CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR 2025 ANNUAL AUDIT SERVICES FOR SIDS CSO CAPACITY STRENGTHENING PROJECT
1. ABOUT NGO CCR
The NGO Coalition on Child Rights, hereinafter referred to as ‘NGO CCR’ is a national Coalition of NGOs and networks whose broad goal is to entrench child rights programming in all development processes in Malawi anchored under the four fundamental principles of the rights of the Child: Non- discrimination; The best interest of the child; Right to life, survival and development; and Participation within the evolving capacities of the Child. The NGO CCR’s mission is to contribute towards the promotion, respect, protection and fulfilment of children’s rights through evidence based Advocacy, Coordination, Capacity building and Research, monitoring and reporting. The NGO CCR is currently the Executive Board member of the Child Rights Networks for Southern Africa (CRNSA), which is a SADC regional level body of non-state actors for Child Rights. The NGO CCR is also a member of ACERWC CSO Forum which is a Pan-African body of non-State Actors on Child rights and collaborates with the Child Rights Connect at the UN level on matters on Child Rights.
2. ABOUT THE SIDA CSO CAPACITY STRENGTHENING PROJECT
NGO CCR partnered with Save the Children International (Malawi Office) to implement a five –year CSO Capacity Strengthening Projects with Financial and technical support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The project which, runs from 2022 to 2026, has the following outcomes:
- Civil society organizations in Malawi, including child led organizations, are well-functioning and have increased their independence, sustainability and competency as child rights actors in a changing context
- Children (girls and boys) express their views and organize themselves to play an active part in civil society, individually and collectively, influencing decision-making regarding issues of their concern
- CSOs in Malawi advocate and hold the State to account for the fulfilment of children’s rights and equitable access to quality systems and services
- Expanded civic space and voice for CSOs in Malawi including child led organisations with support from Save the Children and other key actors to influence policy and practice
The 2025 annual budget for the project was MWK93,682,230.12. The Auditor shall be expected to assess the financial documents for the annual budget.
Objectives and scope of the audit
The objective is to audit the financial report for the period 1 January 2025 to 30 September 2025 as submitted to SIDA and to express an audit opinion according to ISA, applying ISA 800/ISA 805, on whether the financial report of the Global Civil Society Strengthening Programme of 2022-26 is in accordance with the Cooperation partner ́s accounting records and SIDA’s requirements for financial reporting as stipulated in the agreement including appendices between Save the Children International Malawi Country Office and Cooperation partner (Agreement).
II. Additional assignment; according to agreed upon procedures ISRS 4400 (Revised), review the following areas in accordance with the Terms of Reference below
Mandatory procedures that must be included:
- Observe whether the financial report is structured in a way that allows for direct comparison with the latest approved budget1.
- Observe and inspect whether the financial report provides information regarding:
a) Financial outcome per budget line (both incomes and costs) for the reporting period and columns for cumulative information regarding earlier periods under current agreement.
b) When applicable, compare if the opening fund balance2 for the reporting period matches with what was stated as closing fund balance in the previous reporting period.
c) A disclosure of exchange gains/losses. Inquire and confirm whether the disclosure includes the entire chain of currency exchange from Sida’s disbursement to the handling of the project/programme within the organisation in local currency/ies, if applicable.
d) Explanatory notes (such as, for instance, accounting principles applied for the financial report).
e) Amount of funds that has been forwarded to implementing partners, when applicable.
- a) Inquire and inspect with what frequency salary costs during the reporting period are debited to the project/programme.
Choose a sample of three individuals for three different months and:
b) Inquire and inspect whether there are supporting documentation3 for debited salary costs.
c) Inquire and inspect whether actual time worked is documented and verified by a manager. Inquire and inspect within which frequency reconciliations between debited time and actual worked time is performed.
d) Inspect whether the Cooperation partner comply with applicable tax legislation with regard to personal income taxes (PAYE)4 and social security fees.
iv. Review and confirm that the Cooperation partner screens IP’s and/or suppliers to ensure that such parties are not subject to the European Union’s financial sanctions list of persons, groups and organisations (EU Sanctions list).
Enquire whether there has been any reported findings from the screening process and if so, report on such findings.
v. a) Inspect and confirm that the unspent fund balance (according to the financial report) at the end of the financial year is in line with information provided in the accounting system and/or bank account.
b) Applicable the final year: Inspect and confirm the unspent fund balance (including exchange gains) in the financial report and confirm the amount that shall be repaid to Sida.
Follow up of funds that are channelled to implementing partners
Mandatory assignments that must be included if the Cooperation partner forward funds to implementing partners (IP’s):
Choose a sample of a minimum of 10 % of the total of disbursed funds as well as 10 % of the number of IP’s or a maximum of 10 IP’s.
vi. Inspect and confirm whether the Cooperation partner has signed agreements with the selected IP’s.
vii. Inspect and confirm whether the Cooperation partner, in all agreements entered with IP’s, included the requirement to carry out annual audits. The requirement shall specify that these audits shall be carried out with application of ISA (reporting according to ISA 800/805) and a separate assignment according to ISRS 4400 (Revised) should be included for project/programme support. If agreements regarding core support are entered into with IP’s, the audit shall be conducted in accordance with ISA 700 or National standards on auditing.
viii. Inquire and inspect whether the Cooperation partner has received financial reports and auditor reports from all IP’s included in the selected sample:
a) Inquire and inspect whether the Cooperation partner has verified if reports from IP’s are in line with the requirements in the Agreement.
b) Inquire and inspect whether the Cooperation partner has documented its assessment of the submitted financial reports and reporting from auditors including management responses and action plans from selected IP’s.
c) Inquire and inspect whether the Cooperation partner has documented its follow-up actions based on the information provided in the financial reports and the reporting from the auditor of the selected IP’s.
d) Inquire and inspect whether the Cooperation partner has reported substantial observations5 from selected IP’s audit reports in its communication with SIDA. List observations6 from IP’s audit reports which have been part of this sample.
ix. Confirm whether the Cooperation partner has followed-up grants in accordance with the requirements as described in Appendix F to the Agreement. Obtain a list of all IP’s that are affected by the decision and select 40 % or a maximum of 15 IP’s. Inspect and confirm whether the selected IP ́s have been followed-up in accordance with annexed routines.
3. The reporting
The reporting shall be signed by the responsible auditor (not just the audit firm7) and shall include the title of the responsible auditor.
Reporting from the ISA assignment
The reporting from the auditor shall include an independent auditor’s report in accordance with the format in standard ISA 800/805 and the auditor’s opinion shall be clearly stated. The financial report that has been the subject of the audit shall be attached to the audit report.
The reporting shall also include a Management letter that discloses all audit findings, as well as weaknesses identified during the audit process. The auditor shall make recommendations to address the identified findings and weaknesses. The recommendations shall be presented in priority order and with a risk classification.
Measures taken by the Cooperation partner to address weaknesses identified in previous audits shall also be presented in the Management Letter. If the previous audit did not have any findings or weaknesses to be followed-up on, a clarification of this must be disclosed in the audit reporting.
If the auditor assesses that no findings or weaknesses have been identified during the audit that would result in a Management Letter, an explanation of this assessment must be disclosed in the audit reporting.
Reporting from the ISRS 4400 (Revised) assignment
The additional assignment according to agreed upon procedures ISRS 4400 (Revised) under section II, shall be reported separately in an “Agreed-upon procedures report”.
Performed procedures should be described and the findings should be reported in accordance with the requirements in the International Standard on Related Services 4400 (Revised).
When applicable, the sample size shall be stated in the report. .
4. TIME FRAME OF THE AUDIT ASSIGNMENT
The Auditor shall be expected to complete the assignment and submit the final written report in electronic format to NGO CCR within 10 working day after signing the contract.
5. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The NGO CCR will consider suitably qualified individual Audit Consultant or Audit Firm on the following minimum requirements:
- Be a Certified Public Accountant or an Audit Firm duly registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi – ICAM and hold a valid Practicing Certificate issued by Malawi Accountants Board.
- Have at least two partners of good standing with ICAM. Further, the firm and its partners should not have been subject to any disciplinary action by ICAM or other related professional bodies.
- Should have been in operation for a period of at least five years and undergone a Quality Assurance Review by ICAM.
- Should demonstrate that it has the capacity, capability and experience required to undertake the audit within required time lines.
- Through three (3) traceable referees, the Audit Consultant or Audit Firm should demonstrate adequate experience in providing external audit services and specifically for this assignment, extensive knowledge of donor reporting requirements will be an added advantage.
6. EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
The submitted Technical and Financial Proposals shall be evaluated using the following criteria:
a. Technical Proposal
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- Confirmation of the firm’s understanding of the Terms of Reference (TORs) and its capacity and capability to deliver on the TORs;
- The methodology, work-plan and timelines for undertaking and completing the assignment, and the deliverables;
- Appropriate references to demonstrate the experience specified in the TOR;
- The CVs of key personnel proposed to carry out the assignment
- The firm’s past experience and performance on comparable external audit engagement.
- The quality of the firm’s professional personnel to be assigned to the engagement and the quality of the firm’s management support personnel to be available for technical consultation.
- Adequacy of Audit Approach, including the specific approach to the entity wide review of external controls and the risk assessment model
- List of at least three (3) prior audit assignments with contact details
b. Financial Proposal
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- Proof of registration with ICAM and copies of Practicing Certificates for the lead Partner
- In case of an Audit firm there should be confirmation of having undergone a Quality Assurance Review by ICAM
- Demonstrated that neither the firm, nor any of its partners or key staff, have faced any disciplinary action by ICAM or other professional bodies;
- Confirmation that the firm and/or its partners and key staff are not aware of any conflict of interest which may exist with respect to NGO CCR
- A list of clients for which the firm has performed similar assignments
- A schedule outlining tentative timeline for completion of the audit process
- Cost/ Audit Consultancy Charges
7. HOW TO APPLY
Interested individuals should send proposals to the Secretariat either on the following email address: ngoccrmalawi@gmail.com or hand delivered to the following physical address:
The Governance and Administration Committee,
NGO CCR, Area 49, New Shire, Opposite BNS – Street number 5 Private Bag A225,
Lilongwe 3.
8. CLOSING DATE
All application should be sent and arrive at the NGO CCR Secretariat by Friday 1600Hrs on 22nd August, 2025.
Post expires at 4:00pm on Friday August 22nd, 2025