2017-18 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: AUDITOR FOR INTERNAL CONTROL & CONSULTANT SERVICES CONTRACT PERIOD: JULY 1, 2017 JUNE 30, 2020 PROPOSALS RECEIVED UNTIL: MAY 8, 2018 AT 2:30PM The Poughkeepsie City School District (PCSD) hereby invites the submission of sealed proposals from qualified and experienced Certified Public Accounting firms or individual CPA s to act as Internal Control Auditor & Consultant Services for the District for the 2017-18 school year and for each of the two (2) subsequent fiscal years. To be considered for this engagement, your firm must meet the qualifications and satisfy the requirements set forth in this RFP. Completed proposals must be received at the following address by May 8, 2018 at 2:30p.m. and addressed as follows: POUGHKEEPSIE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT DAWN CUPANO, PURCHASING AGENT INTERNAL CONTROL AUDITOR & CONSULTANT SERVICES 11 COLLEGE AVENUE POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. 12603 Unless otherwise noted in this proposal, all questions and correspondence should be directed to Dawn Cupano in writing and faxed to 845-451-4955, dcupano@poughkeepsieschools.org. All questions will be addressed in writing and posted to the District s website. I. GENERAL INFORMATION The Poughkeepsie City School District hereby invites the submission of sealed proposals from qualified and experienced Certified Public Accounting firms or individual CPA s to act as Internal Control Auditor & Consultant Services for the District for the 2017-18 school year and for each of the two (2) subsequent fiscal years. The successful proposer will be expected to provide services such as those listed below. The specific services to be contracted will be the result of discussions during the RFP process and final contract negotiations between the District and the successful proposer. Changes to the list of services could also be impacted by legislative action and/or the finalization of the Comptroller s plan to address financial controls at school districts. It is anticipated that the successful proposer will not serve as the District s Independent Auditor. The internal audit services will be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; the standards for auditing contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States ( Yellow Book Standards ), or the standards established by the Institute of Internal Auditors ( Red Book Standards ) and guidelines promulgated by the Department of Audit and Control and Education Department of the State of New York. 1
II. DISTRICT BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The PCSD 2017-18 General Fund is operating on a budget of $96,747,054, has 4,300 students and a five (5) member Board of Education. The district is utilizing Finance Manager, as its accounting software program for accounting, purchasing and payroll functions. All accounting and payroll operations are performed in-house on computers. Security and technical support is provided by Mid Hudson Regional Information Center, New Paltz, New York. III. SCOPE OF WORK: A. PROPOSED TYPICAL DUTIES OF THE SUCCESSFUL PROPOSER: 1. Analyze the current internal control structure of the PCSD to ensure the proper internal controls are in place and working. 2. Recommend improvements of the internal controls structure as required, by developing a Risk Assessment of the District s operations annually. 3. A minimum of one system shall be tested each year, in accordance with NYS Comptroller s Five Point Plan as adopted by the State of New York. Subsequent to testing of systems, results shall be included in the report issued to the Audit Committee and Board of Education that identifies and prioritizes the District s significant risks, outlines the results of the testing and assessments performed on the system, and details recommendations for changes including enhancement or corrective action or any problems noted in the Risk Assessment. 4. The internal audit services will be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; the standards for financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States; or the standards for internal audits established by the Institute of Internal Auditors and guidelines promulgated by the Department of Audit and Control and Education Department of the State of New York. 5. Provide a report which analyzes any Risk Assessment findings; recommend changes to strengthen PCSD internal controls to eliminate any risks identified. 6. Assist in the development of policies and procedures that will incorporate your recommendations. 7. Perform an annual review of the internal controls of the PCSD to ensure all policies and procedures are meeting the needs of the Board of Education and the NY State Comptroller. 8. As the NY State Comptroller s policies and procedures change, keep the PCSD aware of any and all changes that pertain to the daily internal controls of the PCSD and recommend changes as required. 9. Meet with the Board of Education at their request to review any internal controls concerns/issues, etc. 2
B. IRREGULARITIES AND ILLEGAL ACTS: Auditors shall be required to make an immediate, written report of all irregularities and illegal acts or indications of illegal acts of which they become aware to the Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, the Superintendent and the Board of Education. C. REPORTING TO THE DISTRICT Barring the instance of any irregularities and illegal acts by the District s management, the Internal Auditor shall review any and all findings, corrective action plans and relative timelines with the District s management. Only in the instance where the Auditor believes the District s management is involved in irregularities and/or illegal acts, the Auditor shall make their report directly to the District s Audit Committee and Board of Education. An annual report will then be given to the District s Audit Committee for review, prior to acceptance by the Board of Education. D. WORKING PAPER RETENTION AND ACCESS TO WORKING PAPERS: All working papers and reports must be retained, at the Auditor s expense, for a minimum of three (3) years, unless the firm/individual is notified in writing by the District of the need to extend the retention period. The Auditor will be required to make working papers available, upon request, to the following parties or their designees: 1. Board of Education; 2. New York State Department of Education; 3. U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO); 4. The Office of the New York State Comptroller; 5. Parties designated by the federal or state governments or by the District as part of an audit quality review process; 6. Auditors of entities of which the District is a sub-recipient of grant funds; and, 7. In addition, the internal auditor shall respond to the reasonable inquiries of successor internal auditors, and current or subsequent external auditors and allow them to review working papers relating to matters of continuing accounting significance. IV. EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS: It is anticipated that the successful proposer will have significant experience with school district auditing and accounting. The successful proposer must possess demonstrated knowledge of: 1. Laws of the State of New York 2. Applicable standards and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Education 3. Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller of New York State 4. Applicable standards and regulations of the Federal Government. 3
The District reserves the right to reject staff who they feel does not have appropriate experience or qualifications to provide the required services. V. ALL-INCLUSIVE PROPOSAL PRICING IS ALL INCLUSIVE. THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL CHARGES ALLOWED UNDER THIS CONTRACT (i.e. mileage, tolls, lodging telephone calls, etc.). VI. PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS: One (1) original and four (4) copies of the written proposal must be submitted and must include: 1. Proposed fees to be charged for services outlined above or contained in the proposal submitted. 2. Any contingencies of the proposal, 3. List of current school district clients, 4. Proposed option for multi-year services, 5. Any other factor which may influence the District s decision. 6. Size of internal audit staff and the number of professional and/or non-professional staff to be employed in this engagement. 7. The proposer shall also provide information on the results of any federal or state desk reviews or field reviews of its internal audits during the past three (3) years with state regulatory bodies or professional organizations. 8. Indicate the proposer s experience in dealing with the Governmental Finance Officers Association, the New York State Association of School Business Officials, the International Association of School Business Officials, Dutchess County School Boards Association, The New York State School Boards Association and the National School Boards Association. List other school districts using Finance Manager you have performed audits for. List to include school district name, number of years and scope of work performed. Describe any periodical or occasional publications produced by the proposer in the school district accounting and auditing area. 9. Partner, Supervisory and Staff Qualifications Experience: Identify the principal supervisory and management staff, including engagement partners, managers, other supervisors and specialists, who would be assigned to the engagement. Indicate information on prior internal auditing experience of each person, information on relevant continuing professional education for the past three (3) years and 4
membership in professional organizations relevant to the performance of internal audits. Provide as much information as possible regarding the number, qualifications, experience and training, including relevant continuing professional education, of the specific staff to be assigned to this engagement. Indicate how the quality of staff over the term of the agreement will be assured. Engagement partners, managers, other supervisory staff and specialists may be changed if those personnel leave the firm, are promoted or are assigned to another office. These personnel may also be changed for other reasons with the express prior written permission of the District. However, in either case, the District retains the right to approve or reject replacements. Other internal audit personnel may be changed at the discretion of the proposer provided that replacements have substantially the same or better qualifications or experience. VII. PROPOSAL EVALUATION A contract will be negotiated with the best proposer as determined by the Board of Education. It is appropriate to emphasize that the lowest priced proposer may not be the best. Factors that will be considered in determining the best proposal include, but may not be limited to: 1. Fee structure, 2. Proposer s prior experience with school district accounting and auditing, 3. Contingencies placed by the proposer, 4. Proposer s ability to have qualified staff available by telephone for consultation during normal business hours and for site visits as necessary, 5. Any other factor which relates to the District s mission or goals. The process by which proposals will be considered and determined is as follows: 1. All proposals responding to the District must be in writing and must be received by 2:30 p.m. on May 8, 2018 at the Jane Bolin Administration Building located at 11 College Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603. Proposals submitted after that time and date will be rejected and returned unopened to the proposer. 2. Based on the proposals received, proposers may be selected for oral interviews with a committee of district officials. The purpose of the interview process will be to further review and analyze the proposals. 3. Proposals of finalists, as determined by the interview process, will be considered at a meeting of the Board of Education on May 23, 2018. A decision on such 5
proposals will be made as soon thereafter as possible. The District reserves the right to contact proposers during this period to further discuss their proposal. During the evaluation process, the District reserves the right, where it may serve the District s best interest, to request additional information and clarifications from proposers. Any such information given, either orally or in writing, is not given in confidence and may be used, or disclosed to others, for any purpose at any time without obligation or compensation and without liability of any kind whatsoever. The acceptance of any proposal is contingent upon the negotiation and execution of a binding contract for services between the proposer and the District, which contract must be finalized within two (2) weeks of acceptance of the proposal. The Board reserves the right to reject any and all proposals at any time during the process, based upon its sole discretion, and to seek new proposals through either the same or similar process or another process. Moreover, the Board reserves the right to waive all informalities and/or technicalities where the best interests of the Board may be served including the right to award a contract without any further discussion or negotiation with anyone proposing these services. Post proposal negotiations may be conducted with any proposer. VIII. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT This professional service contract is subject to termination at any time by the Board of Education with thirty (30) days written notice, if deemed in the best interest of the District. 6
PROPOSAL: July 1, 2017 June 30, 2020 PRICING IS ALL-INCLUSIVE AS PER ARTICLE 1 SECTION D. PRICING SHALL REMAIN THE SAME FOR THREE (3) YEARS. There are no additional charges allowed for mileage, tolls, lodging etc. under this contract. I hereby submit a proposal for internal auditing services for the Poughkeepsie City School District for the fiscal year in accordance with the Request for Proposal and all guidelines contained within the Reference Manual for Audits of Financial Records of New York State School Districts published by the New York State Education Department. Part I Complete Internal Audit Services (all-inclusive) $ PART II SPECIAL REQUEST REPORTS OR BROADENING OF THE SCOPE OF WORK BEYOND THAT OF THE RFP MAY BE REQUIRED. Rates for any additional services that may be requested beyond the internal audit scope. Firm to provide time sheets of individuals involved. PARTNER $ /HOUR MANAGER $ /HOUR SUPERVISOR $ /HOUR SR. ACCOUNTANT $ /HOUR STAFF ACCOUNTANT $ /HOUR SUPPORT STAFF $ /HOUR Office of Company (Signature) Name of Officer Company Name Address Date Title Telephone Fax Number Email 7