FA4890-12-R-0006-Request for SB Capabilities-MR Questions Letter.docx

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

HEADQUARTERS AIR COMBAT COMMAND

ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT AND INTEGRATION CENTER

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS VA

13 February 2012

MEMORANDUM FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND OTHER OFFERORS

FROM: ACC AMIC/DRA

SUBJECT: Small Business Capabilities Request and Request for Responses to Industry Market Research Questions for Solicitation No. FA4890-12-R-0006, Air Force Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Support

1. This is a follow-up to a previous notice, FA7014-12-R-FIAR, posted by the Air Force District of Washington, Acquisition Division (AFDW/A7K)https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=59a24d0edf25cfe692e2da377d61a5c2&tab=core&_cview=0. From now on all information concerning this acquisition will be posted under solicitation number, FA4890-12-R-0006. All correspondence concerning this acquisition will now be provided by and coordinated through the Air Combat Command (ACC), Acquisition Management and Integration Center (AMIC).

2. ACC AMIC is formulating the acquisition strategy for this requirement. We request your assistance in determining if this acquisition should be a total small business set-aside as authorized in FAR Part 19, Small Business Programs, or set aside under another provision of FAR Part 19. We intend to advertise the requirement using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541211, Offices of Certified Public Accountants, with an $8.5M small business threshold. Only Independent Public Accounting (IPA) firms with DoD auditing experience will be considered for any potential award. Please note that for small business set-aside awards, a small business is expected to comply with FAR guidance at 52.219-14 -- Limitations on Subcontracting. This clause states that for services at least 50 percent of the cost of contract performance incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern. If you are a Small Business that is interested in bidding as a Prime on the subject solicitation, request you provide a summary of your qualifications to meet the Performance Work Statement requirements. Responses shall be limited to no more than five (5) pages and include the following information at a minimum:

a) Submit evidence of your company’s managerial capabilities and financial resources to be able to meet the program requirements as detailed in the draft PWS.

b) Submit Evidence of your ability to recruit and retain a fully qualified workforce to minimized disruption and maximize continuity of services.

c) Submit evidence that your company possess or has the ability to obtain and maintain facility clearance up to and including Top Secret which is the highest level of classified work that would be performed under the contract

d) Submit evidence that you company has the requisite accounting, purchasing, property, insurance, and funds management capabilities to support this effort.

e) Submit evidence of your company’s ability to provide sound management and physical security of government assets.

f) Discuss your firm’s ability to provide and maintain a quality control program that includes provisions for a pro-active corrective and preventive action methodology that meets the Government’s quality requirements.

g) Discuss your firm’s approach to meeting DoD Small Business Program goals for portions of this effort, and identify what areas will be accomplished by you (at least 50%), as the prime contractor.

3. We are also soliciting feedback from all other firms that may be interested in the requirement, please see attached questions. Your inputs will be used in the formulation of the acquisition strategy and resulting contract. Responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Air Force to form a binding contract. The Air Force will not pay for information solicited or recognize any costs associated with RFI responses. Information may be distributed to any Government or non-Government entity to which the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and Comptroller releases information for review. As such, to the extent that any information submitted in response to this RFI is marked as, or construed to be proprietary or business-sensitive, submitters are hereby notified such information submitted may be disclosed to third parties.

4. Request you submit the information listed above (capabilities package (if applicable) and responses to the attached Industry market research questions), as well as if you would like to be included on the Interested Parties List to Mr. Jim Robinson at jim.robinson@langley.af.mil no later than 4:30 p.m. EST on 22 February 2012. Please submit all documents electronically via e-mail.

5. You will also find the draft Performance Work Statement, RFP CLIN Structure, and Air Force Statement of Budgetary Resources Audit Acceleration Plan posted to FedBizOpps. For your planning purposes, we intend to release the draft solicitation on 27 February 2012 and the final solicitation on 19 March 2012. The Pre-proposal Conference will be conducted on 27 March 2012. If you have any questions, please contact Jim Robinson at (757) 225-7706 or the undersigned at (757) 225-6186.

2 Attachments:

1. Industry Market Research Questions

2. Proposed Pricing Schedule (Referenced w/in Industry Questions Attachment) image1.png image2.emf

Industry Questions 2-13-2012 Solicitation No. FA4890-12-R-0006

INDUSTRY MARKET RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Does all the work have to be conducted at the government location or could the work be completed at a contractor facility?

2. If this requirement is solicited on an unrestricted basis, would you be able to meet the DoD Small Business Program Goals for Subcontract listed below?

DoD Small Business Program Goals

Subcontracting Goals

FY 2012

FY 2013

Small Business

36.7%

36.7%

HUBZone Small Business

3.0%

3.0%

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

3.0%

3.0%

Small Disadvantaged Business

5.0%

5.0%

Women-Owned Small Business

5.0%

5.0%

If these goals cannot be met can you give any recommendations on what types of s ubcontracting goals should be considered?

3. When the final solicitation is posted, would 15 days be enough time for an organization to put together a proposal?

4. We anticipate this being a Firm Fixed Price contract; do you have any concerns with that approach? If so, what would you suggest?

5. Do you know of any issues that would preclude conducting the solicitation process entirely by electronic means?

6. A requirement for contract award is that a company must be an Independent Public Accounting (IPA) firm in good standing with the American institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Do you have any opinion on this strategy?

7. This acquisition will be considered a commercial acquisition and will have a more streamlined approach to the solicitation process and contract award. Do you have any concerns on this strategy?

8. The anticipated evaluation process is Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) with Past Performance rated as acceptable / unacceptable. Do you have any recommendations or concerns about using this type of evaluation scheme?

9. The Air Force may consider ranking each offer by total price (all fixed price CLINs plus any Not To Exceed cost reimbursable travel CLINs, which would be considered the overall price) and depending how many offers are received, only evaluate some of the lowest overall priced offers to streamline the selection process. Using this approach would mean that not every proposal would be evaluated. Do you have any recommendations on this evaluation process?

10. The Air Force has determined that the most appropriate NAICS Code is 541211, Offices of Certified Public Accountants, with an $8.5M small business threshold. Do you know of a better NAICS that would represent this acquisition more accurately?

11. The Air Force intends to require firm fixed price pricing for each assertion package (see attached pricing schedule). The individual priced assertion packages would then roll up into an overall evaluated price. Will offerors be able to firm fix price each assertion package?

12. This requirement will require travel to various locations, travel will be on a Not to Exceed (NTE) cost reimbursement basis. All travel must be preapproved and within scope of the contract. Commercial air travel will be authorized for contractor personnel traveling between their normal work location and the government-directed locations. Transportation costs may be based on actual costs incurred, on a mileage basis or on a combination thereof. The Air Force will reimburse up to $400.00 for the cost of a roundtrip airfare, any amount above the contractor would cover. Costs incurred for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses will be reimbursed to the extent allowable under the Joint Travel Regulation website (http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/travelreg.cfm). Any amount above the Joint Travel Regulation will be covered by the contractor and will not be reimbursed. The government will not reimburse for rental cars. Contractors would only be reimbursed for actual expenses, -- no fees/ G&A etc. will be allowed on travel reimbursement. Do you consider this a fair approach?

13. The Air Force’s budget for this support is up to $200M and the level of effort is anticipated to be up to 200 FTEs. The Air Force understands that this requirement will have a positive skew in terms of the cost and FTEs. Therefore the front years of contract will have more costs than the later years. However, these are approximate numbers and the agency’s estimated level of effort should not be viewed as “any sort of recommendation,” and that it will be the offeror’s responsibility to independently determine the level of effort required to perform and to provide the best value to the Air Force.

14. The Air Force may conduct a price realism analysis on the fixed price portion of the offer to properly assess the offeror’s understanding of the requirements and the risk inherent in its proposal. This would help ensure that the Air Force takes risk into consideration if a low offer was significantly lower than other offers. Is this an unreasonable approach?

15. Is it unreasonable to ask offerors to show evidence of FIAR work in accordance with Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) FIAR Guidance?

16. Is it unreasonable to ask offerors to show evidence of experience developing as well as execution FIPs for assertion package completion?

17. Is it unreasonable to ask offerors to show evidence of auditing experience that emphasized audit readiness with major federal agencies, ideally with DoD organizations?

18. Is it unreasonable to ask the Prime and/or major subcontractors to have the ability to provide Federal financial Statement Information system auditors with experience in applying Federal Information System controls Audit Manual (FISCAM) procedures to federal agency audits?

19. If you were to define relevant past performance, how would it be defined based on the complexity and scope of this requirement? What would you consider relevant?

20. Secret security clearance will be a contract requirement with some requirements as the Top Secret/Special Compartmentalized Information (TS/SCI) level. Would it be fair to only consider those offerors who currently hold a Top Secret facility clearance to be eligible for contract award?

21. For a surge capability or instances where new assertion packages would be required which would be the best way for an offeror to price a future unknown assertion package for work that may come up. Could this potential work be priced up front, so the Air Force knew what that work would cost?

22. Would it be unreasonable to penalize a contractor for failing to meet the assertion package deadline? For instance, a late penalty as shown in the PWS on page 27.

23. There appears to be many contractors already supporting the DoD with similar auditing support services. Are there any Organization Conflict of Interest issues that should be clearly identified prior to the solicitation, during the solicitation process as well as after contract award?

24. We have included an excel spreadsheet called the Price Schedule (see attached). The intent is to have each individual assertion package price on this spreadsheet. Only the master CLINS would be shown on the actual contracting document, however, the price schedule would still be considered part of the contract. Is this a reasonable approach?

25. Based on the draft RFP, would you agree on how the CLIN structure is set up? If not, what would you suggest?

26. The Air Force is considering to the contractor provide a liaison for each CONUS AF MAJCOM, to handle any issues that may arrive for that MAJCOM. Is this a reasonable approach and could a proposal be put together based on this information?

27. Should the Service Contract Act apply to this requirement?

image3.emf

Pricing Schedule 2-13-2012 CLIN 0001- Program Management

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0001 Program Management FFP Program Management IAW PWS 3.1 & 3.2.

CLIN 0002- Admin Support

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0001 Administrative Support FFP Administrative Support- IAW PWS 4.0. Administrative Support includes FIAR Planning Tool support, meeting support, and data cleansing / systems reviews, template management.

CLIN 0003- SBR Audit Readiness

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Completion Date* Schedule Break Down** Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0003 Statement of Budgetary Resources (SBR) Audit Readiness FFP SBR Audit Readiness is IAW 2.0 Audit Readiness & 2.2.1 SBR of the PWS. This CLIN includes all assessable units under SBR. Please find the list of the assessable units in the 2.2.1.1.1 & 2.2.1.1.2 of the PWS. Once the assessable unit has been asserted, the assertion packages must be updated to maintain audit readiness (see 2.3 of the PWS).

AU 1 - Appropriations Received- Funds Distribution to Base Level 3/30/12 S S S S S

AU 2 - Funds Receipt 5/11/12 S S S S S

AU 3 - Hire to Retire CIVPAY 9/28/12 3 S S S S

AU 4 - MDAP (SBIRS) 10/3/12 3 S S S S

AU 5 - Reimburseable Authority 12/31/12 6 S S S S

AU 6 - Hire to Retire MILPAY 3/29/13 9 S S S S

AU 7 - Contracts (Vendor Pay) 8/30/13 12 2 S S S

AU 8 - MILSTRIPS 8/30/13 12 2 S S S

AU 9 - Contracts (MOCAS) 12/31/13 12 6 S S S

AU 10 - Reimburseable Work Orders 12/31/13 12 6 S S S

AU 11 - NET Outlays 12/31/13 12 6 S S S

AU 12 - Financial Statement Compilation and Reporting 12/4/13 12 5 S S S

AU 13 - Travel (TDY)

AU 14 - Travel (PCS-Civilian)

AU 15 - Travel (PCS-Military)

Total SBR

*Completion Date is based on the FIP **Schedule Breakdown is based on the number of months & is dependent on completion date in the FIP

Key

S Sustainment

OY Option Year

CLIN 0004- E&C Audit Readiness

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Completion Date* Schedule Break Down** Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0004 E&C Audit Readiness FFP E&C Audit Readiness is IAW 2.0 Audit Readiness & 2.2.2 E&C of the PWS. This CLIN includes all assessable units under E&C. Please find the list of the assessable units for E&C in the 2.2.2.1 of the PWS. Once the assessable unit has been asserted, the assertion packages must be updated to maintain audit readiness (see 2.3 of the PWS).

AU 1 - Cruise Missiles 6/30/11 S S S S S

AU 2 - Target Drones 6/30/11 S S S S S

AU 3 - Spare Engines 2/29/12 S S S S S

AU 4 - Uninstalled Missile Motors 3/20/12 S S S S S

AU 5 - Medical Equipment 9/28/12 3 S S S S

AU 6 - DEAMS SBR Transactions 9/30/12 3 S S S S

AU 7 - Real Property 6/28/13 12 S S S S

AU 8 - Munitions 6/27/13 12 S S S S

AU 9 - General Equipment 6/27/14 12 12 S S S

AU 10 - GFE 9/30/15 12 12 3 S S

AU 11 - Weapon System Spares 9/30/15 12 12 3 S S

AU 12 - Weapon System Spares CM/CP 9/30/15 12 12 3 S S

*Completion Date is based on the FIP **Schedule Breakdown is based on the number of months & is dependent on completion date in the FIP

Key

S Sustainment

OY Option Year

CLIN 0005- New Assertion PKG

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0005 New Assertion Package Work FFP

CLIN 0006- Travel

CLIN Title Contract Type Description Cost

Base Year OY1 OY2 OY3 OY4 Total

0006 Travel CR Travel IAW PWS 3.8.4.

image4.png