MECC Foundation Seeks Auditing Firm

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The MECC Foundation is seeking an auditing firm to perform the organization’s annual audit. Information is contained below regarding proposal submissions.

 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
TAX AND AUDITING SERVICES
MOUNTAIN EMPIRE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION

I. PURPOSE

The Mountain Empire Community College Foundation is soliciting sealed proposals to establish a contract through competitive negotiations for tax and auditing services.

II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Foundation is an independent nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Its purpose is to generate support to advance the mission Mountain Empire Community College beyond the resource support provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia. As such, annual audits and tax reporting is required and must be completed timely and accurately.

III. SCOPE OF SERVICE

The Foundation is seeking a reputable firm to provide the following services and present the final audit reports to the respective full Board each year. Therefore, your proposal should reflect your experience in providing these services. This proposal shall be for a period of five (5) years.

• Annual audit to be completed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The Foundation audit is required to be submitted to the VCCS (Virginia Community College System) no later than 6 months after the end of the calendar year. Thus, the Foundation audit must be received by the Foundation office before the last week of June following the calendar year end.
• Meetings with audit committee and/or board of directors, as necessary
• Preparation of 990 tax filing
• Review of the annual report to the VCCS prepared by Financial Services Specialist
• Consultation if necessary
• Notification of accounting standards that may affect either organization

IV. CONTRACT

The contract will be based on a five (5) year term. The Mountain Empire Community College Foundation reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, waive any technicalities in proposals received, negotiate and accept the proposal which may be in the best interest of the Mountain Empire Community College Foundation.

V. EVALUATION AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Respondents to this RFP must submit all data required herein in order for the proposal to be evaluated and considered for award. Failure to submit such data shall be deemed incomplete and removed from consideration. Evaluation of the proposal will be based on, but not limited to, the following items:

1. Detail your firm’s experience in providing auditing and tax services to companies in the not-for-profit sector.
2. Provide information on whether you provide services to any institutions of higher education or any other foundations.
3. Discuss the firm’s independence with respect to MECC and the MECC Foundation.
4. Discuss commitments you will make to staff continuity, including your staff turnover experience in the last three years.
5. Identify the two largest clients your firm (or office) has lost in the past three years and the reasons. Also discuss, in instances where loss of the client was due to an unresolved auditing or accounting matter, the process of attempting to resolve the issue(s).
6. Identify the partner, manager, and in-charge accountants who will be assigned to our jobs if you are successful in your bid and provide biographies.
7. Describe how your firm will approach the audit of the organization, including the use of any association or affiliate member firm personnel and the areas that will receive primary emphasis. Also discuss the firm’s use of technology in the audit. And finally, discuss the communication process used by the firm to discuss issues with leadership of the Foundation.
8. Set forth your fee estimate for the 2021 audit for the Foundation, with whatever guarantees can be given regarding increases in future years. Also, provide your estimated fees for tax preparation services.
9. Furnish standard billing rates for classes of professional personnel for each of the last three years.
10. For reference purposes, provide the names, titles, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of other, similarly-sized clients of the partner and manager who will be assigned to our organization.
11. Describe how and why your firm is different from other firms and why our selection of your firm as our independent accountants is the best decision we could make.
12. Include a copy of your firm’s most recent peer review report, the related letter of comments and the firm’s response to the letter of comments.

VI. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

A. Proposals should be brief – the inclusion of information not pertinent to the basic purpose of the response is discouraged.

B. Six (6) sets of the proposal must be submitted by 3:00 p.m., Friday, September 2, 2016, to the MECC Foundation Office, Attn: Donna Stanley, Executive Director, 3441 Mountain Empire Road; Big Stone Gap, VA 24219. All proposals should be clearly marked as “RFP – Auditing Services”. No other distribution of the proposal shall be made by the offeror.

C. All questions regarding this RFP should be directed to the MECC Foundation Office; 3441 Mountain Empire Road; Big Stone Gap, VA 24219; Telephone: 276-523-7466; Email: foundation@mecc.edu