Invitation to Tender for External Audit Services (Kabul, Afghanistan)

 Organization AUDIT SCOPE of work 

The preparation of the financial statements and other supportive document is the responsibility of OPHA. The audit firm should start examining the financial documents and financial statement of OPHA for the Years ended December 21, 2019 and December 21, 2020 separately. The Audit will involve verification of records, systems and controls to:Determine that costs incurred are allowable, allocable and reasonable under the agreement terms, and to identify exceptions that have occurred or are likely to occur as a result of inadequate controls.Evaluate the organization internal control structure, assess control risks, and identify exceptions, including material internal control structure weaknesses.Determine whether the organization complied with agreement terms and applicable laws and regulations.

The following steps should be used as the basis for the review, but they are not all-inclusive or restrictive in nature. Due professional care and judgment should be exercised to expand/modify them as appropriate.

Financial Statements are prepared in accordance to generally accepted accounting principles and in line with organization Policies and procedure.The funds have been accounted for in accordance to generally accepted accounting principles and in line with approved contracts.Whether the original documents tally with the figures reflected in the financial report and Financial Statements.Identify the risk points and assure these are monitored and assessed on a regular basis and supported by sound financial management practices.Ensure financial control framework applies sound judgment in the approval of expenditure and there are adequate regulatory checks and balances.Ensure that information used for financial and accounts related decision-making and reporting is timely, relevant and reliable.Ensure that financial reporting framework (monthly returns and others) addresses the need to have sound financial practices.Ensure expenditure reports, forms, guidelines, and all other financial and accounting documents are provided in ways that are conducive to their use in the financial accountability and decision making-process.Ensure the financial control framework addresses the management information requirements and expected attributes.Ensure that accounting and financial key risks expressed and assessed in procedures and practice and permit measurement and evaluation of efficiency.The financial activities implemented are reflected in the management decision-making process and financial control frameworks.Ensure that expense claimed in the financial statements are eligible:Ensure that expenses have been incurred and have been borne by the Organization;Ensure that expenses are clearly broken down as laid down in OPHA requirements;Ensure that expenses are adequately supported by appropriate vouchers, quotations etc. and have been properly accounted for;Ensure that expenses have been incurred during the audit period;Ensure that income and expenditure have been fully disclosed in the financial statement:Ensure that formal procedures are in place for the authorization of all expenditure including the use of funds earned from income generating activitiesEnsure that all income from other sources has been disclosed in the financial statementEnsure that formal procedures are in place for the acquisition and disposal of assets, and the nature of the assets acquired, are clarifiedEnsure that assets are used exclusively to support running the operations of OrganizationEnsure that all liabilities are disclosed in the balance sheetEnsure that liabilities are entered into solely for the execution of the operationsEnsure that reserve funds, if any, are disclosed in the balance sheet:Ensure that restricted and unrestricted funds, if any, are clearly shown in the financial statement;Ensure that Payroll and other Taxes are deducted based on Government tax policies and Paid to the governmentCalculate the Indirect cost rate based on direct expenses of the organization of the organization for the period and give the organization an audit indirect cost rateAuditors will also prepare the management letter at the end of audit fieldwork that will includeComments and observations on the accounting records, systems and controls that were examined during the course of the AuditIdentify specific deficiencies and areas of weakness in systems and controls and make recommendation for their improvementCommunicate matters that have come to attention during the audit which might have a significant impact on the running and operation of OPHAInclude management’s comments on the final management letter.The Audit report and management letter ought to be submitted to OPHA in English.

DELIVERABLES

1- Independent Auditors Report on Financial statements

2- Independent Auditors Report on Calculation of Indirect Cost Rate

3- Independent Auditors Report on compliance to the donors Rules and Regulations

4- Independent Auditors Report on Tax

5-Management Letter

MANAGEMENT LETTER

The auditor will submit a management letter at the completion of the audit. The management letter should include at least the following topics/issues:

• A general review of project progress and timeliness in relation to progress milestones and the planned completion date, both of which should be stated in the project document or the Donor Guidelines. This is not intended to address whether there has been compliance with specific covenants relating to specific performance criteria or outputs. However general compliance with broad covenants such as implementing the project with economy and efficiency might be commented upon but not with the legal force of an audit opinion.
• An assessment of the project’s internal control system with equal emphasis on
• the effectiveness of the system in providing the project management with useful and timely information for the proper management of the project and
• the general effectiveness of the internal control system in protecting the assets and resources of the project.
• A description of any specific internal control weaknesses noted in the financial management of the project and the audit procedures followed to address or compensate for the weaknesses. Recommendations to resolve/eliminate the internal control weaknesses noted should be included.

The management letter should also include the following:

• The categorization of audit findings by risk severity: High, Medium, or Low.
• The classification of possible causes of the audit findings.
• Management comments/response (OPHA Management Board).

Organization: Organization for people’s health in Action

Organization for People’s Health in Action (OPHA) is a non-profit seeking, non-governmental NGO established on 14/10 /2017 (1396/07/22) in Afghanistan. OPHA is dedicated to saving the lives and relieving the sufferings through capacity building of health system cadres, emergency management, and developmental programs in the country. OPHA activities are focusing on providing health assistance, health programs, and social development to vulnerable communities in Afghanistan. OPHA is founded by a team of experienced public health specialists and trainers with technical and managerial experience in national and international organizations for many years.

The organization is officially registered with the ministry of the economy with registration ID # 4280

The organization has dedicated professionals with a passion to make quality health care in Afghanistan accessible to vulnerable strata. The senior management team has developed and earned an in-depth knowledge of health care needs, expertise in the delivery of health care services, and participated in the improvement of the health sector in Afghanistan through the implementation of BPHS and EPHS and many other relevant vertical projects.

Mission and vision of the organization:

The overall objective/ vision of the organization is ‘’change dreams into actions toward healthy people and healthy community’’.The mission of the organization is’’ to enable the people to attain the equal rights to health care, protection, social development, and participation’’

The strategic direction of the organization is set up in four dimensions:

Health and NutritionYouth and women empowermentSocial and Community development.Research and education.​

1 OPHA Current and ongoing projects

1.1. OPHA is implementing the BPHS/EPHS project under the Sehatmandi phase in Logar province through a partnership with the CAF  as the lead organization. The project is started in Jan 2019 and will be ended by July 2020.

2. Implementation of Afghanistan COVID-19 Emergency response and health preparedness project in Logar province: OPHA is implementing the mentioned project in Logar Province through a partnership with CAF as lead agency. The project is started in Jun 2020 and will end at the end of Nov 2020. This project is funded by WB.

3. Implementation of the TP-2 program. The Twinning Program aims to address this by pairing NNGOs with Advisors that provide mentoring and guidance to their Afghan counterparts on institutional management, humanitarian practices, and strategy.

B. OPHA Completed projects

4. OPHA implemented the whole of Afghanistan Multi-Sectoral need assessment (MSNSA) 2020 project in Logar province through a partnership with the ACTED organization. The project started in Aug 2020 and ended at 15th of Sept 2020.

OPHA invites submission of proposals from eligible audit firms, who have experience in external auditing of national/international organizations working in development sector. Other qualifications related to the proposal are:

The auditor should be experienced in applying either International Standard Auditing (ISA) audit standards, whichever is applicable for the audit. The auditor must employ adequate staff with appropriate professional qualifications and suitable experience with ISA standards, including minimum three years of experience in auditing the accounts of entities comparable in size and complexity to the entity being audited. Experience in auditing of World Bank/USAID supported projects is an asset.The interested audit firm must have valid updated license issued by IASA/MoCI and must be affiliated member of international accounting and auditing network. The auditor is required to attach scan copies of the above certificates/ evidence with proposal.The audit firm must have Afghanistan based working office, having rich local/international nonprofit organizations auditing experience. The auditor is required to briefly describe its experience in proposal.

The interested audit firm should submit Technical and Financial proposals clearly mentioning “Technical and Financial Proposal for Audit for the Years Ended December 21, 2019 and December 21, 2020 in the subject line of the email to the following email address:

opha.general.director@gmail.com    

cc to: opha.fm@gmail.com

Submission Email
opha.general.director@gmail.com /cc to: opha.fm@gmail.com