TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR FINAL AUDIT

Job Description

TERMS OF REFERENCE 

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PROJECT AUDIT FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD JULY 2023 to DECEMBER 2024

BACKGROUND 

Trócaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, established in 1973 and currently has presence in more than 17 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia including Sierra Leone. Established in 1973 by the Bishops of Ireland, today Trócaire works in over 20 countries on issues including livelihoods, human rights, gender equality, HIV, climate change and emergency relief. In Ireland, we raise awareness about the causes of poverty through our outreach programmes in the education sector, through parish networks, and through our public campaigns and advocacy work. Trócaire was established to express the concern of the Irish Catholic Church for any form of human need, but particularly for the needs and problems of under-developed communities by the relief of poverty and the advancement of education. More information about Trócaire can be found on www.trocaire.org/.

About the project

In July 2023, Trócaire secured a funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID titled Strengthened Peace Infrastructure and Accountability through Community-led Peacebuilding and Empowerment of Women and Youth as Leaders in Sierra Leone. The project lasted for 19 months and was implemented by a consortium of CSOs- 

• social Enterprise for Development Sierra Leone (SEND-SL) – Local Entity, 
• Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) – Local Entity, 
• Women’s Forum for Human Rights, and Development (WOFHRAD) – Local Entity, 
• Association for the Wellbeing of Communities & Development (ABC-D) – Local Entity.  

The overarching purpose of the project is to support a people-to-people peacebuilding approach in addressing issues of social cohesion and politically motivated violence. The project also sets out to support the empowerment of marginalized groups, such as women, youth and Commercial Motorbike riders, youth at risk through taking up positions of leadership within their communities as Peacebuilding Ambassadors.

The overall goal of the project is to contribute to the prevention and mitigation of politically motivated violence through the people-to-people peacebuilding approaches in Western Area Rural, Kambia, Bombali, Karene and Kono Districts. The specific objective of the project is to empower women and youth to have increased voice and leadership as peacebuilders and actively contribute to the strengthening of “peace infrastructure” at local and national levels.

To achieve its objectives, the project will use the following approaches/methodologies:

• People-to-People Methodology (“Connector” Events, Dialogue & Building Trust)
• Youth-centred “Planting the Seeds of Peace” approach.
• Capacity strengthening of local CSO partners.
• Women and youth socio-economic empowerment

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The primary objective is the audit of Trócaire Sierra Leone P2P project financial records and its financial statements for the period 1st July 2023 to 23rd January 2025 and express a professional opinion on whether the preparation and presentation of the financial statements are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and that they do comply with relevant legislation. 

The audit will also provide the Country Management Team with feedback on the adequacy, effectiveness, and consistency in application of its established internal control systems. 

3. Confidentiality

Trócaire will treat the content of all tenders as being confidential and information provided in the EOIs will be used solely for the purpose of deciding on the award of a contract as described in this document.

4. Registration and Constitution

Trócaire is a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland (charity number CHY 5883), granted charitable status under Sections 207 and 208 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. Trócaire is governed by a Trust Deed dated 18 December 1973, as amended on 14 June 2001 and 19 October 2010.

5. Trustees and Board

Trustees based in Ireland are appointed by the Episcopal Conference. There are six Trustees, all of whom must be an Archbishop or Bishop of the Irish Hierarchy. The Trustees appoint a Board consisting of up to 14 members to advise and assist them in the governance of Trócaire. The members of the Board are subject to retirement by rotation, having held office for three years consecutively. No member of the Board other than a Trustee or an ex-Officio Member shall hold office for longer than six consecutive years.

6. SCOPE

• The audit shall cover the period 1st of July 2023 to 23rd January 2025. Financial statements will comprise of the Statement of Financial Position, Income & Expenditure Statement, Cash Flow Statement), and Statement of Project Liabilities and Receivables for Trócaire SL.
• Review those funds received, and expenditure incurred, have been applied in accordance with applicable statutory regulations, donor regulations, Trócaire financial regulations, Trócaire and/or donor procurement policy and procedures, or such other proper orders to the extent that these impacts the financial statements.

• Review that proper bookkeeping has been maintained in a way that complies with necessary legal regulations, including the generally accepted accounting principles and others applicable to classification, accounting, and valuation. 

• Information provided leads to an orderly presentation in the accounting records and the annual financial statements, in line with applicable professional standards.

• The project financial statements were properly derived, and information therein is in general accurate, valid, and complete.

• Review the analysis of net asset position, project liabilities, financial position.

• Express an opinion on the fair and truthfulness of the financial position, cash position and net current assets.

• Express an opinion on the compliance of implementation of grant based on 70% for Direct program implementation and 30% for Support and Overheads cost budget allocations.

• Four (4) local Implementing Partners mentioned above are part of the consortium and they should be part of the Audit review and express opinion on the Partnership agreement and grant implementation compliance. 

• An assessment of the internal control system, including management and other financial controls, with an emphasis on:

• Its effectiveness in securing the completeness and accuracy of accounting records and production of reliable financial statements. 
• Providing management with useful, reliable, accurate and timely information necessary for proper management 
• Its effectiveness in helping management determining that project and organizational objectives are being achieved. 
• Review the Asset Register and sample assets for verification.

• Review of key internal control areas to be assessed, determine for the areas listed below that:

• The necessary controls exist.
• That they function as required; and
• Are applied consistently and are reliable.

• Accounting System
• Cash & Bank including reconciliations.
• Procurement 
• Asset management
• Human Resources & Personnel
• Payroll management and apportionment of costs to donors
• Management and accountability of partners
• Partners information records management (Hard copy files or Document Library) official letters from partners acknowledgements of receipts of funds, reports etc 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUDITOR

• Conduct the audit in accordance with IASB and IAASB standards.
• Prepare an audit workplan to be reviewed and agreed with Trócaire management team.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TROCAIRE SL MANAGEMENT

• Preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the Organization Accounting policies and procedures, and other applicable legislation, including.
  • their fair presentation.
  • maintaining such internal controls as necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 
• Providing all information of which it is aware that is relevant to the preparation of the financial statements such as records, documentation, and other matters.
• Provide additional information that the auditor may request for the purpose of the audit; and
• Provide the auditor with unrestricted access to persons within the entity from whom the auditor determines is necessary to obtain audit evidence.

TIME SCHEDULE

Trócaire SL plan is to have the audit commence on 12th May 2025 at our offices for a period of 2 weeks. The draft audit reports, and management letter should be shared within 2 weeks from the date of completion of the audit, and the final financial statements signed off by 5th June 2025. 

AUDITABLE TRIAL BALANCE AND BALANCE SHEET

• Trócaire will provide the trial balance and the balance sheet once the auditor confirms interest to take up this task in line with fulfilling the ToR;
• At that point we will require that the auditor submit a plan on how to conduct the audit, execute and fulfil the ToR objectives. This will be discussed in the audit entry meeting.

OUTPUTS FROM THE AUDITOR

On completion of audit, the auditor shall submit the following:

• Audit Report on Financial Statements in which the Auditor shall express an opinion on the final financial statements, including. 

• Statement of Financial Position. 
• Income and Expenditure Statement. 
• Cash flow statement.

• Management Letter

The management letter should also include the following:

• Identify specific deficiencies and areas of weakness in systems and internal controls and make recommendations for their improvements.
• The categorisation of audit findings by risk severity (low, medium, and high).
• The classification of possible causes of the audit findings. 

7. Content and Format of Expressions of interest 

Proposals should be submitted by way of a written EOI document and contain the below elements:

1. a) Details of your firm i.e. a company profile including company history, company structure and top five clients;
2. b) A summary of the audit firm’s experience and competency in the areas outlined above especially in the not for profit/INGO/Charity sector; Project audits 
3. c) Audit team resourcing including experience and qualifications.
4. d) Audit approach from planning to reporting;
5. e) Field verification arrangements.
6. f) Quality assurance throughout the audit process and clarity of Engagement partner; and
7. g) Audit Fees.

The above information is not limited and can be expanded with additional documentation.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE AUDITOR

We expect that the auditor to be a member of ICASL and will apply to the assignment adequate staff with appropriate professional qualifications and suitable experience, including experience in auditing the accounts of entities comparable in size and complexity to the entity being audited. We expect the same audit team will be maintained including the audit manager and Partner to sign off the opinion.

PROFESSIONAL COST

Audit firm to confirm the audit fee within the engagement letter.

8. General Terms and Conditions
9. a) Trócaire does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced EOI;
10. b) Trócaire shall be free to:
11. To accept none of the proposals tendered;
12. To republish this EOI
13. c) In the event of not accepting any of the proposals received on foot of this Request for Tenders, Trócaire shall be free to make such arrangements as it considers necessary in relation to the provision of the services;
14. d) Trócaire will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred in the preparation of a tender.
15. e) The tenderers shall maintain strict confidentiality in relation to the services being sought and the tendering process.
16. f) The Contract shall be considered as a contract made in Ireland, according to Irish law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.
17. g) The Standard Terms and Conditions to which Trócaire expects all of its supplier to respect is attached in Appendix 1.
18. h) The Suppliers Code of Conduct to which Trócaire expects all of its suppliers and service providers to respect is attached in Appendix 2
19. i) Trócaire is committed to Safeguarding people within our programmes from Exploitation and Abuse and has specific policies on this commitment (including a Global Code of Conduct) which outlines the expected behaviour and responsibility of all staff, consultants and other organisational representatives. The selected audit firm will be expected to sign Trócaire’s Safeguarding Policy as an appendix to their contract and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

9. Safeguarding 

All consultants who work for Trócaire will be required to sign and abide by Trócaire’s Safeguarding and Data Protection principles. Any instances of breach of Trócaire’s safeguarding and data protection policy by the consultant and his or her team members will result into the immediate cancellation of the contract between Trócaire and the consultant. In addition, any pictures taken of the participants by the consultant should be only after the consent of the project participant and signing of the Consent Form.

10. Conflicts of interest

Any conflicts interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to Trócaire. Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past work which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest. It will be for Trócaire to decide if a material conflict of interest exists and applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of Trócaire.

Advice provided to Trócaire must be accompanied by a statement that there is no conflict of interest involving the applicant. In the event where there is a conflict, Trócaire reserves the right to retain another firm of solicitors to provide the advice, for that issue alone.

11. Intellectual Property

Any concept, guidelines or other material developed during the contract will be considered the property of Trócaire and may be used by Trócaire at any time.

12 Termination of Contract

Trócaire reserves the right to terminate the contract at any stage on payment of reasonable and agreed costs accrued to the date of termination. The contract may be terminated by either party on giving one month’s written notice or a shorter notice period if both parties agree.

If at any stage during the contract, the work being undertaken by the tenderer is found to be unsatisfactory, the contract may be terminated by Trócaire. In the event of such a termination, the tenderer will only be entitled to receive payment in relation to the acceptable work done. The computation of such payment shall be based on the extent of approved work carried out to the date of termination valued, by use of the costs used in the tender submission.

13. Evaluation of EOIs

Following the submission of your EOI proposals, you will be asked to make a presentation to the selection or procurement committee panel which will include a question-and-answer session and following this, the selection panel aims to make a justified choice.

During the evaluation period clarification may be sought in writing from tenderers. Responses to requests for clarification may not materially change any elements of the tenders submitted. 

No unsolicited communications from tenderers will be entertained during the evaluation period.

14. Submission of EOIs

All interested and qualified audit firms should submit well typed technical and financial proposals clearly marked “EOI for Project financial Audit – tenders_sle@trocaire.org 

 not later than close of business 18TH May 2025. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Any enquires please reach out by email to chernor.jalloh@trocaire.org