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
Kinshasa and Sud Ubangi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Languages Required
French, English
Starting/End Date
February 1, 2023 – February 22, 2023
Auditing Period
From January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
Project Title
SEWOH-Holistic Food Security for Communities in Sud Ubangi, DRC
Annual Project Budget 2022
280.000 EUR
Background and Organisational Setting
Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation. Based in Constance, Germany, Sign of Hope is dedicated to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.
An audit is commissioned under the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funding guidelines for development projects run by private German executing agencies.
Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, while Humana People to People Congo (HPP-Congo) will be the local implementing agency.
HPP-Congo has been active in DRC since 2006. HPP-Congo intervenes in the areas of agriculture and food security, environmental protection, education with a focus on teacher training and vocational training, health with a focus on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and family planning, as well as holistic community development.
The aim of the project is to overcome the chronic food insecurity of 28,000 direct beneficiaries in Sud Ubangi through measures to increase productivity through training in sustainable management and climate-friendly farming methods, the development of small animal husbandry, support for the creation of jobs outside traditional agriculture and training of the local population in the management of natural resources such as water.
Audit Objectives
The purpose of the in-depth audit is to provide Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. with a sound basis for its accountability, transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosure towards the funding agency BMZ.
This in-depth audit will verify the compliance with standards of the funding agency BMZ, Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V., national regulations and the international accounting standards.
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 “SEWOH-Holistic Food Security for Communities in Sud Ubangi” for all funds received and expended by HPP Congo from January 1st 2022 to December 31st 2022.
Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of HPP-Congo.
The audit will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to the project management and monitoring of finances by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and HPP-Congo.
Expected Deliverables
The auditor is expected to produce an audit report, an audit certificate and a management letter, which will comprise the following:
- Presentation of the scope and mandate of the audit, as well as the list of documents that formed the evidence for the audit,
- An opinion whether financial statements (statement of accounts) are issued in accordance with the financial reporting framework of the project, BMZ requirements and an internationally recognized accounting standard,
- Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.
- An approved (signed by auditor) list of all project receipts sorted by budget line (list provided by HPP Congo).
- An approved (signed by auditor) inventory list (list provided by HPP Congo).
Audit documents can be issued in English or German. In exceptional cases, the audit is accepted in French or Spanish. In this case, the core statements, including identified shortcomings and recommendations, as well as concluding audit opinion should be translated into 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, if the approval of the BMZ has not previously been obtained,
- 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 partner HPP-Congo as well as relevant donor documents through Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.
The auditor will be responsible to set up a schedule in agreement with the local implementing partner HPP Congo. Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. HPP-Congo will support the auditor with logistics and arrangements, however, all payments of the contract will be made directly by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.
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 the DRC.
How to apply
Application Process
Please submit the following documents with “Annual Audit in Sud Ubangi, DRC” to [email protected] no later than 18/11/2022.
- A financial proposal (in EUR),
- A qualification certificate of a recognized independent auditing authority as confirmed by a relevant institution in the project country (for example, a chamber of commerce, national association of auditors or another relevant organisation),
- A reference list of three previous customers.
The selection of the auditor will be conducted jointly by HPP-Congo and Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.
The audit agreement will be set up by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and HPP Congo. Audit agreements set up by auditors won’t be accepted.
Please note that the audit will not start until February 2023.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.