payroll bid.docx

Embassy of the United States of America Moscow, Russia

May 24, 2012

U.S. Embassy Moscow Russia 8 Bolshoy Devyatinsky per., Moscow 121099 Russia

Minutes From Pre-Proposal Conference of 05.17.2012

Subject: Solicitation for payroll services for locally engaged staff.

Introduction

The Contracting Officer welcomed all attendees, introduced representatives of the COR and the Contract Specialist

Discussion of the Solicitation Package

The following sections of the solicitation were highlighted:

SF-33 – attendees were explain how to insert pertinent information on SF-33

Section B – Prices. It was emphasized that prices for the base and all option years must be provided by offerors.

Section I – Contract clauses. The Contract Specialist highlighted the most important contract clauses and explained their meaning.

Section J – Representatives of the COR clarified the contents of the Exhibits and emphasized the importance of timely submission of reports and data to the local tax authorities.

Section K – there was discussion as which of the certifications and statements are applicable to this solicitation.

Section L – further guidance was given as what documents must be included in the solicitation package.

Questions:

No questions were asked during the conference, except minor clarification, e.g. the solicitation was placed on FedBizOpps, and the solicitation was also advertized on the Embassy website in the Internet, and that companies, which did not attend the conference can also submit their proposals before the deadline.

The companies were invited to send their questions in writing to the attention of the Contracting Officer. The answers will be provided to all companies on the solicitation mailing list.

Conclusion

The conference concluded and attendees were thanked for their presence and expression of interest in serving the U.S. Government. The meeting was adjourned.

Sincerely,

Enclosure:

Chapter 4 - Solicitation Documents October 2004 Questions and Answers The attached questions were asked after the conference:

Q: What is the current payroll system?

A: Briefly, the payroll system is as follows. Bi-weekly, Embassy sends payroll time and attendance information to the Financial Service Center (FSC) in Charleston. FSC makes calculations and sends information back to Embassy which passes this information on to the contractor. The contractor makes tax calculations, which are transmitted back to FSC. FSC pays the local employees their net salary (salary minus taxes) by bank wire transfer using the contractor’s calculations. Embassy pays all taxes locally based on payment orders prepared by the contractor. Please refer to Section C of the solicitation – Work Statement. It contains the description of required services.

Q: In what format will the database be unloaded for set up?

A: We can provide the database for the setup both as text documents or Excel. The Excel option allows flexibility in arranging information for convenient upload.

Q: Requirements for implementation of set up (at the U.S. Embassy or it could be done in the office of TMF)?

A: All work should be performed on the Embassy premises. We will provide escorted access to all personnel needed for the setup – programmers, etc.

Q: Specific requirements to the employees who will be given access to the territory of USA Embassy?

A: All Contractor’s employees who will be assigned to work at the Embassy under the new contract will go through the security checks performed by the Regional Security Office (RSO) of the Embassy. Only those who have been approved by the RSO would be granted the Access to the Embassy. See Section H, paragraph H.3

Q: Procedure for the exchange of information for payroll between USA Embassy and responsible persons of TMF?

A: All data from the US Embassy to the contractor and back shall be transferred via thumb drives.

Q: Procedure for internal communication of payroll results between USA Embassy and responsible persons of TMF

- through the contact person

- directly between USA Embassy's employees and responsible persons of TMF?

A: There are several employees in the Financial Management Office who handle payroll of local staff. They are the primary points of contact for the contractor’s employees. At the same time, the US Embassy employees can address some general tax issues to the contractor’s employees who work on the embassy premises.

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