Auditor of Sida funded Project/Programme Support including ISRS 4400.

Terms of Reference for

Audit of Sida funded Project/Programme Support including ISRS 4400

Introduction

Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub wishes to engage the services of an audit firm for the purpose of auditing the SIDA CIVSAM FY20-24: Creating an Advanced Transformation of Civil Society Environment for Resilience Building in Multi-hazard Settings (ARO100110) as stipulated in the agreement between Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub and Plan International Sweden. Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub has for the audit period obtained a grant of 2,080,269 SEK from Plan International Sweden/Sida. The audit shall be carried out in accordance with the international audit standards (ISA) issued by IAASB1. In addition to the audit of the financial statements, the assignment also includes an engagement to perform agreed-upon procedures regarding financial information in accordance with International Standards on Related Services (ISRS) 4400 as well as in accordance with the terms and review areas listed.

Objectives and scope of the audit

The objective is to audit the financial report for the period 01 July 2021 – 30 June 2022 as submitted to Plan International Sweden and to express an audit opinion according to ISA, applying ISA 800/805, on whether the financial report of SIDA CIVSAM FY20-24: Creating an Advanced Transformation of Civil Society Environment for Resilience Building in Multi- hazard Settings (ARO100110) is in accordance with the Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub’s accounting records and Plan International Sweden’s and Sida’s requirements for financial reporting as stipulated in the agreement including annexes, between Plan International Sweden and Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub and its subsequent partner organisation Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) Inc.

Plan International Sweden wants to emphasise the importance of the Auditor, as a part of the assignment, reviewing whether the subsequent partner organisations follow the requirements from Sida, see Appendix 6 “Plan International Sweden’s Audit instructions for Sida funded projects”.

Additional assignment; according to agreed upon procedures ISRS 4400, review the following areas in accordance with the Terms of Reference below

Mandatory procedures that must be included:

1. 1. Observe whether the financial report is structured in a way that allows for direct comparison with the latest approved budget2.
   2. Observe and inspect whether the financial report provides information regarding:
2. Financial outcome per budget line (both incomes and costs) for the reporting period and columns for cumulative information regarding earlier periods under current agreement.
3. When applicable, compare if the opening fund balance3 for the reporting period matches with what was stated as closing fund balance in the previous reporting period.
4. A disclosure of exchange gains/losses. Inquire and confirm whether the disclosure includes the entire chain of currency exchange from Plan International Sweden’s disbursement to the handling of the project/programme within the organisation in local currency/ies, if applicable.
5. Explanatory notes (such as, for instance, accounting principles applied for the financial report).
6. Amount of funds that has been forwarded to implementing partners, when applicable.
   1. a) Inquire and inspect with what frequency salary costs during the reporting period are debited to the project/programme.

Follow up of funds that are channelled to implementing partners

Mandatory assignments that must be included if Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub and its subsequent partner organisation Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) Inc 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.

The Reporting

The reporting shall be signed by the responsible auditor (not just the audit firm8) 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 Independent Auditor’s Report.

The reporting from the auditor shall also include a Management letter that discloses all audit findings, as well as weaknesses identified during the audit process. The auditor shall regardless of materiality, quantify the amount for costs lacking sufficient supporting documentation. 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 Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub and its subsequent partner organisation Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) Inc. 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 assignment

The additional assignment according to agreed-upon procedures ISRS 4400 under paragraph 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.

When applicable, the sample size shall be stated in the report.

Plan International Asia and Pacific Regional Hub and its subsequent partner organisation Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia) Inc. is responsible for providing a Management Response for all audits, even if there are no findings during audit. The management response shall respond to all auditors’ recommendations which shall include a time-bound action plan and the responsible person within the organisation. The Management Response can be included directly in the audit report or follow as an annex and shall be signed by management.

There are different levels of audit requirements at the subsequent partner organisation, if any, depending on the value of the partnership agreement. Please see Appendix 6 “Plan International Sweden’s Audit instructions for Sida funded projects”, for specified instructions.

The audits at Plan International Country/Regional office and subsequent partner organisation may be conducted by separate auditors or by the same auditor. The reporting when using the same auditor can either be presented in separate audit reports (please see Appendix 4 and 5) or a consolidated audit report (please see Appendix 2 and 3). The following conditions needs to be respected if the consolidated version is used:

1. – The audit report shall state which subsequent partner organisations are included in the report and what activities they are responsible for.
2. – It must be clear that a full audit, ISAs and ISRS 4400, have been carried out in full for all organisations and that the reports correspond with the main agreement between Plan and Sida.
3. – The report needs to contain signed financial reporting for all organisations. 4 – The report only contains few notes and does not reduce the overview.

5 – The Audit opinion needs to have an unqualified opinion for all organisations.

The reports are to be written in English in one copy and submitted digitally to Plan International Sweden no later than 30th June 2023. All reports may be submitted in English. Submission of draft reports to Plan International Sweden for review is due by 15th May 2023.