Audit Readiness and Accounting Operations Support Services

*****DRAFT PWS ***** PURPOSE: This is a DRAFT performance work statement (PWS) and NOT a solicitation for proposals. The purpose of posting this draft PWS is to gain feedback from industry on the Audit Readiness Support Services Requirement prior to issuing a formal solictation. RESPONSE CONTENT: The government is requesting comments and comments on the Draft PWS, not capabilities statements. All material provided in response to this draft PWS shall be UNCLASSIFIED, non-confidential, and non-proprietary to the maximum extent practicable. Firms providing confidential/proprietary information shall separately and clearly identify and mark all confidential/proprietary information. DARPA will take all necessary steps to protect/safeguard any confidential/proprietary information provided. DARPA will NOT be held responsible for any proprietary information not clearly marked. All responses to this draft PWS must be submitted electronically (via e-mail) to Lydia Richards at contact@example.gov AND Hillary Dean at contact@example.gov (Subject Line: Audit Readiness Questions on Draft PWS -[Offeror Name]). All questions or comments must include the page number, section number, and paragraph number that pertains to the potential Offeror's question(s) or comment(s). The Government will not be accepting capabilities statments in response to the sources sought notice below. COMMON CUT-OFF TIME/DATE: Responses to the draft PWS are requested no later than February 20, 2018 at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Responses received after this date and time may not be considered. DISCLAIMER AND IMPORTANT NOTES: This draft PWS is for information and planning purposes only and shall NOT be construed as a final solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Government. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any concern responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the concern's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation MAY be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of responses received nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted as a result of this draft PWS. ***** SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (CLOSED) ***** The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is issuing this sources sought notification to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support the requirement for Audit Readiness and Accounting Operations Support Survices at the three locations listed below. THE INTENTION IS TO PROCURE THESE SERVICES ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS THROUGH THE SBA 8(A) PROGRAM. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE DARPA Headquarters - Arlington, VA (40% all on government site) DFAS Columbus - Columbus, OH (10% all on government site) DFAS Indianapolis - Indianapolis, IN (50% - 20% on government site and 80% on contractor site) DISCLAIMER "THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A "REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)" TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR RFP, IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT." PROGRAM BACKGROUND The DARPA Office of the Comptroller (COMP) provides accounting, financial, contractual, systems and other management support for the agency. The functional areas are supported and governed by various statutes, policies, regulations and procedures. Tasks within COMP are often complex and require substantial experience, knowledge and background in a diverse complement of functional areas in order to be performed successfully. COMP is responsible for managing routine financial/accounting tasks as well as numerous other requirements levied upon DARPA by outside entities (primarily the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of Management and Budget and The Defense Finance and Accounting Services). REQUIRED CAPABILITIES The Contractor shall provide support services to include Accounting Operations, Financial Management and Budget Execution Support for DARPA with Financial Analysis, Document Preparation, Reporting, Internal and External Accounting Record Reconciliation Support, review of Reported Amounts for Selected Financial Statement Accounts, Assertion Process and Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICOFR) and Internal Controls over Financial Systems (ICOFS). The contractor will provide this support in three geographic regions: 1) DARPA Headquarters in Arlington, VA 2) The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Indianapolis, IN Center 3) DFAS Columbus, OH Center DFAS is the primary finance and accounting service provider for the DoD. For DARPA, these services include maintaining official accounting records, performing payroll functions, settling travel claims, making contract payments, preparing required status reports, and preparing financial statements. The DFAS Indianapolis Center maintains detailed accounting and financial records for DARPA headquarters' administered funds and summary level information for the remaining funds, which are administered by agents in the Military Services, Defense agencies, and civil agencies. Detailed accounting and financial records for agent-administered funds are maintained at the DFAS Centers and operating locations supporting those agents. DFAS Indianapolis uses summary level information from the Defense Departmental Reporting Database-Automated Financial Statements System (DDRS-AFS) to prepare DARPA's financial statements. DFAS Columbus entitles and disburses many contracts containing DARPA funds and serves as a main support organization for our Air Force Agents. If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, Web site address, telephone number, and size and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to: 1) provide services consistent, in scope and scale, with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated and 2) provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: See Requirements Overview Document. ELIGIBILITY The applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 541219 with a Small Business Size Standard of $20,500,000. The Product Service Code is R709. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND SUBMISSION DETAILS (CAPABILITIES STATEMENT) Interested parties are requested to submit a capabilities statement of no more than ten (10) pages in length in Times New Roman font of not less than 10 pitch. The deadline for response to this request is no later than 12:00 NOON, ET, 19 OCT 2017. All responses under this Sources Sought Notice must be e-mailed to Lydia Richards at contact@example.gov and Hillary Dean at contact@example.gov with "Audit Readiness Support" listed in the subject line. Your response to this Sources Sought, including any capabilities statement, shall be in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF). This documentation must address at a minimum the following items: 1.) What type of work has your company performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirement? 2.) Can or has your company managed a task of this nature? If so, please provide details. 3.) Can or has your company managed a team of subcontractors before? If so, provide details. 4.) What specific technical skills does your company possess which ensure capability to perform the tasks? 5.) Please note that under a Small-Business Set-Aside, in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, the small business prime must perform at least 50% of the work themselves in terms of the cost of performance. Provide an explanation of your company's ability to perform at least 50% of the tasking described in this PWS for the base period as well as the option periods. 6.) Provide a statement including current small business status and company profile to include number of employees, annual revenue history, office locations, DUNs number, etc. 7.) Respondents to this notice also must indicate whether they qualify as a Small, Small Disadvantaged, Women-Owned, HUBZone, or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern. Respondents are encouraged to submit their questions and provide feedback in regards to the requirements listed in the Requirements Overview. Questions and answers will not be provided as a result of this sources sought notification. All questions and comments will be used to help further define the requirement. Questions and comments specific to the Requirements Overview have no page limitation. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The estimated period of performance consists of a base year plus four 12-month option years with performance commencing in November 2018. Specifics regarding the number of option periods will be provided in the solicitation. CONTRACT TYPE AND LEVEL OF EFFORT The contract type is anticipated to be a Firm Fixed Price Contract. The Level of Effort for per year is estimated at 48,000 man-hours All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. No phone calls will be accepted. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought.