Invitation to Tender
External Audit Services
15 August 2023
Introduction
We Effect is a development organisation founded in 1958 by the cooperative movement in Sweden. We work in more than 20 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and collaborate mainly with member-based organisations consisting of women and men who live in poverty. We work in the thematic fields of sustainable rural development and adequate housing. Our values are respect, transparency, and together.
We Effect in Southern Africa is present in and implements country development programmes in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. For more information, see www.weeffect.org
We Effect applies a human rights-based approach in its international development cooperation programmes.
The target groups for our work are local partner organisations and their existing and potential members. Partner organisations include farmer organisations, housing cooperatives, and savings and credit association. Strategic partnerships are established with expert organisations involved in human rights, academia and advocacy.
Audit Assurance
We Effect has decided to invite tenders for the provision of the 2023 external audit services for the Regional Office for Southern Africa and Zambia Country Office, both based in Lusaka, Zambia. The contract will cover the external audit service for the financial year 2023 with the possibility of an extension up to maximum 5 years in total, subject to satisfactory performance.
We Effect’s general objectives for this tender process are to:

Secure a high-quality provider of external audit services.
Ensure the appointed auditor is in place in readiness for the review of the financial statements for the year to 31 December 2023, with a management audit of the Regional Office & Zambia Country Office due by 15 November 2023.
Appoint an auditor who will provide high standards of professional service.
Appoint an auditor who will provide excellent value for money.

The Firms will be judged on the following evaluation criteria:

Full registration with the in country professional body;
Experience and expertise of the firm within the NGO sector;
Experience and ability of the audit team;
Knowledge of and ability to interpret We Effect audit instructions;
The suitability of the audit approach;
The ability to provide the full range of services required including audit specialist technical accounting advice;
The ability to provide local partner organisation support assurance services;
The ability of the firm to “add value” rather than providing purely a compliance audit;
The ability of the firm to meet stipulated deadlines based on reference checks;
Cost effectiveness of the audit.

Documentation to be submitted
To facilitate the needs of the We Effect evaluation process, all written proposals submitted must have the following minimum requirements;

Background information on your audit firm. Audit unit of your firm, in the case of multi-office firms, an organisation chart for the local office responsible for this contract. This should include the total number of staff within the unit together with the number of staff (and full-time equivalents) working on external audit assignments.
Details of previous experience of providing external audit services to the international development agencies, NGOs, cooperations. We Effect will also want to take up references from at least two of your current clients. Our intention is to select these from the list that you provide to us.
Personnel and employment details of the audit team should be provided in this section of your proposal. This should include: Name of employee; job title; accountancy qualifications; other professional qualifications; date that they joined your firm; current and previous work experience, membership to the professional body.
Financial proposal. This should include a detailed cost structure /rate of each staff member to be involved in the assignment adding up to the overall audit fee proposed. The annual fee (inclusive of expenses, excluding VAT) which your firm will levy should be clearly presented.

Registration certificates (tax and other) should also be attached.
Technical approach/ Methodology
Audit Planning: Please provide details of your approach to audit planning, including the key stages of the process and whom this would involve.
Audit fieldwork: Please outline your approach to audit fieldwork, including the level of input that you would expect from We Effect staff.
Audit reporting: This will be in line with ISA and also according to the audit instruction information shared by We Effect.
Tenderers should set out the arrangements within their firm for ensuring that quality exists throughout the audit process.
Please refer also to our 2022/2023 audit instructions.
Contact details
For detailed audit instructions, enquiries, information or clarification please email [email protected].
Deadline.
The deadline for responding to this tender is Thursday 31 August 2023.
Tenders should be submitted by email to [email protected] Please mark the tender email with subject heading “We Effect Annual Audit 2023”.