CANCELLED Long Term Agreement (LTA) for the provision of Audit, Accounting and Advisory Services

Tender cancelled on 2025-03-26 13:23 UTC. To ensure value for money, UNOPS require to review the financial evaluation criteria, making impossible to move foward with the current process. For any inquiries, please contact Saul Morales. Email: saulm@unops.org, Phone: Honduras 0

New clarification added: QUESTION1. Under Paragraph 37. Contract Management of Section 1 Instruction to Offerors reference is made to Section IV: Schedule of Requirments stating that contractors performance during the entire contract period and performance evaluation will be based on KPI or Service Level Agreements (SLA) is fo specified in Section IV: Schedule of Requirments. Can UNOPS please confirm where this can be found? As Section IV of the tender is section IV_ Returnable Bidding Forms.2. 3.2 of Section III evaluation criteria asks for the 'qualifications of the auditor, forensic auditor, and  investigator’. While this could be interpreted as indicating three discrete roles, we are assuming that  the forensic auditor and investigator would be one and the same person. The same would apply to the investigations/forensic manager. Is this correct?Dear Potential Bidder 1. The evaluation method for the contract is based on the Terms of Reference and details can be negotiated to awarded bidder.2. Yes - It reads Forensic /Investigator so its the same person, same applies to the Manager - it is Forensic/Investigation Manager so same personKind regards

New amendment added #3: Dear Sir/ Madam,Please find be informed that Prebid meeting minutes have been uploaded.Best regards.

New clarification added: Good day All,I am seeking clarification on  the following;Do you have a preference on the lead country for the global firm? Or any country can lead? Dear UNOPS team,Will UNOPS accept the following adjustment to UNOPS General Conditions of Contract for the provision of Services:Clause 6.1: The parties agree that the appropriate liability cap for any direct damages or claims (including indemnity) resulting from or in connection with this LTA and/or any Call Off Order will be agreed in the applicable Call Off OrderDear Bidders- There is no preference on the lead country for the global firm. - The bidders that have reservations to the GCCs related to the insurance, need to state these reservations in their submission for later consideration of UNOPS.Kind regards

New clarification added: Dear Sir/Madam,Can you please provide clarifications or guidance on Form F: Performance Statement Form?  Is it important that it is submittd at the level of submission of the tender?It has fields as listed below:Order placed by Name and Full address of purchaser    Order no. & date    Description of services provided    Value of order    Date of completion of service    Remarks indicating reasons of late delivery, if any    Was the supply of service satisfactory?Kind regards,J. SunmolaDear Bidder,Yes - this is a requirement in the qualification criteria. We require at least 3 evidences of performance of similar services in the last 3 years.Thank you.

New clarification added: 1. We note that the technical proposal form does not indicate word or page limits for individual responses or for the technical proposal as a whole. Are you able to provide any guidance on this point?2. The financial proposal form asks for fee rates in the six regions for audit/forensic audit managers and auditors/investigators.  We wanted to inquire if there is a restriction on categories of staff for which we have to quote the price. Depending on the nature of assignments, we envisage that some work might be most appropriately undertaken by manager or auditor/investigator at the head office/global firm's team (i.e. below the global coordinator/senior partner level) and sometimes with the local sub-contractors. Is it permissible to add an extra column to reflect this possibility?Dear Bidder,1. There is no word or page limit, so kindly include all relevant information in your technical proposal.2. We are expecting the same Global Partner, Global Audit Manager and Global Investigations Manager despite the locations/regions where the services are requested. The rates for these three staff levels should be the same despite the regions, while the rates for auditors and investigators will vary according to the region.Thank you.

New clarification added: Dears,Can you please advise if we can submit offer only for Europe and Central Asia Region or it is mandatory requested to submit for six regions, as it is mentioned in Financial Proposal Form.Maybe it is explained in the call you had on 14th of August, but we were not present.Thank you Dear Bidder,It is mandatory to submit a proposal covering all the regions. We will only select one audit firm which will be in charge of the global audit. But remember you can participate as joint ventures if you do not cover all the regions where we operate.Thank you.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS Question: We would like to ask UNOPS, if anonymized descriptions of recent engagements could be accepted instead of references. Our Forensic Manager and Investigator would also be available for interviews to elaborate on experience and capabilities. Thanks Dear Potential BidderAnonymized descriptions of recent engagements will be accepted instead of references.Kind regards 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,With reference to Form B: Proposal Submission Form bullet a, the offerors must confirm that: We have examined and have no reservations to the bidding documents. The requirement in the LTA contract section 6.7 states that: UNOPS reserves the right, upon written notice to the Contractor, to obtain copies of any insurance policies or insurance program descriptions required to be maintained by the Contractor under the Contract. This requirement conflicts with our contract with our insurance company. We are not allowed to share the insurance police, since it is confidential. Questions:·        Will UNOPS accept a change in the LTA and replace the right to a copy of the insurance police with an insurance certificate that can proved that we are insured adequately?·        Will UNOPS make it possible to mention other formal conditions in e.g. LTA, which can be met with minor adjustments, which would otherwise be a reservation, and therefore disqualify a potential supplier from the tender?Dear Vendor,If the bidder believes that certain reservations are needed on UNOPS GCC in order to perform the services for UNOPS, they should include it in their proposal. UNOPS may will evaluate the requested deviations during the evaluation stage. If the requested deviations are acceptable to UNOPS, UNOPS may consider negotiating the requested deviation with the successful bidder before the contract award.Thanks.

New clarification added: Clause 6.5 requires us to include you as part of our insurance policy. However, that would not be possible to include you within our insurance policy. We have an insurance policy for us and could share certificates with you if requested and can confirm we have certain insurances in place as part of the negotiations. Dear Vendor,If the bidder believes that certain reservations are needed on UNOPS GCC in order to perform the services for UNOPS, they should include it in their proposal. UNOPS may will evaluate the requested deviations during the evaluation stage. If the requested deviations are acceptable to UNOPS, UNOPS may consider negotiating the requested deviation with the successful bidder before the contract award.

New clarification added: Good day All,Kindly requesting for the link to todays' pre bidding meeting.Kind regardsMargaret NassaliForvis Mazars Dear Bidder, You can find the meeting link (https://meet.google.com/iaq-qacd-bte) in pre-bid meeting details section and please confirm your participation to the email mentioned in there.Thank you. 

New clarification added: The call off contract appears to be a purchase order. We would need to sign something for each individual assignment confirming the scope of work for that particular assignment, is there an example of this?Dear Bidder,Terms of Reference will be prepared for each project audit and a corresponding Purchase Order will be generated accordingly.Thank you.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,IN LTA bullet 5.2, that states: “Prices reflected in Annex 4 are not subject to any adjustment or revision because of price or currency fluctuations …”.The contractor must take both the inflation risk and the exchange rate risk for a period of more than 3 years in a time of many uncertainties in the world. Is it possible that this provision can be adapted so that the risk is not solely carried by the contractor? A suggestion could be:        Rate increases will be adjusted as per the AoN Hewitt Salary Index for the relevant mix of countries and using the “All Employees, Total – based on actual data and not forecast” reference up to a cap of 3%. If the AoN Hewitt Salary Index for the relevant mix of countries exceeds 3% Contractor and UNOPS will review and agree an additional rate change above the 3% cap.Dear Vendor,Thank you for your suggestion. According to UNOPS's previous experiences with similar service contracts, UNOPS will not change the contract terms for pricing. UNOPS will reimburce the actual cost of travelling and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be provided as per |CSC rates applicable at the time of performance of services.Regards.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Will UNOPS accept the following adjustment to UNOPS General Conditions of Contract for the provision of Services:Clause 6.1: The parties agree that the appropriate liability cap for any direct damages or claims (including indemnity) resulting from or in connection with this LTA and/or any Call Off Order will be agreed in the applicable Call Off OrderDear Vendor,If the bidder believes that certain additional provisions/deviations are needed in order to perform the services for UNOPS, they should include it in their proposal. UNOPS may will evaluate the requested deviations during the evaluation stage. If the requested deviations are acceptable to UNOPS, UNOPS may consider negotiating the requested deviation with the successful bidder before the contract award.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Section IV Form B subsection a, that states:“We have examined and have no reservations to the bidding documents (which includes UNOPS General Conditions of Contract)”,but the LTA section 3 is referring to both special conditions and minutes from the negotiation meeting.Can UNOPS confirm that adjustments can be made to the LTA and amendments can be made to the terms and conditions because of said negotiations meeting?Dear Vendor,If UNOPS needs to negotiate with the contractor on anything (like pricing), a negotiation meeting will be arranged, and the terms that are agreed upon by both sides will be included in the contract.Regards. 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Section IV Form B subsection a, that states:“We have examined and have no reservations to the bidding documents (which includes UNOPS General Conditions of Contract)”,but the LTA section 3 is referring to both special conditions and minutes from the negotiation meeting.Can UNOPS confirm that adjustments can be made to the LTA and amendments can be made to the terms and conditions because of said negotiations meeting?Dear Vendor,If UNOPS needs to negotiate with the contractor on anything (like pricing), a negotiation meeting will be arranged, and the terms that are agreed upon by both sides will be included in the contract.Regards. 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Section IV Form B subsection a, that states:“We have examined and have no reservations to the bidding documents (which includes UNOPS General Conditions of Contract)”,but the LTA section 3 is referring to both special conditions and minutes from the negotiation meeting.Can UNOPS confirm that adjustments can be made to the LTA and amendments can be made to the terms and conditions because of said negotiations meeting?Dear Vendor,If UNOPS needs to negotiate with the contractor on anything (like pricing), a negotiation meeting will be arranged, and the terms that are agreed upon by both sides will be included in the contract.Regards. 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS Team,We want to confirm that the Scope of the agreement under the Notice information states ''....As a result of this solicitation exercise UNOPS will enter into a non-exclusive Long Term Agreement for an initial period of 3 years with the option to extend...'' and in the tender documents indicate that the contract will be awarded to one supplier. Could you please confirm what would be the case?Thank you.Dear Vendor,UNOPS will enter single vendor LTA and non-exclusivity means that UNOPS shall have no obligation to purchase any minimum quantities of goods or services from the Contractor, and UNOPS shall have no limitation on its right to obtain goods or services of the same kind, quality and quantity described in the Contract, from any other source at any time. Thanks.

New clarification added: Respected Sir/madamWith Reference to Section 3 Evaluation Creteria Qualifications 1.Financial capability- Offerors should have annual sales turnover of minimum USD 2 million in each of the last 3 years. In case there is a Joint Venture with Turnover, which is collectively more than 2 million will this fulfill the Evaluation Creteria. please clarify.Dear Bidder, The lead firm's financial capability is enough for the qualification if it meets the required annual sales turnover. If this is not the case, the joint venture turnover will be considered.Thank you.  

New clarification added: Good day All,I am seeking clarification on  the following;Do you have a preference on the lead country for the global firm? Or any country can lead?Dear Bidder,No, we do not have a preference of the lead country for the global firm.Thank you. 

New clarification added: HelloWe wanted to follow up on our previous query which you were looking into:you have requested the cost breakdown by region rather than country, can you confirm which countries are classed within each region and if we can cost per country rather than region as each country would cost differently depending on country.Many thanksDear Bidder,Please note that the rates are to be provided per region. However, for informational purposes only, we have uploaded a revised version of Form C: Financial Proposal Form_Revision 1 on 06_08_2024 which includes a list of countries where UNOPS projects are located.Thank you. 

New amendment added #2: Dear Sir/ Madam,Please be informed that Form C- Financial Proposal Form revision 1 (xlsx form) is issued and you can find under the documents section. And sample of purchase order (call-off order) is provided. Other documents remain unchanged.Best regards.

New clarification added: Hi UNOPS team,I hope you are doing well. Can you please confirm us when shall we receive an invite for the Pre-bid conference to be held on 14th Aug,2024. Kind regards,Himanshi(on Behalf of international development team, EY)Dear Vendor,You can find the meeting link in pre-bid meeting details section and please confirm your participation to the email mentioned in there.Regards. 

New clarification added: Dear Procurement TeamCan you provide the contract terms and conditions, as the link references is to the procurement terms.Under which jurisdiction is the contract coverned?Can you provide an example call off contract for the individual pieces of work, detailing the liability limit/clause, jurisdiction, terms and coniditions etc.Many thanksDear Vendor,1. You can find the sample of Long Term Agreement under Documents Section. And we will apply UNOPS General Conditions of Contract.2. The contract is not covered by any jurisdiction; kindly see Clause 16 of the GCCs which states that in the event of a dispute, the procedures of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”) shall be applied.3. Purchase order (call-off order) is generated by the system. Now sample purchase order is attached under documents section and you can find there.Thanks.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team, With reference to form B: Proposal Submission Form bullet e, the offerors must confirm that: We have no conflict of interest in any activity that would put it, if selected for this assignment, in a conflict of interest with UNOPS. Questions:  Will UNOPS accept that Conflict of Interest and Independence is assessed on a project by project basis, with the option to refrain from audit projects, where there otherwise would be a Conflict of Interest or Independence issue? Context:  Our firm, as well as other potential bidders, is providing other services to UNOPS, e.g. under the LTA - ID 1008509 Various Business and Corporate Management Consultation Services, which means that there may be situations for specific audit projects where a potential Conflict of Interest or Independence situation will arise. Needless to say, such situations, if they occur, will be handled with professionalism and diligence to identify possible mitigating factors. We understand that UNOPS for this Terms of Reference for Long Term Agreement to provide Auditing, Accounting and Advisory Services intend to select only one Global Audit Firm to conduct project audits, specialised audits including forensic audit/ investigations on behalf of IAIG. For your reference, we commonly see global internal audit organisations deal with the risk of disruption from Conflict of Interest and Independence by having the internal audit (IAIG) to take on the audit role themselves or appoint another external provider to perform refrained projects, if such a situation should occur.Dear Bidder,Yes, conflict of interest will be assessed on a project by project basis.Thank you.

New clarification added: Respected Sir/Madam,With reference to the details required under Form E, for CVs, under the section of referees, do you require us to put client references for the individual staff or do you require reference of direct line manager/supervisor within the firm?Kinldy clarify.Dear Bidder,We require client references for the individual staff.Thank you. 

New clarification added: Respected Sir/Madam,As per the clarification received on 26/07/24, UNOPs wanted the bidders to provide CVs for each region (screenshot attached). However, as per another clarification on 30/06/24, UNOPs asked for CVs of main submitting/ global office and not regional office.Can you pls clarify this.Dear Bidder,Please proceed as per the clarification provided on 30/07/2024. We only want one CV for each of the following positions - Global Audit Coordinator/ Senior Partner, Audit Manager, Forensic /Investigations Manager and Auditor, Forensic Auditor & Investigator. These should be only for the main submitting/ global office (not CVs for the regional personnel).Thank you.

New clarification added: HelloWe understand you have requested the cost breakdown by region rather than country, can you confirm which countries are classed within each region and if we can cost per country rather than region as each country would cost differently depending on country.Many thanksChiragDear Bidder,We are consulting internally and we will revert next week.Thank you.

New clarification added: Good afternoon,We'd be grateful for your response to the following clarifications:•    Can you confirm you require only one global audit firm?•    Can you confirm if you have an incumbent supplier, and if so who this is?•    For legislation and independence reasons our firm separates internal and external (in the case the preparation of an audit report to International Standards of Auditing) to ‘Express an opinion…and provide a true and fair view’. Can you confirm that you require one firm to deliver both parts of the requirement?Kind regardsDear Bidder,1. Yes, only one global audit firm. However, if the offeror does not have all the expertise required for the provision of the services to be provided under the contract, such offeror may submit a proposal in association with other entities, particularly with an entity in the country where the services are to be provided. Please refer to Section I 'Instruction to Offerors' page 1 under 'Offeror Eligibility' last paragraph.2. Yes, BDO UK3. YesThank you. 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS procurement team, I would like to follow-up on the Request for Proposal RFP/2024/52646 in relation to the “Long Term Agreement (LTA) for the provision of Audit, Accounting and Advisory Services” prior to the deadline for submission on Aug 14th at 10h UTC+2.We are keen to support the work of UNOPS, and we are already and quite intensively in the process of harnessing our ecosystem of global experts and community in the relevant regions in order to provide you with the best solution for this global LTA.However, we respectfully ask that you please consider granting a reasonable time extension, of approximately 3,5 weeks till 9th sept, to afford us that chance of pursuing the opportunity with you.This time extension would be crucial for us to be able to effectively mobilize our assurance and audit experts and suppoorting teams during the summer holiday season so we can gather the relevant pertaining elements, finalize a response and fine tune our approach.In addition: this RfP has raised a number of questions and requests for clarifications (mostly related to the actual set-up of the mandates / subsequent minibids as per independance matters, functional perimeters of the financial elements to be audited) that seemed to be innefectively treated through return of email, or as per the usual request for clarification process. Consequently could we kindly require you to organize a short (1h) pre-bid conference? We understand that this would add-up a significant value to our co-bidders too thus for UNOPS. We look forward to hearing from you and remain available for any additional information you may require. Regards,Pierre Jamelin on behalf of the EY teamsErnst & Young AGSchanzenstrasse 4a, 3008, Bern, SwitzerlandCell:+41 76 802 02 43 | Office:+41 58 286 57 39 | pierre.jamelin@ch.ey.comDear Bidder,1. The deadline will be extended to 31st August 2024. We will publish a formal notification as well.2. A pre-bid meeting will be held on 14th August 2024 from 3pm to 5pm CET. We will publish a formal notification.Thanks.

New clarification added: Respected Sir/mam,With reference to Section 3 -Evaluation Criteria- Qualification Criteria 1. Financial Capability- Offerors should have an annual sales turnover of a minimum of USD 2 million in each of the last 3 years. In case of a Joint Venture does both the offerors have submit the documents for financial capability or the lead firm's qualification in terms of financial capability is enough for the qualification?Dear Bidder,The lead firm's financial capability is sufficient for the qualification if it meets the required annual sales turnover.Thanks.

New clarification added: Dear Sir/Madam,1. Could you kindly confirm if you require CVs for all staff proposed or only CV for Global Coordinator, Audit Manager, Forensic /investigations Manager and Auditor. For example in a region we may have proposed 50 staff. Do we provide CVs for all these2. The Financial proposal form (excel) requires us to only give rates per category of staff. Is this the case please confirm3. Is there a possibility to extend this RFP to allow compililation of the required documents for our submissions.Dear Bidder,1. We only want one CV for each of the following positions - Global Audit Coordinator/ Senior Partner, Audit Manager, Forensic /Investigations Manager and Auditor, Forensic Auditor & Investigator. These should only be for the main submitting/ global office (not CVs for the regional personnel).2. Yes, the rates in the financial proposal should only be for the stated 5 levels and for each of the 6 regions. Please note that there is only one Global Audit Coordinator/ Senior Partner, one Audit Manager and one Forensic/Investigations Manager so the rates for these individuals should be the same across all the regions.3. The deadline will be extended to 31st August 2024. We will publish a formal notification as well.Thanks.

New clarification added: Additioal questions below :- Is it possible to cover a country in another region? (example : France covering Vietnam )- Should the price for the daily rate include travel and out-of-pocket money?Thank you and best regardsDear Bidder,1. Yes you can, however, the professional rates provided for the specific region being audited will apply.2.The quoted daily rate should be the professional fees. UNOPS will reimburse the actual cost of travelling (e.g. air travel) and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be provided as per ICSC rates applicable at the time of performance of services.Thank you. 

New amendment added #1: Dear Sir/ Madam,Please be informed that the deadline of the proposal submission is extended to 31 Aug 2024, 12:00 UTC.As per vendors' request and many clarifications coming, pre-bid meeting will be hold on 14 Aug 2024, 13:00 UTC.Best regards.

New clarification added: Dear Sir, dear Madam,Due to the holiday season, would it be possible to have at least 2 weeks deadline extension ?Thank you and best regardsDear Bidder,The deadline will be extended to 31st August 2024. We will publish a formal notification as well.Thanks. 

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Please see below question that is yet to be responded to?Where the global audit firm has no presence in some of the countries and territories listed, are they allowed to use subcontractors and seek approval from unops? Dear Bidder,Yes, the global audit firm is allowed to use subcontractors in countries and territories where they do not have a presence. UNOPS will need to be notified in such instances.Thanks.

New clarification added: Respected Sir/ Madam,As per the requirement of the RfP for the purpose of assessing financial capabilities, 3 years audited financial statement is required. Our firm's financial statement for the financial year April 2023 to March 2024 is under audit, since in our country 30th September is the last date to get the financial statement audited. Hence, can we provide the financial statement for financial year 2020-2021, financial year 2021-2022 and financial year 2022-2023.Thanks and best regards.Dear Vendor,Given that the most recent year is being audited, you can provide the previous three years financial statement.Thank you.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS team,Thank you for the repsonses received.Please also provide clarifications for the questions below:1. There are 213 Countries and territories provided in the RFP. How are these countries and territories grouped in each region? 2. Will UNOPS require the proposal to have CVs for audit manager, investigations/forensic manager and auditor per region or per country?3. Where the global audit firm has no presence in some of the countries and territories listed, are they allowed to use subcontractors and seek approval from unops? Dear Vendor, Thank you for seeking clarification.Please see our responses below:-1. UNOPS has global presence, for further details on project country locations of each region, please refer to UNOPS internet page: https://www.unops.org/project-locations.2. Please provide the CVs per region.Thank you. 

New clarification added: Dear Sir, Madam,Please find below additional questions:- Afghanistan is out of bound territory so certain other international donors are making their records available in Pakistan in scanned form, so whether the scope of work can be done remotely for Afghanistan?- For IAIG assistance, please advice on the independence of the specialized staff, whether any staff distinction will be required or not?- In financial proposal, should  we submit the fee solely for primary scope, or it has to be inclusive for secondary and tertiary scope?Thank you and best regardsDear Vendor,Thank you for seeking clarification.Please see our responses below:-1. In this context, audit work can be conducted remotely.2. If the same staff has been providing other services on the same project that requires audit, e.g. site assessment, advisory services on project setup, evaluation of project outcome, he/she should not be in the same audit team of the specific project audit. 3. Please submit fee inclusive for secondary and tertiary scope. Noting majority of the services requested by IAIG will be on the primary scope.  Thank you.

New clarification added: Dear UNOPS,Please clarify whether audit services required are for projects implemented by UNOPS or implementing partnerc contracted by UNOPS or both?Dear Vendor,The audit services required are for the projects implemented by UNOPS.Thanks

New clarification added: Dear Sir, dear Madam,I hope this finds you well,Could you please provide the document "section I, RFP particular" ?Thank you and best regardsDear Vendor,Thank you for the clarification. For "section I, RFP particular", please refer to the Particulars tab under tender information in eSourcing system. We don't provide the document as it's online system for this time.Thanks.