EFI is looking for an auditing firm to perform expenditure verification of EFI annual accounts and projects in accordance with applicable professional norms. The subject of this engagement is for:

1.     Statutory audit (Commissaire aux Comptes)

2.     Project audits (verification of expenditures)

1.     Statutory audit (Commissaire aux comptes)

Objectives

In accordance with the rules of the profession, the Statutory Auditor (Commissaire aux Comptes - CAC) will carry out the following tasks

·       Express an opinion on the regularity and fairness of the annual accounts

·       Verify the fairness and consistency of the financial information with the annual accounts

·       Prevent the association's difficulties in the case of a warning procedure;

·       Disclose to the public prosecutor of criminal acts of which it has knowledge;

·       Issue certificates

Besides, the CAC will participate in governance meetings, present the accounts to the General Assembly and provide advice during the terms of eligibility.

Tasks

To form an opinion on the accounts, the CAC will conduct an audit in accordance with professional standards. The objective of the CAC is to obtain reasonable assurance that the accounts are free from material misstatement.

The CAC's audit will cover the following areas:

·       General accounting and certification of accounts

·       Cost accounting

·       Control of the correct application of social standards

·       Control of the correct application of tax standards

·       Control of the correct application of legal standards

·       Control of the registers of the minutes of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly

Deliverables

·       The CAC will draw up a report on the annual accounts of EFI as well as a special report on regulated agreements.

·       The annual accounts are approved by the Board of Directors, the body statutorily responsible for this decision.

·       In addition, the CAC will provide, after each audit mission, a detailed report of its observations and recommendations, and will ensure the follow-up from one year to the next.

·       The CAC will also be able to assist and advise EFI in the evolution of its procedures in the event of changes in standards or legislation.

2.     Projects audit

Upon request from EFI, the auditing company will undertake verification of expenditures of its projects in accordance with the specific terms of reference of the donors (EU, SIDA, the AFD). This entails auditing the annual interim and final financial reports of EFI’s projects and to express an audit opinion according to ISA 800/805 on whether the financial reports are in accordance with the donor’s requirements for financial reporting as stipulated in the  grant agreements (specific and general conditions and annexes) agreed upon between the donor and EFI.

Deliverables will be provided in English (e.g. for SIDA and EU) or in French, upon EFI’s request.  

Six years starting from first quarter 2023. This includes:

·       For the CAC assignment: accounting years from 2022 until 2027.

·       For project audits: 5-6 project audits per year.

The auditing firm must be registered as a statutory auditor in the public register of a public oversight body in France.

The auditing team is a member of a national accounting or auditing body or institution which in turn is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). If not member of the IFAC, the auditing team commits to undertake this expenditure verification in accordance with the IFAC standards and ethics set out in the ToR.

The auditing firm should take into account in its offer the specificity of EFI and its funding structure (public donors such as the AFD, the EU, SIDA) and demonstrate its knowledge and capacity in this field.

The offer submitted by the auditing firm should include:

Technical offer

·       the general presentation of the firm, the proportion of CAC work, the number of staff and the quality procedures;

·       its capacity to carry out the assignment;

·       the presentation of the teams that will be made available; the CVs of the partners and managers;

·       its experience in the NGO sector and in international solidarity;

·       its experience of organisations receiving funding from public and private donors;

·       its timetable and mode of intervention;

·       the nature and scope of the estimated work (hours of work) for each type of assignments

·       the identification of a statutory auditor.

Financial offer

The financial offer should establish a clear breakdown between:

·       An estimated annual price for the CAC assignment based on EFI’s annual budget as well as the price of specific engagements (hourly/daily rates per participant);

·       An estimated cost for the project audit based on the project’s annual budgets as well as the price of specific engagements (hourly/daily rates per participant);

·       Invoicing modalities and modalities of evolution of the fees.

Selection criteria

·       Understanding of EFI’s needs and specificities;

·       Knowledge of and references in the associative sector and of international solidarity; notoriety in the sector;

·       The material and technical capacity to carry out the mission including composition of the proposed team, its stability and availability;

·       The quality of the offer;

·       The financial conditions.

Place and deadline for submission of offers:

Offers should be submitted in English by email to: application@efi-ife.org indicating the reference: “Auditing Firm 2023" in the email subject.

For further information, applicants should contact the same e-mail address by 20^th January 2023 at the latest.

The deadline for submission of offers is 31^st January 2023.