REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR ANNUAL AUDIT SERVICE TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)
PART I: BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES
1. Introduction
Founded in 2001, VisionSpring is the social enterprise accelerating the use of eyeglasses in emerging and frontier markets. Our mission is to increase lifelong earning, learning, safety, and well-being through eyeglasses for people vulnerable to poverty. We believe in the wonder of clear vision for everyone and envision a world in which all who need glasses will have them to see well and do well by 2050. As of 2022, VisionSpring corrected the vision of more than 10 million people living on less than $4 per-day, unlocking more than $2 billion in income earning potential. VisionSpring has received honors from the Skoll Foundation, Aspen Institute, World Bank, Duke University, and Tribeca Film Festival, among others. Their work has been covered by BBC | The New York Times | The Economist | The Lancet and more. See well. Do well. Learn more at www.visionspring.org
In Vietnam, VisionSpring received its incorporation certificate as a Social Enterprise under the name VisionSpring Vietnam Limited Company (VSVN) in January 2024, and seeks to engage the services of an audit firm to undertake the statutory audit of its financial statements. The audit shall be carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs).
2. Information
Part I, Bidding Instructions and Procedures, will not form part of any resulting award or contract. It is intended solely for the information of prospective bidders. If at any time prior to the award VSVN deems there to be a need for a significant modification to the terms and conditions of this RFP, VSVN will issue such a modification as a written RFP amendment to all competing bidders. No oral statement of any person shall in any manner be deemed to modify or otherwise affect any RFP term or condition, and no bidder shall rely on any such statement. Such amendments are the exclusive method for this purpose.
VSVN is not bound to accept the lowest or any proposal and reserves the right to accept any proposal in whole or in part and to reject any or all proposals.
VSVN shall not be legally bound by any award notice issued for this RFP until a contract is duly signed and executed with the winning Bidder.
Any resulting contract will be subject to the terms and conditions contained in the contract agreement duly signed by both parties.
3. Bidding Costs
Bidders are under no obligation to prepare or submit bids in response to this RFP and do so solely at their own risk and expense. VSVN does not undertake to reimburse any costs incurred, therefore.
4. Review of RFP
Bidders are solely responsible for the careful examination of all the terms and conditions of this RFP and to comply fully therewith.
5. Language
All documents submitted in response to this RFP, as well as all correspondence in connection with the RFP, shall be in both Vietnamese and English language.
6. Clarifications
Inquiries concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing by 12:00 noon December 10th, 2024. Such inquiries shall be sent by email, directed to:
Email: [email protected]
Attention: Uyen Vuong
Email subject: VSVN/RFP/AUDIT/2024
Copy: [email protected]
VSVN is under no obligation to consider or respond to questions that are not received by the date on the cover page.
7. Bid preparation
The proposal to be submitted shall include but not be limited to the following information:
- Technical Proposal
- The audit firm is familiar with International Auditing Standards and US GAAP
- Experience in auditing Social Enterprises/ FDI companies
- Understanding of the audit requirements
- Understanding the deliverables of the requirements
- Approach and methodology to be used
- Initiatives (if any) for improving audit implementation plan
- Implementation plan (starting time and total time needed)
- Human resources arrangement: The team leader should be a qualified CPA or ACCA
- Financial Proposal
Financial proposals are prepared based on the technical proposal. Bidders should submit a detailed budget in excel format. In addition, submit a signed copy of the budget in PDF format.
8. Bid Submission
All proposals must be submitted to VSVN via email to Ms. Uyen ([email protected]) and copy to ([email protected]) or by hard copy to VSVN’ office at room 1035, Prime Business Center, 10th Floor, Pacific Place Building, 83B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Tran Hung Dao Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam no later than 12:00 noon December 17th, 2024.
All proposals must be in writing, in both Vietnamese and English language, signed and dated by an authorized person on behalf of the Bidder.
All proposals must be submitted by email to: same email address of receipt of RFP, with all in copy with subject VSVN/RFP/AUDIT/2024.
Proposals may not be altered, corrected, or withdrawn after the Date of Receipt, except that VSVN, at its sole discretion, may permit the correction of arithmetic errors, transposition errors, or other clerical or minor mistakes, in cases in which VSVN deems that both the mistake and the intended proposal can be established conclusively on the face of the proposal. Other than the mistakes listed in the previous sentence, no mistakes alleged by a Bidder after the Date of Receipt will be permitted to be corrected.
Proposals must be valid for at least ninety (90) days from the Date of submission.
PART 2: RFP SCOPE OF WORK
This scope of work defines the general work expected to be completed by the recommended bidder.
1. Objective of the activity
As required by law, every registered entity must file its account with the requisite statutory bodies by certain timeless. As a registered entity, VSVN is subjected to comply with the Vietnam law and the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). Therefore, we are seeking to engage an audit firm for the provision of audit assurance services.
2. Scope of the Activity
VSVN was incorporated in Vietnam in January 2024 and has been in operation for the first year. In line with its growth strategy, to stay in compliance with local laws, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations, VSVN seeks the services of an organization with the requisite expertise to provide an audit service. The audit firm shall be required to express an opinion on the fair presentation of the financial statements to be prepared by the Director of VSVN in accordance with Vietnam law and the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). To meet the requirements of this SOW, the audit shall be performed in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) which require that the auditor complies with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free of material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.
Consequently, the audit firm will work with VSVN Finance, and Vietnam Country Manager to achieve the specific deliverables as outlined below.
3. Specific Deliverables and Timelines
It is expected that the engaged firm will achieve the following deliverables:
- Perform the statutory audit of the financial statement for the year ending December 31st, 2024.
- Apply all required auditing standards to assure users of the financial information’s validity.
- Make appropriate recommendations that seek to enhance VSVN operations.
- Express an opinion on the financial statements as presented by its directors after the review and verification of all supporting documentation as sampled.
- Issue audit report.
|
Timeline |
Task |
|
By December 31st, 2024 |
Auditors selected and contracted |
|
By February 19th, 2025 |
Auditors work at VSVN’s office in Hanoi (tentative 3-5 days) |
|
By March 7th, 2025 |
Auditors send the draft audit report to VSVN |
|
By March 21st, 2025 |
Auditors send the final audit report to VSVN |
PART 3: EVALUATION CRITERIA
Bid Evaluation
In evaluating the proposals, VSVN will seek the best value for money rather than the lowest-priced proposal. VSVN will use a three-stage selection procedure:
- Evaluation of Technical Proposal:
The evaluation panel will fully evaluate the Technical Proposals. The panel will determine which of the Technical Proposals passes the minimum agreed technical score specified below.
Technical Evaluation Criteria:
|
Criteria |
Score |
|
Technical |
100 |
|
The auditor must be a chartered or registered public accountant. |
5 |
|
Team leader and team member hold CPA or ACCA, CFA or MBA qualification |
10 |
|
Team leader and team member familiar with ISAs and US GAAP |
15 |
|
Experience in auditing Social Enterprises/ FDI companies |
20 |
|
Understanding of the audit requirements |
20 |
|
Understanding the expected deliverables |
10 |
|
Approach and Methodology to be used |
10 |
|
Implementation plan (starting time and total time needed) |
10 |
Note: The acceptable threshold for technical proposals is set at a minimum score of 70 points out of 100 points. Technical proposals which do not reach this minimum score will not be considered for financial evaluation.
- Evaluation of Financial Proposal:
The financial evaluation shall be based on the lowest price of those bidding firms that submitted responsive Technical Proposals where the lowest price shall get a maximum financial score of 100 points. The formula for determining the financial scores of other quotations is the following:
Sf = 100 x Fm / F, in which Sf is the financial score, Fm is the lowest price and F the price of the proposal under consideration.
- Final evaluation and negotiations:
The final ranking of the proposals will be based on the combined quality and cost. The total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of the technical score and financial score, with the weighting being:
80 % is given to technical score; 20% is given to financial score
Regarding the contract negotiations VSVN reserves the right to invite the nextranked firm to negotiate if negotiations with the first-ranked firm do not result in a contract.