Okaloosa County BOCC — December 4, 2012 — reading text

independent of Okaloosa County as defined by generally accepted auditing standards and the U.S. General Accounting Office's Government Auditing Standards. The firm also should provide an affirmative statement that it is independent of all of the component units of Okaloosa County as defined by those same standards. The firm should also list and describe the firm's (or proposed subcontractor's) professional relationships involving Okaloosa County or any of its agencies or component units for the past five (5) years, together with a statement explaining why such relationships do not constitute a conflict of interest relative to performing the proposed audit. In addition, the firm shall give Okaloosa County written notice of any professional relationships entered into during the period of this agreement. 7 Packet Pg. 394  9.2.a.a b) Licensed to Practice in Florida An affirmative statement should be included indicating that the firm and all assigned key professional staff are properly registered/licensed to practice in Florida. c) Continuing Professional Education Required under Government Auditing Standards The firm should provide an affirmative statement that all professional personnel have received adequate continuing professional education, as required under Government Auditing Standards, within the preceding two (2) years. Attachment: Internal Auditing Services (1292 : Internal Auditing Services) d) Quality Control Review The firm is required to submit a copy of the report on its most recent external quality control review, with a statement whether or not that quality control review included a review of specific government engagements. The firm shall also provide information on the results of any Federal or State desk reviews or field reviews of its audits during the past three (3) years. In addition, the firm shall provide information on the circumstances and status of any disciplinary action taken or pending against the firm during the past three (3) years with state regulatory bodies or professional organizations. 2. Technical Qualifications a) Expertise and Experience The proposal should state the size of the firm, the size of the firm's governmental internal audit staff, the location of the office from which the work on this engagement is to be performed and the number and nature of the professional staff to be employed in this engagement on a full-time basis and the number and nature of the staff to be so employed on a part-time basis. If the proposer is a joint venture or consortium, the qualifications of each firm comprising the joint venture or consortium should be separately identified and the firm that is to serve as the principal auditor should be noted, if applicable. For the firm's office that will be assigned responsibility for the internal audit function, list the most significant engagements (maximum of 5) performed in the last five (5) years that are similar to the engagement described in this Request for Proposals (both governmental and internal audit services for other organizations). These engagements should be ranked on the basis of total staff hours. Indicate the scope of work, date, engagement partners, total hours, and the name and telephone number of the principal client contact. These individuals may be contacted by the County to provide references. The firm should list separately all engagements within the last five (5) years, ranked on the basis of total staff hours, for Okaloosa County by type of engagement (i.e., audit, management advisory services, other). For each engagement, the firm should indicate the scope of work, date, engagement partners, total hours, the location of the firm's office from which the engagement was performed, and the name and telephone number of the principal client contact. 8 Packet Pg. 395  9.2.a.a The firm should identify the principal supervisory and management staff, including engagement partners, managers, other supervisors and specialists who would be assigned to the engagement and indicate whether each such person is registered/licensed to practice as a certified public accountant in Florida. The firm also should provide information on the government auditing experience of each person, including information on relevant continuing professional education for the past two (2) years and membership in professional organizations relevant to the performance of this audit. The firm should 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. The firm also should 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 Attachment: Internal Auditing Services (1292 : Internal Auditing Services) 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 Okaloosa County. However, in either case, Okaloosa County retains the right to approve or reject replacements. Consultants and firm specialists mentioned in response to this Request for Proposals can only be changed with the express prior written permission of Okaloosa County, which retains the right to approve or reject replacements. Other audit personnel may be changed at the discretion of the proposer provided the replacements have substantially the same or better qualifications or experience. b) Specific Audit Approach i. Describe your firm’s experience in providing internal auditing services to local government as well as other organizations. Describe the unique qualifications of your firm to provide internal audit services to Okaloosa County, Florida. ii. Describe your firm’s experience in auditing Electronic Date Processing Systems (EDP) systems to include but not limited to accounting software systems, PC based software applications, local area networks, etc. iii. Describe how you will ensure the audit team assigned will have the necessary knowledge and experience in County government internal controls. iv. Describe your firm’s professional and technical resources which are available to support the internal audit work. v. The proposal should include a pricing structure (estimated hours and blended hourly rate) for the entity wide review of internal controls and the risk assessment work to be performed. Describe how you would approach risk assessment at the County and how you would develop an internal audit plan for the periodic review of the internal controls in the County departments based on the risk assessment. vi. The proposal should include a pricing structure (blended hourly rate) separate from the entity wide review of internal controls and risk assessment for the internal audit work based on the work plan. c) Reporting 9 Packet Pg. 396  9.2.a.a i. Document meeting availability for phone calls and face to face meetings. Presence at Board meetings may be needed from time to time. ii. Provide a sample internal audit report and discuss the type(s) of reports and related audit information that is provided to the client. d) Additional Information i. All additional information the Firm deems as pertinent to their proposal must be included in this section. e) Pricing Attachment: Internal Auditing Services (1292 : Internal Auditing Services) i. The firm should provide the pricing for the services as detailed in specific audit approach in this section. ii. The pricing form included in Appendix J should be completed by the proposer. IV. Proposal Evaluation and Selection Criteria A. Selection Committee Submitted proposals will be evaluated by a Selection Committee comprised of Okaloosa County, Florida Board of County Commissioners Management and the Clerk of the Circuit Court or his designee. A representative from the County’s external auditing firm will serve the selection committee as an ex officio non-voting member. B. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will initially be evaluated using two sets of criteria. Firms meeting the mandatory criteria will have their proposals evaluated for technical qualifications as described in the Proposal Format and Submittals Section. The following represent the principal selection criteria, which may be considered during the evaluation process. 1. Mandatory Elements a) The audit firm is independent and has no conflict of interest with regard to any other work performed by the firm for Okaloosa County. b) The audit firm is licensed to practice in Florida. c) The audit firm's professional personnel have received adequate continuing professional education within the preceding two (2) years. d) The firm submits a copy of its most recent external quality control review report and the firm has a record of quality audit work. e) The firm adheres to the instructions in this Request for Proposals on preparing and submitting the proposal. 10 Packet Pg. 397  9.2.a.a 2. Technical Qualifications a) Expertise and Experience i. The firm’s qualifications, experience, size and location. ii. The firm’s past experience and performance on comparable internal audit engagements. iii. The quality of the firm's professional