Organization
Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.
www.hoffnungszeichen.de,www.sign-of-hope.org
Type of Contract
Short-term consultancy
Type of Audit
In-depth
Languages Required
English, Chichewa is considered an asset
Starting Date
17.04.2023
Auditing Period
From 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2022
Project Title
“Strengthening of smallholder farmers resilience and self-help capacities against the effects of climate change in Mchinji”
Total Project Budget
764.185,50 EURO
Annual Project Budget
175.836,75 EURO
Background and Organisational Setting
Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. is a Christian-motivated organization for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance, 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 Catholic Development Commission in Malawi of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe (CADECOM)will be the local implementing agency.
The project goal is to create food security and resilience to climate-related natural disasters for 3,000 small farmers in Mchinji District.
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 the 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 “Strengthening of small holder farmers resilience and self-help capacities against the effects of climate change in Mchinji” for all funds received and expended by CADECOM from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2022 Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of CADECOM.
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 CADECOM.
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 on 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,
- A checked, signed, and stamped list of all project costs receipts, sorted by BMZ budget lines (list can be provided by the local implementing partner),
- Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.
Audit documents can be issued in English or 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 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 CADECOM 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 CADECOM. Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services, and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. CADECOM 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 Malawi.
Application Process
Please submit the following documents with “Annual Audit DC-MAL19.01, Malawi” to [email protected] no later than 09.04.2023:
- A financial proposal (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 organization),
- A reference list of three previous customers.
The selection of the auditor will be conducted jointly by CADECOM and Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.
The audit agreement will be set up by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and CADECOM. Audit agreements set up by auditors won’t be accepted.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
