REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Audit Services 2023.pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

AUDIT SERVICES

CITY OF ELLSWORTH

I. Purpose Statement

The City of Ellsworth invites qualified, certified public accounting firms, licensed to practice in Kansas, to submit proposals for the purpose of securing audit services. The selected firm shall be designated as the City’s auditor for a two-year initial period to begin with the Calendar Year 2023. The City reserves the option to extend the contract of the awarded firm for two subsequent fiscal years.

II. General Information

The City of Ellsworth is a full-service city located in central Kansas with a population of approximately 3,000 people. The City operates under a Mayor-Council- Administrator form of government. The City Council consists of the Mayor, Council President, and four Council members on a staggered four-year term basis.

The City of Ellsworth provides traditional government services including police, volunteer fire, water, streets, recreation, public cemeteries, and parks. In addition, the City provides water collection and distribution services, and contracts trash collection. The City has approximately 26 full time permanent employees with as many as 50 employees during seasonal employment periods. The 2023 general fund budget is $3,030,697.00.

The City has approximately twenty-one funds. These consist of the General Fund, Library, Special Highway, Stormwater Utility, Fire/Police Equipment, Special Parks/Recreation, Solid Waste, Bond & Interest, Water/Sewer Improvement, and more.

The City uses the Computer Information Concepts (CIC) accounting system, which provides full General Ledger capability including balance sheets and revenue and expenditure/expense statements by fund. All financial applications use CIC including accounts payable, payroll, purchase orders, cemetery management, general ledger, cash receipts, and utility billing.

III. Scope of Services

The following services will be required as a minimum and should constitute the basis for a response to the Request for Proposal

1. Perform an annual audit of the City’s financial records as required by Kansas

Statute 75-1122 and 75-1123, in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards and applicable provision of the Kansas Municipal Audit Guide of the State of Kansas. If a single audit is required, the audit will be conducted in accordance with the standards set forth in the U.S. General Accounting Office’s

Government Auditing Standards, the provisions of the Single Audit Act, the provisions of U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, and Audits of State and Local Governments.

2. Prepare the financial statements and notes to financial statements. If necessary, prepare a single audit report, and submit all documents and filings.

3. Prepare a management letter to include a statement of audit findings and recommendations. (Should include but not be limited to financial statements, internal control, inefficiencies, duplications, accounting systems and legality of actions.)

4. Submit a draft copy of the audit report and management letter to the City after completion of the audit on or before May 1 of each year.

5. Deliver a final report to the City no later than June 1 of each year.

6. Present findings and reports to the City Council on or before June 15 of each year.

7. Maintain the audit working papers which will be made available for examination and use by authorized representatives of the City. All working papers and reports must be retained, at the auditor’s expense, for a minimum of three (3) years, unless the firm is notified in writing by the City of the need to extend the retention period. In addition, the firm shall respond to the reasonable inquiries of successor auditors and allow successor auditors to review working papers relating to matters of continuing accounting significance.

IV. Tentative Schedule of Events

The following schedule of events is indicated for planning purposes, but may be varied as the city’s convenience as required. Every effort will be made to adhere to the schedule.

Event Deadline Request for Proposal February 14, 2023 Deadline for Proposal March 9, 2023 Selection of Finalists March 10, 2023 Recommendation to Council March 13, 2023

V. General Conditions

1. Audit Firm

Audit must be performed by a CPA firm that meets the independent standards of the GAO Standards of Governmental Organizations, Programs, Activity and Functions. The firm must have experience in auditing similar governmental units in Kansas; field supervisors that have relevant experience and education; ability to work under a time frame as set forth herein and ability to perform consulting services as may be required throughout the year by the City.

2. RFP Responses

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will remain the property of the City and any cost incurred by the bidder in preparing the proposal will be borne solely by the bidder.

3. Acceptance of Offer

The signed proposal shall be considered an offer on the part of the bidder such offer shall be deemed accepted upon issuance by the City of a notice of acceptance or other contractual document.

4. Firm Prices

The bidder warrants that prices, terms and conditions quoted in the proposal will be firm for acceptance for a period of not less than sixty (60) days from the proposal opening date unless otherwise specified in the RFP. Such prices will remain firm for the period of performance of any ensuing contract to be performed over a period.

5. Conflict of Interest

The bidder certifies that to the best of his or her knowledge or belief, that no elected or appointed official of the City of Ellsworth, Kansas is financially interested, directly or indirectly, in the performance of the services specified in this RFP.

6. Default of Contract

In case of default by the contracted audit firm, the City may procure the services from other sources and hold the contracted audit firm responsible for any excess costs occasioned or incurred thereby.

7. Modifications or Changes

No agreement or understanding to modify this RFP and resultant contracts shall be binding upon the City unless made in writing by the City of Ellsworth.

VI. Format For Submission of Proposal

1. In order to simplify the review process and obtain the maximum degree of comparison, proposals must be organized in a standard format. The following outline suggests a typical organization within such format which will provide information necessary for processing of the RFP.

a. Title Page

i. Indicate the name of the firm, local address, telephone number with extension, E-mail address, name of the contact person and the date.

b. Table of Contents

i. Include a clear identification of the material by section and by page number.

c. Letter of Transmittal

i. Limit to two pages

ii. Briefly sate the firms understanding of the services to be performed and make a positive commitment to perform the services within the time stated.

iii. State the names of the persons who will be authorized to make representations for the firm; their titles, credentials, addresses and telephone numbers.

iv. State that the person signing the letter is authorized to bind the firm.

d. Profile of the Firm

i. State whether the firm is local, regional, or national.

ii. State the location of the office from which the service is to be performed and the number of professional staff employed at the office.

iii. Describe the range of activities performed by the local office, such as auditing, accounting, tax services, management services, etc.

iv. Describe the local office’s capability of auditing governmental units, including the number of personnel skilled in governmental auditing.

e. Mandatory Criteria

i. State that the firm is a properly licensed CPA firm and holds a permit to practice in the State of Kansas.

ii. State that the firm meets the independent standards of the GAO

Standards for Audit of Governmental Organizations, Programs, Activities and Function.

f. Summary of the Firm’s Qualifications

i. Identify the supervisors who will work on the audit. Resumes indicating relevant experiences and education for each supervisory person to be assigned to the audit should be included. (The resumes may be included as an appendix.)

ii. Description of the local office’s most recent auditing experience like the type of audit requested within the last 1 to 3 years.

iii. Give the names and telephone numbers of client references for three recent similar audits completed.

iv. State whether the firm has successfully completed a peer review as described in KSA 1-501 Article 5, “Positive Enforcement Program”.

v. Submit a copy of a recently completed audit of another municipality of similar size and characteristics if possible.

g. Firm’s Approach to the Audit

i. Submit a work plan to accomplish the scope of services defined in these guidelines. The work plan should include time estimates for each significant segment of the work and the staff level to be assigned.

ii. Financial Audit

1. State that the audit will be made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

2. State that the primary purpose of the examination is to express an opinion on the financial statements and that such an examination is subject to the inherent risk that errors or irregularities may not be detected.

3. State that if conditions are discovered which lead to belief that material errors, defalcation or other irregularities may exist, or if any other circumstances are encountered that require extended services, the auditor will promptly advise the City.

4. State that no extended services will be performed unless they are authorized in the contractual agreement or in an amendment to the agreement.

iii. Compliance Audit

1. State that in accordance with the auditing standards of the cognizant agency or in accordance with other applicable standards, the proposal will select the necessary procedures to test compliance and to disclose noncompliance with specific laws and regulations.

h. Quality Control

i. Submit the firm’s review procedures for governmental audits.

ii. List names, classifications and qualifications of those performing the review.

iii. State if the review will be performed other than at the firm’s local office.

i. Workspace Requirements

i. Each firm is expected to describe the minimum amount of space and furniture required by the engagement team. The firm is expected to provide its own supplies and any required office machines. Reasonable copying requests will be honored.

j. City Staff Support

i. Any work or tasks to be provided by the City (i.e., preparation of work papers, confirmation letters, pulling files, etc.) must be stated.

ii. Any tasks not mentioned will be deemed to be performed by the audit firm.

k. Compensation

i. State the total estimated hours and hourly rate required by each staff classification and the resulting maximum fee to be paid annually. Include separately the cost of a Single Audit.

ii. Since the firm selected will be given the opportunity to perform the audits through the 2023 calendar year, the increase for calendar year 2023 must be submitted. This increase should be stated in relation to the cost proposal for the 2022 budget year.

l. Limited Contact

i. The source of contact for your firm during the selection process is as follows and in the following order:

1. Callie Haxton, City Clerk, 785-472-5566

2. Angela Mueller, City Treasurer, 785-472-5566

3. Dustin Stambaugh, City Administrator, 785-472-5566

ii. Communications with other city staff or with the City Council, without approval, will constitute rejection of that firm’s proposal.

m. Additional Section

i. Since the preceding sections are to contain only data that is specifically required, any additional or supplemental information considered essential to the proposal should be included in this section. If there is no additional data or information to present, state, “There is no additional data or information we wish to present”.

VII. Submission Information

a. The bidder must submit four (4) copies of the proposal to the City no later than

4:30 pm, March 9, 2023. The address is:

City Clerk’s Office City of Ellsworth PO Box 163, 121 W. 1st St.

Ellsworth, KS 67439

b. Responses may be hand delivered to the City Hall, mailed, or submitted through bidnetdirect.net. Responses must be received at the office of the City Clerk no later than 4:30 p.m. on March 9, 2023.

c. All proposals must be signed by a duly authorized individual.

d. All proposals will become the property of the City and the City reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the proposals.

e. Information supplied in the proposal will be deemed to be correct and the City is entitled to rely on the proposal as to schedules, staff time and involvement.

Any questions regarding this request for auditing services should be addressed to Callie Haxton, City Clerk, at (785) 472-5566.