Languages Required
French, English
Application Deadline
June 26, 2024
Starting Date
October 15, 2024
Auditing Period
October 01, 2019 to September 30, 2024
Project Title
‘‘SEWOH-Holistic Food Security for Communities Sud Ubangi, DRC”
Total Project Budget
1.669.762,00 EUR
Annual Project Budget
255.361,00 EUR
Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for external independent financial audit services in DR Congo.
Background and Organisational Setting
Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V. is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation. Based in Constance, Germany, Sign of Hope is dedicated to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.
An audit is commissioned under the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funding guidelines for development projects run by private German executing agencies.
Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V. will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, while Humana People to People Congo (HPP-Congo) will be the local implementing agency.
HPP-Congo has been active in DRC since 2006. HPP-Congo intervenes in the areas of agriculture and food security, environmental protection, education with a focus on teacher training and vocational training, health with a focus on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and family planning, as well as holistic community development.
The aim of the project is to overcome the chronic food insecurity of 28.000 direct beneficiaries in Sud Ubangi through measures to increase productivity through training in sustainable management and climate-friendly farming methods, the development of small animal husbandry, support for the creation of jobs outside traditional agriculture and training of the local population in the management of natural resources such as water.
Audit Objectives
The purpose of the in-depth audit is to provide SoH with a sound basis for its accountability, transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosure towards the funding agency BMZ. The tasks of this recruitment relate to:
- An annual audit, with a detailed examination of all the supporting documents for January 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024
- A conclusive examination of the complete project duration (October 01, 2019 to September 30, 2024). Thereby, the auditor can refer to the last annual audit reports to be available at that time.
This in-depth audit will verify the compliance with standards of the funding agency BMZ, SoH, national regulations and the international accounting standards (ISA).
The auditor will review the project’s financial documents, receipts lists, records of transactions, all vouchers and receipts disbursed, and relevant project documents in order to come up with a professional, independent opinion on the financial accounting of the project „ SEWOH-Holistic Food Security for Communities in Sud Ubangi, DRC*”* for all funds received and expended by HPP-Congo from October 01, 2019 to September 30, 2024.
Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of HPP-Congo.
The audit will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V. and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to the project management and monitoring of finances by Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V. and HPP-Congo.
Expected Deliverables
The auditor is expected to produce an audit report, an audit certificate and a management letter, which will comprise the following:
- Presentation of the scope and mandate of the audit, as well as the list of documents that formed the evidence for the audit,
- An opinion whether financial statements (statement of accounts) are issued in accordance with the financial reporting framework of the project, BMZ requirements and an internationally recognized accounting standard,
- Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.
- An approved (signed) list of all project receipts sorted by budget line (list provided by HPP-Congo).
- An approved (signed) inventory list (list provided by HPP-Congo).
Audit documents can be issued in English or German. In exceptional cases, the audit is accepted in French or Spanish. In this case, the core statements, including identified shortcomings and recommendations, as well as concluding audit opinion should be translated into English.
Scope of the Audit
The audit should focus on the following:
- The correctness and completeness of the accounting records,
- The financial report, showing all project related income and expenditure structured by budget lines,
- Deviations of expenditure by budget lines. The expenditure, which exceeds or falls below the budget appropriations by more than 30 %, shall be explained separately, if the approval of the BMZ has not previously been obtained,
- That receipts and relevant supporting documents are available for all project related income and expenditures,
- The management of the funds made available, which includes the transfer of project funds, all interest earned from the project funds during the reporting period and further income generated by the project,
- Reviewing the appropriate use of funds according to the project objectives,
- Evaluation of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the usage of funds,
- Budget adherence through the comparison between budgeted and actual costs in the currency in which the expenditure was incurred. The audit report will not convert the examined amounts into the Euro amounts,
- Reviewing if personnel costs and social security contributions conform to the regulations in the project country and are locally comparable,
- The economical use of the project equipment and assets,
- The inventory and the use of capital items, their whereabouts and their purposive usage,
- Compliance with the legal framework of the project (project agreements and annexes, contracts, etc.) and the donor requirements,
- Compliance with the policies of the local implementing partner regarding procurement, financial administration, human resources management and travel.
Procedures and Communication
The auditor will be given access to all necessary documents in the project offices through the local implementing partner HPP-Congo as well as relevant donor documents through Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V.
The auditor will be responsible to set up a schedule in agreement with the local implementing partner HPP-Congo. Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. HPP-Congo will support the auditor with logistics and arrangements, however, all payments of the contract will be made directly by Hoffnungszeichen jobsnear.org Sign of Hope e.V.
Qualifications and Experience
- Necessary qualification to serve as a recognized independent auditing authority,
- Minimum of five (5) years of experience conducting external independent audits of projects funded by international institutional donors in DR Congo,
- Experience in conducting audits for BMZ-funded projects is beneficial.
How to apply
Application Process
Please submit the following documents as PDF files with the subject line “Annual Audit in Kinshasa and Dongo, DR Congo” to [email protected] no later than June 26, 2024, 23:59 CET:
- Technical Proposal (as per Terms of Reference above), including approach and methodology to be used,
- A financial proposal (EUR),
- A qualification certificate of a recognized independent auditing authority as confirmed by a relevant institution in the project country (for example, a chamber of commerce, national association of auditors or another relevant organisation),
- A reference list of three previous customers.
Companies as well as independent auditors are invited for this tender. Female and differently abled candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Please note that due to a large number of applications we may limit establishing contact to shortlisted applicants.
Bids received after the deadline will not be considered. If offers are incomplete, bidders may be able to hand in missing documents within a deadline upon request by SoH.
The selection of the auditor will be conducted jointly by HPP-Congo and SoH. Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held online between July 08 – July 12, 2024.
The audit agreement will be set up by SoH and HPP Congo. Audit agreements set up by auditors won’t be accepted.
Criteria and weighting for the evaluation of the submitted proposals:
- Essential and desirable competencies, proposed methodology: 40 %
- Financial proposal (fee): 30 %
- Performance during interview: 20 %
- Minimum amount of years of relevant experience: 5 %
- Language skills: 5 %
