Auditor for an Annual Project Audit in India At Sign of Hope

Organisation

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

www.hoffnungszeichen.de, www.sign-of-hope.org

Position

Auditor

Type of Contract

Short-term consultancy

Type of Audit

In depth

Location

Home-based with field mission travel to North and South 24 Parganas, India

Languages Required

English, Bengali

Starting Date

15th April 2024

Auditing Period

From 01.10.2022 to 31.12.2023

Project Title

Sound of Silence: Strengthening tribal women’s voices an leadership for climate risk reduction among tribal communities in the Sundarbans, India.

Total Project Budget

473,110 EURO

Annual Project Budget

239,035 EURO

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for external independent financial audit services in India.

Background and Organisational Setting

SoH is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. Based in Constance, Germany, SoH is dedicated to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.

SoH will be the private German executing agency, with Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) and Lokamata Rani Rashmoni Mission (LRRM)being the local implementing agencies.

The project aims to promote inclusive social change by amplifying the voices of tribal households in 8 villages in the SBR region of the North and South 24 Parganas and representing them in research, governance and development interventions. In 4 phases, it aims to (1) enable communities in identifying their vulnerabilities and development needs and aspirations, and assess their vulnerabilities and climate risks, (2) develop community-led interventions to address those needs and aspirations and reduce vulnerabilities to climate change, and (3) implement these interventions through women-led processes, facilitated by like-minded organizations, (4) assess the effectiveness of the interventions and disseminate the knowledge gained with relevant actors.

Audit Objectives

The purpose of the in-depth audit is to provide SoH with a sound basis for its accountability, transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosure towards the funding agency Oak Foundation. The tasks of this recruitment relate to:

• An annual audit, with a detailed examination of all the supporting documents for the period of 01.10.2022 – 31.12.2022;
• An annual audit, with a detailed examination of all the supporting documents for 01.01.2023 – 31.12.2023;

This in-depth audit will verify the compliance with standards of the funding agency Oak Foundation, SoH, national regulations and the international accounting standards (ISA).

The auditor will review the project’s financial documents, receipts lists, records of transactions, all vouchers and receipts disbursed, and relevant project documents in order to come up with a professional, independent opinion on the financial accounting of the project “Sound of Silence: Strengthening tribal women’s voices an leadership for climate risk reduction among tribal communities in the Sundarbans, India” for all funds received and expended by DRCSC and LRRM from 01.10.2022 to 31.12.2023.

Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of DRCSC and LRRM.

The audit will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by SoH and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to the project management and monitoring of finances by SoH, DRCSC and LRRM.

Expected Deliverables

The auditor is expected to produce two audit reports, audit certificates and management letters, which will comprise for each organization the following:

1. Presentation of the scope and mandate of the audit, as well as the list of documents that formed the evidence for the audit,
2. An opinion whether financial statements (statement of accounts broken down for each year being audited) are issued in accordance with the financial reporting framework of the project, Oak Foundation requirements and an internationally recognized accounting standard,
3. Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.
4. A checked, signed and stamped list of all project costs receipts, sorted by Oak Foundation budget lines (list is provided by the local implementing partner).

Audit documents can be issued in English or German.

Scope of the Audit

The audit should focus on the following:

• The correctness and completeness of the accounting records,
• The financial report, showing all project related income and expenditure structured by budget lines,
• Deviations of expenditure by budget lines. The expenditure, which exceeds or falls below the budget appropriations by more than 30 %, shall be explained separately.
• That receipts and relevant supporting documents are available for all project related income and expenditures,
• The management of the funds made available, which includes the transfer of project funds, all interest earned from the project funds during the reporting period and further income generated by the project,
• Reviewing the appropriate use of funds according to the project objectives,
• Evaluation of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the usage of funds,
• Budget adherence through the comparison between budgeted and actual costs in the currency in which the expenditure was incurred. The audit report will not convert the examined amounts into the Euro amounts,
• Reviewing if personnel costs and social security contributions conform to the regulations in the project country and are locally comparable,
• The economical use of the project equipment and assets,
• The inventory and the use of capital items, their whereabouts and their purposive usage,
• Compliance with the legal framework of the project (project agreements and annexes, contracts, etc.) and the donor requirements,
• Compliance with the policies of the local implementing partner regarding procurement, financial administration, human resources management and travel.

Procedures and Communication

The auditor will be given access to all necessary documents in the project offices through the local implementing partners DRCSC and LRRM as well as relevant donor documents through SoH.

The auditor will be responsible to set up a schedule in agreement with the local implementing partners DRCSC and LRRM. Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. DRCSC and LRRM will support the auditor with logistics and arrangements.

Qualifications and Experience

• Necessary qualification to serve as a recognized independent auditing authority,
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience conducting external independent audits of projects funded by international institutional donors in India,
• Experience in conducting audits for Donor-funded projects is beneficial.

Criteria and weighting for the evaluation of the submitted proposals:

1. Essential and desirable competencies, proposed methodology: 40 %
2. Financial proposal (fee): 30 %
3. Performance during interview: 20 %
4. Minimum amount of years of relevant experience: 5 %
5. Language skills: 5 %