of the USDOL Child Labor Education Initiative (EI) projects in Bolivia (HQ located in Ecuador), the Dominican Republic (HQ located in US), and Tanzania (HQ lead grantee in US, Association Partners located in South Africa and Tanzania). The auditors will prepare an examination report at the completion of each engagement.

USDOL may request a substitution of one or more of the examination sites listed above with another site, should the Department determine that due to concerns about financial or program data mismanagement, it is more urgent to examine another OCFT project.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/092

Similarly should it not be possible, due to unforeseen circumstances, to hold one or more of the aforementioned examination sites within the lifespan of this task order or should USDOL decide for any other reason not to use the Contractor’s services for one or more of these examination sites, USDOL reserves the right to select another USDOL-funded project (of equal cost) to undergo an attestation engagement in lieu of a project listed above.

II. STATEMENT OF WORK

Task 1: Develop a revised Examination Guide based on the 2009 OCFT Grantee Examination Guide (guide will be provided as an attachment to the Task Order)

Develop a revised examination guide for conducting the attestation engagements that are required under the Task Order. The examination guide should use the 2009 OCFT Grantee Examination Guide as a foundation, and should describe at a minimum the following information: the objectives, scope, criteria, sampling plans, and examination procedures to be applied for each objective. Sufficient testing must be included to permit the auditor to prepare an examination report with opinions on each of the three objectives listed in the Introduction of this Task Order at the completion of every engagement. The guide should include a sample management assertions and representations letter.

The guide should ensure that adequate information is collected and documented in the working papers during fieldwork to support the preparation of an examination report with complete details on the condition, criteria, cause, and effect of all findings.

The guide must require the auditors to make extensive use of alternative procedures, including site visits to a sample of schools and other project locations, interviews with children, parents, teachers and other project stakeholders as necessary and appropriate, in order to: (1) validate reported performance data; (2) verify compliance with regulations and the provisions of the cooperative agreement; and, (3) confirm project expenditures, particularly in situations where documentation is inadequate

The design of the guide should be flexible so that it can accomplish the prescribed engagement objectives based on each Grantee’s specific program and accounting systems.

The draft examination guide will be reviewed and approved by the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) before the start of any fieldwork under the Task Order.

Any supplemental procedures required to address unique project circumstances or concerns with respect to a specific project will be reviewed and approved by the COTR to ensure the expectations of the specific engagement will be met before beginning fieldwork.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/093

Task 2: Conduct Three (3) Attestation Engagements

The Contractor must submit the resumes of staff proposed to conduct the three project examinations for COTR approval. This Task Order requires that at least one member of the audit team for each engagement is fluent in the local language for the country in which the fieldwork is to take place. Should the Contractor be unable to identify an auditor to meet this language requirement, an independent translator, not connected to the USDOL-funded project, must be hired to accompany the audit team during their in-country fieldwork.

Review applicable background materials, including laws, the cooperative agreements, subcontracts and project documents, grantee financial and technical progress reports, DOL regulations, applicable OMB circulars, single audits, monitoring reports and program evaluations, to gain a thorough understanding of the OCFT’s technical assistance efforts, the requirements of the EI, and the types of concerns that have been identified at the grantee and project level for the three projects. The auditors must also meet with designated project managers to gain a more complete understanding of the program and the financial, compliance, and performance issues the project has encountered.

Submit a headquarters and field review schedule for each of the attestation engagements.

The auditor’s engagement schedule will be reviewed and approved by the COTR before the start of any fieldwork under the Task Order.

Prior to beginning field work, the Contractor shall participate in an entrance conference with the appropriate OCFT personnel to gain a better understanding of the project undergoing examination, ask questions regarding project implementation, and receive additional information that may assist in performing examination fieldwork.

The Contractor will notify the grantee of the attestation engagement, schedule an entrance conference and arrange access to records for the auditors at the grantee’s Headquarters office, and schedule the field work in each project country.

The Contractor will review each project’s files and conduct interviews at the Headquarters office to assess the grantee’s internal controls and to determine the extent of testing required for each engagement objective. The Contractor will review the sample management assertions and representations letter with grantee Headquarters officials, assist the grantee to prepare any necessary revisions, and obtain the signature(s) of responsible grantee management officials.

The Contractor will draft and submit a country clearance cable to OCFT no later than 4 weeks (20 working days) before travel is to begin. OCFT will advise when clearance is received.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/094

The Contractor will complete all procedures in the updated examination guide (see Section II, Statement of Work, Task 1) to obtain sufficient information to allow the auditors to express an opinion on each of the examination objectives.

During the course of the attestation engagement, the Contractor will discuss findings and other concerns with the COTR, appropriate OCFT project manager, and grantee staff as they come to the attention of the Contractor, and provide technical assistance to OCFT and project staff on appropriate corrective actions. The Contractor will also provide weekly written status reports to the COTR while conducting the attestation engagement fieldwork. The Contractor will alert the COTR immediately in the event evidence of fraud is detected.

Before leaving grantee project sites, the Contractor will hold an exit briefing to ensure that project directors have a complete understanding of all findings and recommendations of the attestation engagement in country, and to obtain the project directors’ feedback on attestation engagement conclusions. OCFT staff will be consulted in advance on the scheduling of the exit briefing to allow the opportunity for their participation.

Upon return from field work in support of each attestation engagement, the Contractor will meet with OCFT staff to conduct a debriefing of the results of the fieldwork, to provide an opportunity for the Contractor to discuss findings in detail and obtain OCFT perspectives on program observations prior to drafting the examination report.

The Contractor shall prepare and submit to the COTR a draft examination report. The draft examination report will provide the Contractor’s opinion on management’s written assertions based on the examination. Each finding in the draft report will: (a) include the criteria used by the Contractor; (b) provide a detailed narrative explaining the condition, cause and effect; (c) be presented in perspective, including any actions initiated by the grantee to correct the identified problems; and (d) include recommendations for corrective actions that address the identified causes of the deficiencies. The Contractor will provide a complete explanation for the method used to calculate all questioned costs which, to the extent possible, will quantify expenditures that OCFT should reasonably seek to recover from the grantee.

The Contractor will submit a revised draft examination report incorporating agreed upon revisions requested by OCFT. OCFT will have the opportunity to review the revised draft examination report until OCFT and the Contractor are satisfied that the draft examination report is ready for transmittal to the grantee as a discussion draft. This process should require no more than two versions of the draft examination report prior to the discussion draft issuance. The Contractor will transmit the discussion draft to the grantee and schedule a formal exit conference with grantee Headquarter officials and project staff as appropriate during which the Contractor will brief grantee management on the results of the examination procedures conducted both in the field and at the Headquarters office. OCFT staff will be consulted in advance on the scheduling of the exit conference to allow the opportunity for their participation.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/095

The Contractor will update the discussion draft examination report to incorporate appropriate revisions based upon the grantee’s comments or OCFT requests based on the exit conference discussion. OCFT staff will transmit the approved final draft report to the grantee, with a copy to the Contractor, requesting that written comments on the findings and recommendations, including proposed corrective actions, be submitted to the auditors within 30 days, with a copy to OCFT. The Contractor will follow-up on the grantee’s response and consult the COTR if the grantee’s response is not received in a timely manner.

The Contractor will include a summary of grantee’s response to each draft finding and the Contractor’s conclusion in the final report, and will also attach the grantee’s full response to draft examination report. The Contractor will submit a final examination report to the COTR for review and approval. The Contractor will revise the final report, if necessary, based on comments provided by the COTR, and submit five (5) copies of the approved examination report, as well as electronic files (including, final report in MS Word compatible format, Adobe PDF, and other documentation as appropriate), to the

COTR.

OCFT may request to review the auditors’ working papers at any time from receipt of the draft examination report to approval of the final report. Subsequent to the issuance of the final report, the Contractor’s working papers must be made available to OCFT, the Grant Officer or other parties during the audit resolution process if requested, and the Contractor must be available to testify in an appeal process, if needed. The Contractor must also make working papers available upon request to the COTR, the Contract Office or representatives of the Office of Inspector General for purposes of monitoring the Contractor’s compliance with the terms and conditions of the contract. The auditor shall retain attest documentation and reports for a minimum of three years after the date of issuance of the auditor’s report (s) to USDOL. The auditor shall contact USDOL for guidance prior to destruction of any attest documentation or reports to ensure that all resolution actions have been completed and the findings are not the subject of any appeals or contesting actions.

The Contractor may be requested to present findings to ILAB staff.

III. INPUTS

The COTR is designated as the technical consultant on each of the tasks listed under the scope of work. Additional staff may be available, as designated by the COTR, to discuss details of the tasks, review work in progress, review and clear drafts, and review and clear final deliverables in an appropriate and timely manner.

The Contractor is responsible for all travel arrangements, lodging, language support and equipment to perform the tasks described above.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/096

IV. DELIVERABLES / TIMEFRAMES

The Contractor will submit the following deliverables to the COTR in accordance with the timeframes listed below.

1. Task 1: Submission of Grantee Examination Guide Deliverables Timeframes for Completion

a) Grantee Examination Guide based upon 2009 OCFT Grantee Examination Guide

No later than 45 working days after the task order is signed or is effective, whichever is later.

b) Supplemental project-specific procedures

No later than 10 working days prior to the start of the fieldwork for each engagement.

c) Revisions to 1(a.) and 1(b.) based on OCFT comments

Within 10 working days of receipt of OCFT’s comments.

2. Task 2: Submission of Attestation Engagement-Related Documents Deliverables Timeframes for Completion

a) Schedule of all of the attestation engagements No later than 10 working days after the task order is signed or is effective, whichever is later.

b) Resumes for auditors conducting the attestation engagements

No later than 30 working days prior to the start of the fieldwork for each engagement.

c) Draft clearance cable for each engagement

At least 20 working days prior to international field travel, except when travel schedules are approved or changed less than 30 days before the travel dates.

d) First draft attestation engagement report

Within 20 working days of the field exit briefing or in accordance with a time extension approved by the COTR.

e) Discussion draft for the headquarters exit conference

Within 15 working days (excluding the number of days held by OCFT for review) of submission of 2(d.) – The second draft examination report submitted between 2(d.)

and 2(e.) should generally be provided within 5-10 working days of receipt of OCFT comments.

f) Revised discussion draft Within 5 working days of the exit conference unless otherwise approved by the COTR.

g) Final examination report Within 5 working days following receipt of the grantee’s official response.

h) Revision(s) to 2(g.) Within 3 working days of receipt of OCFT comments.

i) Five hard copies of the approved final examination report, as well as an electronic copy of the report in both PDF and Word format

Within 2 working days of COTR approval of the final examination report.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/097

V. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Performance and Payment

The performance of the Contractor will be assessed based on the timely and successful completion of the required deliverables. To ensure the timely and accurate completion of individual reports, the U.S. Department of Labor will make the payments to the Contractor as outlined below for the examination guide and three examination reports as the following milestones are met:

Milestones Payment Delivery of Examination Guide Lump sum price Completion of fieldwork 45% of the total fixed price per examination report as outlined below Submission of draft examination report 15% of the total fixed price per examination report Approval by COTR of final examination report 40% of the total fixed price per examination report

2. Period of Performance

Period of performance for this task order will be 12 months from date of task order award.

The services required for full performance of this contract include: 1) the submittal of the Grantee Examination Guide; 2) the completion of fieldwork at both grantee headquarter offices and field offices for examination purposes; 3) the delivery of a draft examination report for each project; and 4) the delivery of a final examination report for each project.

3. Confidentiality

The Contractor cannot make use of any information obtained through this task order for any activity outside the scope of this project.

All records developed during the course of this Task Order shall be protected from examination by unauthorized agencies or persons. Such records include all forms, computer files, program listings, manuals, documentation, correspondence files, contract records, and reports. The Contractor shall retain all copies in a secure manner. Upon request, the Contractor will release any records developed during the course of this Task Order to the U.S. Department of Labor. No materials or any summary of these materials shall be released to any individual or organization without prior written permission from the COTR.

No work involving information furnished under this Task Order will be subcontracted without the specific approval of the COTR.

ATTACHMENT 2 8/11/098

In performance of the Task Order, the Contractor agrees to comply with and assume responsibility for compliance by employees with the following requirements:

a. All work will be performed under the supervision of the Contractor or the Contractor’s responsible employees.

b. Any information provided to the Contractor, in any format, will be used only for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this contract. This information will be treated as confidential and will not be made known in any manner to any person except as may be necessary in the performance of the Task Order.

c. All information provided to the Contractor will be accounted for upon receipt and properly stored before, during and after processing. In additional, all related output shall be given the same level of protection as required for the source material.

4. KEY PERSONNEL

The personnel specified below are considered to be essential to the work being performed hereunder. Prior to replacing either individual appointed to these positions, the Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer reasonably in advance and shall submit justification (including proposed substitutions) in sufficient detail to permit evaluation of the impact on the program. No diversion shall be made by the Contractor without the written consent of the Contracting Officer; provided, that the Contracting Officer may ratify in writing such diversion and such ratification shall constitute the consent of the Contracting Officer required by this clause. The below list may be amended from time to time during the course of the contract to either add or delete personnel, as appropriate.

For the purpose of this Task Order, the key personnel position is identified below as:

Name Labor Category

___________________________ Team Lead (assigned to each team conducting attestation engagements, as identified in individual Task Orders)