Recovery Auditing Services

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is in the process of conducting market research for an effort supporting the Office of Administration (OA), Financial Operations (FIN OPS) for Recovery Auditing Services. CBP is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) #20091358-RFI-CS under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code, NAICS: 541211 - Auditing Accountants' (i.e., CPAs) Offices; PSC: R704 - Auditing Services. CBP is seeking information in the form of Capabilities Statements, in response to this RFI, which can support the requirement as outlined in the attached DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW). CBP is looking to gage the interest of contractors to conduct a review of CBP disbursements issued in FY 2015 for awards related to contracts. CBP is exploring the feasibility of issuing a contract on a contingency basis not to exceed 25% of the amount of funds discovered by the contractor and subsequently recovered. In 2002, Congress passed the Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA; P.L. 107-300; 116 Stat. 2350), which established an initial framework for identifying, measuring, preventing, and reporting on improper payments at each agency. That same year, Congress also passed legislation, the Recovery Audit Act (P.L. 107-107; Section 831; 115 Stat. 1186). In compliance with these laws and subsequent legislation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has conducted annual audits of their disbursements related to contracts with the most recent results: Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 for FY2014 disbursements: CBP did not conduct recovery auditing of FY2014 disbursements because of past low improper payments it was deemed not cost effective by the contractor. FY 2014 for FY 2013 disbursements: Total invoices subject to review: 84,824 Total dollar amount of the invoices: $1,909,019,478.00 Testing results: 2 improper payments $3,276.00 Letter statements sent to 226 vendors Total dollar amount reviewed: $332,297,864.00 Testing results: no improper payments FY 2013 for FY 2012 disbursements: Total invoices subject to review: 70,040 Total dollar amount of the invoices: $1,549,336,346.00 Testing results: 16 improper payments $97,708.66 FY 2012 for FY 2009, FY 2010 and FY 2011 disbursements: Total invoices subject to review: 297,520 Total dollar amount of the invoices: $7,541,417,869.00 Testing results: 4 improper payments 12 statement balances $84,113 Contact with Government personnel, other than those specified in the RFI, by potential offerors or their employees regarding this requirement is not permitted. This is NOT a Request for Quotation (RFQ). It is not to be construed as a formal solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. The information will be expressly used to identify qualified, experienced, and interested potential business sources in support of the Government requirement, and information received will not be disclosed outside of CBP/DHS. The purpose of this RFI is to seek out and identify potential qualified businesses which can provide the support services to CBP on a future requirement in accordance with the attached draft Statement of Work. The draft SOW is subject to change prior to any formal solicitation release. Any information provided to the Government is strictly voluntary and will be provided at no cost to the Government. Vendors are encouraged to inform the Government of any barriers that would prohibit them from competing. The Government reserves the right to decide whether or not a small business set-aside is appropriate based on responses to this notice. It is anticipated the type of contract will be Firm Fixed Price (FFP). RFI RESPONSES: Capability Statements should include information and technical background describing your firm's experience within the last three to five years, specifically with contracts similar in size, scope, and complexity to meet the program objectives in accordance with the Draft SOW. Vendors are highly encouraged to include in their Capabilities Statement a narrative describing prior government (Civilian or DOD) programs supported. If the information provided contains propriety information, such information must be identified with appropriate disclaimers. Vendors are encouraged to submit the following highly desirable information in response to this RFI: - o If the capabilities statement includes a discussion on Federal Government relevant performance based experience, provide the applicable contract and task order number, final contract price, and project location with a brief description of the project - responses must demonstrate understanding of and ability to comply with the specifications listed in the Draft SOW - o Describe your company's level of experience with performing work similar to the types described in the Draft SOW; - o Describe the company's hiring of qualified employees that will be capable of passing a detailed background investigation. Questions which the Government would like to have addressed in responses to this RFI: - o CBP would provide a file of disbursements related to contract payments for the previous fiscal year. Each one of these payments was manually reviewed twice. Typically, internal reviews and outside audits by KPMG and DHS have not identified any significant findings. How would your review and analysis of the disbursement files change the outcome? - o Has your firm conducted recovery auditing of an agency where the agency had good internal controls and low improper payments and your firm discovered additional improper payments and/or weaknesses? - o Based on the date you receive the data file from CBP, how much time would be required to identify and provide CBP with a preliminary report of potential improper payments? - o Describe your firm's experience in preparing reports related to recovery auditing for use on agency financial reporting. - o Describe the methodology that would be used to analyze the CBP disbursement file and identify improper payments. - o Is the methodology the same for contract payments to vendors that provide goods and services and non-contract payments such as social security and FEMA's emergency payments to assist individuals and businesses in disasters? Responses to this RFI shall include the appropriate contract vehicle information, such as type of contract vehicle, business size, and NAICS Code. At a minimum, the following additional information is requested: - o Company Cage Code, DUNS, and SAM registration: name, address, point of contact, point of contact's telephone number and e-mail address; - o Approximate annual gross revenue; - o Any small business status (8(a), HUB Zone, veteran-owned, women-owned, etc.); - o Indicate which NAICS code(s) your company usually performs under for Government contracts. Responses must be submitted on company letterhead in either Microsoft Word or PDF formatting, limited to 20 pages for the Capabilities Statement and limited to 10 pages if a separate document is submitted in response to the questions listed above. If your firm is capable of providing the requirements described in the Draft (SOW), please provide your RFI Response to the Contract Specialist, Cami Schmidt via email: camilla.j.schmidt@cbp.dhs.gov. RFI number "20091358-RFI-CS" must be referenced in the subject line of your email. Vendors responding to this RFI with generic material only such as brochures, advertisements or other generic material is highly discouraged. No questions will be entertained at this time. All responses to this RFI must be provided NLT Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 2:00 PM, EDT. No extensions will be granted. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT NOR IS IT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is released pursuant to FAR Part 15.201(e), Exchanges with Industry.