FIAR_Follow-On_RFI_-_22_Dec_16.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCE DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

PRIDE … TEAMWORK … SUCCESS

22 December 2016

The Air Force District of Washington Contracting Directorate, Secretary of the Air Force Enterprise Support Division is requesting information to support the Air Force’s Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) Requirement. This requirement is anticipated to be solicited under NAICS Code 541211 – Offices of Certified Public Accountants, with an $8.5M small business threshold. This effort has an estimated period of performance of five (5) years (Base plus four (4) option years).

Background: The Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) requirement is owned by the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) (SAF/FM), and the contract will be managed by Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). SAF/FM has the responsibility for providing the financial management and analytical services necessary for the effective and efficient use of Air Force (AF) resources, to include more than 650,000 military and civilian personnel and a budget of more than $160 billion. SAF/FM serves as the Secretary of the AF's trusted advisor by providing high-quality support to decision makers on budgetary, financial, cost and economic issues while continuously improving the quality, efficiency and customer-focus of AF financial services and operations. The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Operations (SAF/FMF) is responsible at the executive level for ensuring the AF complies with legislative and executive financial management mandates leading to the effective and efficient use of AF resources.

SAF/FM produces AF financial statements to assist financial managers in their decision-making processes by providing relevant and reliable financial information to help the AF meet the requirements of the FIAR. A major objective of SAF/FM is for these financial statements to achieve an unmodified or “clean” audit opinion for each AF financial statement. AF enters the first full financial statement in October 2017 for FY 2018 financial statements by independent external auditors. AF has transitioned from preparing individual FIAR assertion packages and associated assertion work products for each assessable unit (AU) to sustaining and updating appropriate audit relevant documentation to OMB Circular A-123, Appendix A, required documentation and AU process cycle documentation, control environment, risk assessments, test plans, and results reporting (collectively referred to as A-123).

Contractor Requirements: The purpose of this RFI is to determine industry’s interest in proposing to this requirement, and gain insight into companies that can meet the qualifications listed below, whether as a prime or through a subcontracting/teaming partner arrangement. This RFI is not a solicitation. It is a method to conduct market research for information and planning purposes for a potential Air Force acquisition. The Secretary of Defense has directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to achieve audit readiness for all financial statements (Statement of Budgetary Resources, Balance Sheet, Statement of Net Cost, and Statement of Changes in Net Position) to achieve assertion by 30 June 2017 and to undergo annual financial statement audits.

To meet this mandate, the Air Force may acquire Advisory and Assistance Services. If this acquisition takes place, we anticipate minimum requirements to include:

- An Independent Public Accounting (IPA) firm, in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and state boards. The IPA firm must:

-- Perform the preponderance of work -- Have experience/past performance in performing:

--- FIAR work in accordance with Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) FIAR Guidance

--- Auditing experience that emphasized audit readiness with major federal agencies, ideally with DoD organizations and comparable to the size and complexity of the Air Force

- We anticipate the high-level requirements to be:

-- Administrative and Program Management ---Onboarding, travel, invoicing all task orders ---Quality management --Enduring Audit Readiness ---Entity level controls ---OMB Circular A-123, Appendix A annual cycles for all assessable units ---Support the AF in the monitoring and oversight of Service Providers and when

AF is a Service Provider to other organizations ---Executive level support/metrics and tracking and briefing on the status of the

AF FIAR Program --Corrective actions ---Confirm, determine root cause, prioritize, plan, design, implement, and validate corrective actions from self-identified deficiencies and IPA notice of findings and recommendations (NFRs)

---Comprehensive tracking and reporting to all stakeholders --Manually sustain mission critical asset universe of transactions and reconciliations --Support AF in audit liaison with IPA for financial audits ---Audit infrastructure support ---Maintain and update SharePoint sites for management and tracking of all audit requests and documentation ---Audit liaison support for requests from organizations where AF is the service provider (Surgeon General, USTRANSCOM, USSCOM, etc) --IT liaison audit support ---Annual OMB Circular A-123, Appendix D and Risk Management Framework testing for identified systems ---Comprehensive tracking of IT NFRs, and stakeholder created corrective action plans ---Perform Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual (FISCAM) and

Bluebook reviews for newly identified systems ---Assistance in drafting IT related guidance policies to support financial statement audits

---Create Defense Enterprise Accounting and Management System (DEAMS) Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 18 assertion package in accordance with FIAR Guidance and support annual SSAE 18 audit

--Change Management ---Design and sustain change management strategy for FIAR and applicable stakeholders impacting financial statement auditability ---Analyze NFRs and recommend training and change management strategies

- Resources to provide as approximately as many as 300 qualified personnel at a time (following short transition ramp-up period); secret clearance is required for all, see attached labor requirements

- Ability to surge as needed to meet milestones and demands of supporting SAF/FM audit liaison of the financial statement audit.

If you are interested in proposing on this acquisition, please respond to this RFI with a short (four (4) page maximum) statement of capabilities, addressing your company’s ability to meet the qualifications above and draft PWS. Responses to the questions to industry attachment do not count toward page maximum. Please submit electronic responses to the points of contact listed below no later than 1400 EST on 13 January 2017.

THIS RFI IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE AIR FORCE

TO ISSUE A SOLICITATION OR ULTIMATELY AWARD A CONTRACT.

Organizational Conflict Interest (OCI): It has been brought to the Government’s attention that there may be potential OCI issues due to the amount of contractor involvement with similar requirements within the DoD. If you have any knowledge of OCI either real or perceived, please provide that information. Contracting officers are required to identify and evaluate potential OCI(s) as early in the acquisition process as possible.

In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government shall not pay for the information solicited or recognize any costs associated with the submission of responses to the RFI. Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for program planning and acquisition strategy development.

By submitting information in response to this RFI, submitters consent to the release and dissemination of submitted information to any Government or non-Government entity to which the Financial Operations Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Management and Comptroller, releases and disseminates the 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 (a) such information submitted may be disclosed to third parties, and (b) that submission of information in response to this RFI constitutes consent to such handling and disclosure of submitted information.

This RFI is being used to obtain information for planning purposes only and the Government does not intend to award a contract at this time. It is solely within the Government’s discretion to make a determination not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice.

Attachments:

1. Draft PWS, Dated 22 Dec 16

2. Labor Catergories, Dated 22 Dec 16

3. Questions to Industry, Dated 22 Dec 16

Points of Contact:

Primary: Alternate:

MSgt Theresa L. Haynes, AFDW Desiree Sterling, AFDW theresa.l.haynes3.mil@mail.mil desiree.s.sterling2.civ@mail.mil

(240) 612-6202 (240) 612-6190 mailto:theresa.l.haynes3.mil@mail.mil