Grant Activities Audit

COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION: Solicitation Number RFP-SA201341177 Grant Activities Audit is being issued as a RFP. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6 and procedures in Subpart 13.1 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation will be issued utilizing Full and Open Competition IAW FAR Subpart 6.1. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the offeror who is deemed responsible and is determined, based on the evaluation factors and sub-factors, to represent the best value to the Government. OFFEROR'S PROPOSAL MUST BE PREPARED, SUBMITTED, AND WILL BE EVALUATED AS DESCRIBED BELOW: 1. OFFER DUE DATE: Your offer must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. Arlington, VA local time on Friday, July 12, 2013. Late proposals will be processed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation guidance. 2. OFFER SUBMISSION: Send your offer by email to contact@example.gov. Proposals submitted by facsimile or to alternate email addresses will NOT be accepted. 3. QUESTIONS RELATING TO THIS SOLICITATION: Questions regarding this RFP must be submitted no later than 12 noon, Arlington, VA local time on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 to contact@example.gov. Telephone calls are not acceptable. Written questions will be answered in writing and provided to all offerors via a posting to FedBizOpps. However, due to the time required to research a question, and provide an answer, questions received less than seven calendar days prior to the due date of offers specified in this solicitation may not be answered. 4. NOTICE REGARDING SUSPENSION/DEBARMENT/INELIGIBILITY: Any contract awarded to a Contractor who, at the time of award was suspended, debarred, and ineligible for receipt of contract with Government Agencies or in receipt of a notice of proposed debarment from any Government Agency, is voidable at the option of the Government. 5. CENTRAL CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION (CCR) DATABASE: All Contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and On-Line Representation and Certification (ORCA) database via https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ in order to be eligible for contract award. Lack of registration in CCR will make an offeror ineligible for award as described in FAR 52.204-7. Do NOT delay submission of your offer pending receipt of a CAGE code. Offerors may obtain information on registration via https://www.sam.gov. 6. SET-ASIDE: This procurement is a small business set-aside with a small business size standard of less than $19M annual sales under NAICS code 541211, Offices of Certified Public Accountants. Award is limited to U. S. firms or U.S. individuals. Contractor and U.S. subcontractor employees used shall be either U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States. Contractor use of subcontractors is limited to less than fifty percent of the proposed price. 7. Contract Type: The Government contemplates award of a firm fixed-price contract. 8. DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK: Please see the FEDBIZOPPS Attachment 3 to this solicitation. Vendors are reminded of failure to properly enroll in the System for Award Management database, On-Line Representation and Certification (ORCA) System, and provide accurate Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)/Tax Identification Number (TIN) information via www.sam.gov shall be excluded from award. 9. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE: All services are subject to the COR's final approval. All work will be inspected and accepted at USTDA's Office, Arlington, VA in accordance with FAR 52.212-4(a). 10. SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS: This solicitation includes the following additional contract requirements and terms and conditions: - CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS AND KEY PERSONNEL: The contractor shall provide the key personnel listed in its proposal to perform the work. Changes in key personnel may only be made with the Contracting Officer's prior written approval. 11. CONTRACT CLAUSES: The clauses at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions--Commercial Items and 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. 12. INSTRUCTIONS/CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS: The Provision at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial, and the Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Attachment 2; applies to this acquisition with the following addition: - TECHNICAL PROPOSAL: The contractor shall submit a Technical Proposal, not exceeding 25 pages, that documents their Audit Expertise and Financial experience. Technical proposal must present: (1) An Executive Summary providing information on the firm, including firm's philosophy, specialty areas, ownership, (i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation), and the size and mix of staff; (2) A statement of the firm's unique qualifications that enable it to provide the services outlined in the SOW; (3) Expected timing for completion of work; (4) Ways in which USTDA staff and resources might be used to minimize audit costs; and (5) Information on any issues that may present conflicts of interest or otherwise influence the firm's independence. - PAST PERFORMANCE: The purpose of the past performance evaluation is to allow the Government to assess the offeror's ability to perform the effort described in this RFP, based on the offeror's demonstrated present and past performance. Provide any information currently available (letters of reference/appreciation, metrics, customer surveys, independent surveys, etc.) which demonstrates customer satisfaction with overall job performance and quality services for same or similar type contracts performed for Federal agencies and commercial customers within the last five (5) years from the date of issuance of this solicitation. Information must be current (within the last 5 years from the date of issuance of this solicitation). Undated information or information over five years old will not be considered. In addition, explain corrective actions taken in the past, if any, for substandard performance and any current performance problems. - In addition, the contractor shall provide a separate Business/Price proposal on the SF-1449, Attachment 1; and resumes for proposed key personnel entailing their qualifications and experience. 13. EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD: Pursuant to FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, the Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (1) TECHNICAL: The following sub-factors are listed in descending order of importance. Sub-factor 1: Comprehension of Statement of Work - demonstrated understanding of all aspects of the SOW and inclusion of a work plan that entails how the work of various team members will be integrated into a cohesive engagement team. This would include a description of the quality control process to be employed, a description of the ability and applicable methodology to be used by the team to successfully reach the completion date outlined in the Period of Performance and Place of Performance section of the SOW, and a description of the proposed approach for fulfilling the requirement; Sub-factor 2: Experience-The Accountant/Auditor must possess a minimum of five years experience with Federal Agency audits and international businesses or projects. The Accountant/Auditor shall exhibit strong interpersonal skills, diligence in implementing complicated tasks, and the ability to handle audits ranging from standard to complex. The candidate shall demonstrate auditing experience and the Professional Editor shall demonstrate expertise related to the prescribed role set-forth. Sub-factor 3: Education - A minimum of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and/or Finance and must possess an active Certified Public Accounting (CPA) or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) license. (2) PAST PERFORMANCE - Provide a list of three Federal Government Departments and/or Agency clients for which audit work has been performed. References shall include contact's name, email address and phone numbers as well as a description of the relevant service provided. (3) PRICE - All evaluation factors, other than cost or price, when combined, are significantly more important that cost or price. Technical and Past Performance shall be evaluated using the adjectival ratings in Attachment 4 to the solicitation. The Government will evaluate price to determine the following: - Completeness: All information required by the solicitation has been submitted and is accurate. - Reasonableness: The Government will conduct a price analysis to determine whether the proposed prices are fair and reasonable. This determination may be accomplished by one or more of the techniques set forth in FAR 15.404-1(a)(b)(2). No adjectival ratings will be used to evaluate Price. 14. BASIS FOR CONTRACT AWARD: The Government will use Best Value Source Selection Procedures to evaluate offers and determine the best value. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the offeror who is deemed responsible in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as supplemented; whose proposal conforms to the solicitations requirements (to include all stated terms, conditions, representations, certifications, and all other information required by this solicitation); and is determined, based on the evaluation factors, to represent the best value to the Government. The Government seeks to award to the offeror who gives USTDA the greatest confidence that it will best meet or exceed the requirements affordably. This may result in an award to a higher rated, higher priced offeror, where the decision is consistent with the evaluation factors and the Contracting Officer reasonably determines that the technical approach and/or superior past performance of the higher priced offeror outweighs the cost difference. The Contracting Officer will make an integrated assessment based on the evaluation factors described above.