STEP_RFQ_A001.pdf

Request For Quotation

SBAHQ-16-Q-0039/A0001

STEP Financial Examination Review Services

Company Name: NAICS 541611

Attention:

Tel Number:

Email:

Pricing for Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery Contract

Please provide your applicable fully loaded Labor Rates:

Labor Category Base Year

Opt Year 1

Opt Year 2

Opt Year 3

Opt Year 4

Senior Analyst…

Analyst…..

Other Direct Costs

SAM registered yes / no DUNS number ______________

Small Business yes / no Woman Owned yes / no

Service-Disabled Veteran Owned yes / no 8a yes / no

Small Business Administration

DFC/Acquisition Division Attn: Lenny Spakow E-Mail Address: leonard.spakow @sba.gov

SBAHQ-16-Q-0039/A0001

STEP Financial Examination Review Services

Pricing for Initial Task Order under IDIQ . The award for the initial task order will be issued as Firm Fixed Price.

Financial Examinations

Hours Rate Total

Senior Analyst…

Analyst… Total per FinEx

Price for 23FinExs

Work Plan Price for FinEx plus Work Plan

Review State Responses

Hours Rate Total

Senior Analyst… $0.00 $0.00 Analyst… $0.00 $0.00 Cost per Review $0.00 Number of Reviews (25)

Total Price for Revs $0.00

Travel Do not include $X.XX

ODCs

Financial Exams + Reviews + ODC

Total Firm Fixed Price for 18 months POP

Signature: __________________________________________________ Dated: _____________

Note: Offerors may use another format for submission of quotes. However, all quotes must contain the minimum information required under FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors, Commercial Items (February 2012)

Solicitation Instructions

This is a notice that this contractual action is set aside for small business concerns. Only quotes submitted by small business concerns will be accepted by the government. Any quote that is submitted by a contractor that is not a small business concern will not be considered for award. The NAICS code for this action is 541611.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Office of International Trade (OIT) is requesting a quote for Financial Services. We currently desire to issue an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract for a period of one base year plus four one year option years.

The purpose of this solicitation is to select a contractor who shall provide financial examinations, review responses to financial recommendations, perform financial analysis, program evaluations and provide routine status reports as described in the Statement of Work (SOW).

NOTICE: The SBA is issuing this solicitation with the intent to award an ID/IQ contract as well as the first task order under such agreement. The statement of work included in the solicitation pertains to both the ID/IQ and task order’s issued under the ID/IQ.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

Submission of Quotes:

Please submit your quote to Ruben Campa, Contract Specialist, by e-mail – ruben.campa@sba.gov on or before the close date with RFQ number SBHQ-16Q-0039 in the subject line. Quotes that do not contain all applicable labor category descriptions, technical response, past performance information, and prices, including firm fixed price rates for the ID/IQ (all years) and the firm fixed price for the initial task order will not be considered for award. Please submit your technical and price quotes as described below.

If you have any questions, please contact Lenny Spakow, Contract Specialist, by e-mail – leonard.spakow@sba.gov before COB May 31, 2016 with RFQ number SBHQ-16Q-0039 in the subject line. A consolidated response will be provided in a solicitation amendment within four business days.

Technical Approach: The contractor shall submit a technical response defining its solution to the scope of work and resources necessary to execute the work to be performed under this contract including the stated applicable labor category descriptions. The company shall provide a detailed response to each sub element of the technical approach criteria. A one page resume of the proposed senior analyst and analyst shall be included with this technical response.

The technical response shall also include a transition plan detailing how the company will transition from the current contract to its new contractual arrangement.

Past Performance: Provide documentation and three references for company past performance on previous comparable projects in the past three years. Whereas experience describes the work performed, past performance describes how well the work was performed. Provide “lessons learned” from your past performance. For those contracts with less than positive performance, provide a description of the problems and the efforts made to correct and prevent future occurrences.

Page Limits: Technical Approach and Past Performance information together is limited to no more than 20 pages, including cover pages, resumes and attachments. Any materials submitted that exceed the 20 page limit shall not be provided for review by the Technical Evaluation Panel.

mailto:leonard.spakow@sba.gov

Price: Price must be contained in a separate document separated from the technical approach and past performance information. Please provide your fully burdened labor category firm fixed price rates applicable to this award for the entire term of the ID/IQ in the format shown in the RFQ schedule. The order is anticipated to be awarded as Firm Fixed Price. Offeror’s shall also submit a separate price quote for the initial task order effort detailed in the statement of work.

A written notice of award or acceptance of a quote mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the quote, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the quote’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept a quote, whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: The Governmentreserves the right to make award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and represents the best value to the government. The government will consider three factors: (1)Technical Approach, (2) Past Performance, and (3) Price. When combined, Technical Approach, and Past Performance, are more important than price.

Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

FACTOR 1: TECHNICAL APPROACH

The offeror’s proposal will be evaluated to ensure that it demonstrates the following:

1. A sound and thorough understanding of all elements of the Statement of Work

2. Personnel proposed with applicable qualifications

3. Specified knowledge and familiarity with and understanding of small business finance analysis and evaluation.

4. Ability to perform financial examination as outlined in the statement of work.

5. Corporate Experience in the financial examination arena specifically with federal grants and cooperative agreements.

6. A sound and through transition plan.

The following rating method shall be used in the evaluation of the technical factors listed above:

Excellent: Based on the quoter's technical approach, no doubt exists that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort. The technical approach shows a complete understanding and methodology for completing the work within the standards and workload specified.

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Good: Based on the quoter's technical approach, little doubt exists that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort. The technical approach shows an acceptable understanding and methodology for completing the work within the standards and workload specified.

Marginal: Based on the quoter's technical approach, some doubt exists that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort. The technical approach shows a marginal understanding and methodology for completing the work within the standards and workload specified.

Poor: Based on the quoter's technical approach, serious doubt exists that the quoter will successfully perform the required effort. The technical approach demonstrates significant deficiencies in understanding and implementing performance of the work within the standards and workload specified.

FACTOR 2: PAST PERFORMANCE

The evaluation will be based on information obtained from references provided by the offeror, other relevant past performance information obtained from other sources known to the Government, and any information supplied by the offeror concerning problems encountered on the identified contracts and corrective action taken.

The following rating method shall be used in the evaluation of past performance:

Excellent: Performance met all contract requirements and exceeded most. There were no problems during performance.

Good: Performance met all contract requirements and exceeded some. There were few minor problems, which the contractor resolved in a timely, effective manner.

Satisfactory: Performance met contract requirements. There were some minor problems, for which corrective actions taken by the contractor were satisfactory

Neutral: Contractor has no record of past performance, or the record is inconclusive.

Marginal: Performance did not meet some contractual requirements. There were problems, some of a serious nature, for which corrective action was only marginally effective.

Poor: Performance did not meet contractual requirements. There were serious problems, and the contractor’s corrective actions were ineffective

The Government will assess the relative risks associated with each offeror. Performance risks are those associated with an offeror's likelihood of success in performing the acquisition requirements as indicated by that offeror's record of past performance.

The assessment of performance risk is not intended to be the product of a mechanical or mathematical analysis of an offeror's performance on a list of contracts but rather the product of subjective judgment by the Government after it considers all available and relevant information.

When assessing performance risks, the Government will focus on the past performance of the offeror as it relates to all acquisition requirements, such as the offeror's record of performing according to specifications, including standards of good workmanship; the offeror's adherence to contract schedules, SBAHQ-16-Q-0039/A0001 including the administrative aspects of performance; the offeror's reputation for reasonable and cooperative behavior and commitment to customer satisfaction; and generally, the offeror's business-like concern for the interest of the customer.

The Government will consider the currency and relevance of the information, source of the information, context of the data, and general trends in the offeror's performance. The lack of a relevant performance record may result in an unknown performance risk assessment, which will neither be used to the advantage nor disadvantage of the offeror.

FACTOR 3: PRICE

The government will evaluate the proposed rates for the labor categories in the Pricing Schedule of the solicitation for reasonableness, realism as it relates to the SOW requirements, and completeness. The Government will also evaluate price realism with regard to the ability of the offeror to meet requirements in terms of skills required, complexity of disciplines and job difficulty, if the Government deems such analysis necessary.

Travel: is not on the bid schedule and will not be evaluated. This is a NTE line item and is funded in the amount estimated for the travel required. The contractor shall be required to travel on occasion usually throughout the contiguous USA.

Award Determination:

The SBA reserves the right to award this agreement based on initial quotes received, without discussions or negotiations; therefore, it is critically important that each quote be fully responsive to the solicitation without exception to any provision. The SBA anticipates awarding to the offeror whose response is the “best value” to the SBA, proposed price and other factors considered. The Contracting Officer may consider award to other than the lowest priced offeror when in the best interest of the Government. The SBA reserves the right to make no award pursuant to this solicitation. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary. If the Contracting Officer determines that the number of quotes that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the Contracting Officer may limit the number of responses in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated quotes. The importance of price will increase as the technical merit of the responses becomes more equal. Among quotes that are substantially equal in technical merit, price may become the determinative factor for award; thus, the responses offering the SBA the best value, technical and price factors considered, shall be considered for award. The award may be made to other than the offeror with the lowest price or the highest technical rating. A written notice of award or acceptance of a quote, as specified in the solicitation, may result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the solicitation’s specified expiration time, the government may accept a quote unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

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Statement Of Work

PURPOSE:

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Section 207 and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 13, Part 143 and 2 CFR Part 225 establishes cost principles and standards for determining costs for Federal Awards carried out through grants. The financial examinations will be conducted as either an off-site examination or an on-site examination. The overall objective of the financial examination process is to determine whether the awardee has controls in place to ensure: (1) the accuracy of reported financial and management data; (2) costs incurred and claimed for reimbursement were reasonable, necessary, allowable and allocable; and (3) compliance with program policies, operating procedures, applicable laws and regulations.

The mission of SBA’s Office of International Trade (OIT) is to enhance the ability of small businesses to compete in the global marketplace. As SBA's office for the support of small business international trade development, the office works in cooperation with other federal agencies, and public- and private-sector groups to encourage small business exports and to assist small businesses seeking to export.

The OIT provides various services through the State Trade and Export Promotion grant program.

OIT requires a financial examination of every grant awardee every two years. Once the financial examinations have been completed, OIT follows-up to ensure the awardees comply with all recommendations, which are based on Federal cost accounting principles.

To ensure complete compliance with cost accounting principles, OIT uses auditors to review awardees’ corrective action plans. The end-product of this procurement will be the final report that summarizes the up-to-23 financial examinations, plus the up-to-25 reviews of states’ responses to recommendations in the financial examinations. The report will also include a list of all actions the OIT must take. For example, the report will include a list of all monies that must be recovered, all state processes that must be changed, and any OIT processes that should be changed.

Tasks issued under this agreement are considered non-severable as all segments of work lead to submission of a final report at the end of the performance period. The non-severability is necessary because the STEP program office is primarily interested in the totality of the financial management by the states of the STEP funds. For example, based on the totality (Task 6, Final Report) of the financial management of STEP funds, the STEP program office may need to change how all the states manage funds. It is the totality of the financial management that tells the program office of systemic problems. However, when necessary, individual state’s financial management problems will also be observed and corrected.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

1. Task 1. Financial Examinations. The contractor will perform up to 23 financial examinations of state awardees. The financial examination will be performed in accordance with current, appropriate cost accounting standards. The financial examinations, which may be on-site or off- site, will be at the direction of the OIT. The regulations that provide guidance for the financial examinations are those found in the “Super Circular”, cited as 2 CFR Part 200. The financial examinations are conducted individually. However, the STEP program office must understand the totality of the financial management of the entire STEP program so that systemic problems are understood and then systemic changes are made and incorporated into program administration as necessary. One way to understand systemic problems and trends is via Task 6, Final Report.

2. Task 2. Review Responses to Financial Examination Recommendations. Following the completion of a financial examination, OIT asks the state for a plan to address all financial examination recommendations. The contractor shall evaluate the state’s plan and provide the OIT with a written assessment of the plan as to whether the plan adequately addresses all recommendations. Additionally, OIT will expect the contractor to review any additional documentation from the state and assess whether the state has complied with recommendations. Given that the contractor will have minimal access to state’s records and documents, OIT expects only that the contractor will assess state’s compliance using nominal documentation. The OIT requires up to 25 reviews of recommendations in financial examinations.

3. Task 3. Financial Analysis. This is ad hoc financial analysis related to awardees.

Examples include: 1. Conducting financial examinations on less than one full year of data, such as one quarter’s data, two quarters’ data, or three quarters’ data; 2. Reviewing only the general ledger, as opposed to looking at all financial data; 3. Reviewing only the time cards, as opposed to looking at all financial data; 4. Comparative analyses between current and past financial examinations; 5. Conducting financial examinations on large, multiple-location states. This ad hoc analysis will be part of the contractor’s overall observations and recommendations about program financial management. The systemic observations, problems and recommendations are best conveyed to the SBA via the ad hoc analysis.

4. Task 4. Weekly Status Reports. This is a conference call with the COR where OIT discusses all active projects and any inhibitors to the timely completion of the projects.

The contractor shall follow up with the COR by providing a written email summary of the weekly call submitted no later than 5 calendar days after the weekly call.

5. Task 5. Monthly Status Reports. This is a written report where all active and completed projects are summarized.

6. Task 6. Final Report. This report will deliver the final analysis of each financial examination. The final report will re-state all the draft financial examinations, including all changes that may have been made to the draft financial examinations. The final report

SBAHQ-16-Q-0039/A0001

will include a summary of all actions the OIT must take in response to the financial examinations. For example, the report will include a section that highlights monies that must be recovered, by state. The report will include processes that must be changed by each state. The report will also include any recommendations to processes the OIT follows.

STAFFING REQUIREMENTS

Senior Analyst ‐ Responsible for developing the financial examination methodology and running the financial examinations. Responsible for performing work of a technically complex nature often directing the work of Analysts and Junior Analysts. This position typically requires a bachelor’s degree in an accredited college or university degree program, in a field related to the specific subcategory (for example, financial analyst or technical writer). Also requires six or more years of experience performing work identified by the specific subcategory. An advanced degree can substitute for two years of experience.

Analyst ‐ Responsible for setting up the financial examinations and conducts research for the financial examinations. Responsible for performing technical work of a moderately complex nature under the direction of a Senior Analyst. This position typically does not require bachelor’s degree in an accredited college or university degree program. Also requires at least one year of experience performing work identified by the specific subcategory.

DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

Task Deliverable Schedule

Task 1.

Financial Examinations.

Contractor will conduct up to 23 financial examinations and provide results.

Six calendar months after the issuance of the contractual document unless otherwise agreed to by the COR and CO.

Task 2. Review Responses.

Contractor will provide an assessment of the states’ response to up to 25 financial examination recommendations.

30 calendar days after receiving the states’ plan, unless otherwise agreed to by the OIT.

Task 3.

Financial Analysis

White paper or other appropriate deliverable, based on the nature of the financial analysis.

7 calendar days after receiving the states’ plan, unless otherwise agreed to by the

OIT.

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Task 4.

Weekly Status

Contractor will call into the weekly conference call and present the status of all outstanding projects.

Weekly. Five calendar days after weekly call.

Task 5.

Monthly Status Report

Contractor will provide a written status report of all open and closed projects.

Monthly. Within 5 calendar days after end of month.

Task 6. Final Report

Contractor will provide the final analysis of each financial examination.

18 calendar months after date of award.

WORK PLAN

Within 30 calendar days after date of task order the contractor shall submit a work plan. The plan is a one- time submission and shall include the following:

1. A brief discussion of the required documents that will be submitted to the contractor by the SBA for each state, for example, SF-425, SF-270s, Notice of Awards, modifications, terms and conditions, special terms and conditions. 2. A brief discussion of the on-site/off-site staging of the financial examinations. 3. A brief discussion of the communications between the SBA and the states. 4. A discussion of the communications between the financial examiner and the states, and the required documents that will be required from each state, for example, time cards, general ledgers, copies of receipts, copies of contracts, and sampling methods. 5. A description of the draft financial examinations. 6. A description of the final report of the 23 financial examinations.

CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL PLAN

The contractor shall submit a Quality Control Plan to the CO within 30 days from award. The plan shall include procedures for identifying problems, correcting them, and ensuring they don't re-occur. The Quality Control Plan and any subsequent changes to it shall be approved by the CO. The plan shall address the approach and methods to assure all deliverables submitted to SBA are accurate, in compliance with contract requirements, and actions to address and correct problems.

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QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVELLIANCE PLAN

Inspection and acceptance of services will be in accordance with a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) shown below

Task Performance Indicators

Performance Standards

AQL –

Acceptable Quality Level

Surveillance Method

Task 1.

Financial Examinations.

The report of up to 23 financial examinations shall contain details of all background information, observations, findings and recommendations.

The report shall address the nature of the financial examination, the sample, the background information, and the basis for the observations, findings, and recommendations

1. Report will be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

2. Must be timely. That is plus or minus 1 week.

3. Spelling and grammar must be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

The COR will conduct weekly conference calls that are expected to last 30 minutes.

During this call, the contractor will update the COR on all outstanding activities. The contractor will also submit a monthly written status report of all completed and uncompleted work.

Task 2. Review Responses.

The review of up to 25 states’ plans to address recommendations will contain as assessment of the states’ plan. The assessment should detail specific recommendations, analysis of the plan, and detailed explanation of the assessment.

The assessment shall address the recommendation, the plan to comply with the recommendations

1. The assessment will be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

2. Must be timely. That is plus or minus 1 week.

3. Spelling and grammar must be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

The COR will conduct weekly conference calls that are expected to last 30 minutes.

During this call, the contractor will update the COR on all outstanding activities. The contractor will also submit a monthly written status report of all completed and uncompleted work.

Task 3.

Financial Analysis

This is ad hoc financial analysis work. However, the work shall contain details of the task as well as any conclusions or recommendations.

This work product shall address all elements of the task.

1. This work product will be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

2. Must be timely. That is plus or minus 1 week.

3. Spelling and grammar must be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

The COR will conduct weekly conference calls that are expected to last 30 minutes.

During this call, the contractor will update the COR on all outstanding activities. The contractor will also submit a monthly written status report of all completed and uncompleted work.

Task 4. Weekly Status

This weekly conference call will be call-in. The contractor will be expected to discuss all open tasks, as well as any problems to delivery.

The verbal reporting will be complete and current.

The contractor will call in on time, 100 percent of the time.

The COR will conduct the conference calls and monitor performance during this call.

Task 5.

Monthly Status Reports

The contractor will submit a monthly status report of all open and closed tasks.

The content will nominally address all open tasks and the status of the plans to conduct all future tasks.

The report will be due on the 1st of each month and be complete and current.

1. Report will be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

2. Must be timely. That is plus or minus 1 week.

3. Spelling and grammar must be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

The COR will survey all work as it is submitted.

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Task 6. Final Report

The contractor will submit a report that contains the final versions of all financial examinations.

The report will be due 18 months after the date of the order.

1. Report will be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

2. Must be timely. That is plus or minus 1 week.

3. Spelling and grammar must be 95% accurate with minor revisions.

The COR will survey all work as it is completed.

Contract Administration

1. Contracting Officer-The Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to make or approve any changes in any of the requirements of this SOW and not withstanding any clauses contained elsewhere in this contract, the said authority remains solely with the Contracting Officer.

2. The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will represent the Contracting Officer in administration of the technical details within the scope of this SOW. The COR is responsible for final inspection and acceptance of all reports and such other responsibilities as may be specified in the commitments of any kind on behalf of the Contracting Officer or the Government. The COR does not have authority to alter the Contractor’s obligations or change the SOW; changes will be issued in writing and signed by the Contracting Officer. The COR will be appointed by the contracting officer under separate cover.

Transition Plan

The Contractor shall adhere to the transition plan it submitted with its quote and shall include the following:

- Identification of critical steps and technical specifications in assuming full functionality of service as defined in the SOW

- Back-Up Plan in the event of delays in assuming full functionality of service

- Transition out procedures at end of the contract terms

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