Auditor Lutheran World Relief Nairobi

Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is a US-based non-governmental organization founded in 1945 to respond to the needs of communities devastated by World War II. Since then, it has evolved from a relief agency shipping material resources to war-torn Europe to an agency that works with partners worldwide to respond to emergencies and seek lasting solutions to rural poverty. LWR works on behalf of U.S. Lutherans, enabling them to put their faith into action by supporting programs in emergency response, community development, advocacy and social responsibility. In all of its work, LWR emphasizes promoting gender equity, strengthening organizational capacity, empowering communities to have a voice in making decisions that affect their lives, and learning to continually improve our work.

Vision statement: Empowered by God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ, we envision a world in which each person, every community and all generations live in justice, dignity and peace.

Mission statement: Affirming God’s love for all people, we work with Lutherans and partners around the world to end poverty, injustice and human suffering.

Areas of focus
a) Emergency and response: Immediate response, material resources, rehabilitation and reconstruction
b) Sustainable Rural livelihoods : Agriculture and livestock development, micro enterprise, environmental management and conservation, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, primary health care promotion, trade and marketing and education
c) Peace building and Justice: Conflict resolution, human rights, gender equity and advocacy
d) Risk management: Community mapping, community response structures and public works
e) Capacity strengthening: governance, financial management and participatory methodologies

LWR-EARO is the Regional Office for the East Africa and is located in Nairobi with two field offices located in Kampala, Uganda and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Regional Office is audited both internally and by independent auditors every other year. The last audit conducted by a Kenyan independent audit firm was in May 2010, and covered the fiscal years 2008 and 2009. All accounting records are located in Nairobi office and are maintained in accounting software – Quick Books. Annual actual expenditure is approximately US$ 783,674 for FY 010 and US$643,008 for FY 011. This is expenditure towards office and program running and excludes project funding. Projects are funded directly and a separate audit exercise is done every Year. They are not therefore part of this audit exercise.

LWR-EARO is requesting proposals to perform annual audit of financial statements and related compliance work for the period of fiscal years 2010 and 2011 (October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010 and October 1, 2010 – September 30, 2011).

AUDIT SCOPE
o Review financial data for accuracy and reliability and make sure financial statements are free of material misstatement;
o Review financial statements and make sure they are in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles;
o Review procedures and management and examine if these provide adequate internal control;
o During examination of the detail accounting records, make sure there is a system, which allows easy examination and sampling of transactions;
o Examine the effectiveness of systems and procedures in place throughout the audit period, including adequacy of internal controls.

The following reports will be prepared by the auditors:

• Annual audit, including management letter for the fiscal year 2010 and 2011

THE PROPOSAL
In responding to this request, following information shall be submitted:
1. Details of firm’s experience in providing auditing services to companies in the not-for-profit sector, especially international organizations;
2. Describe how your firm will approach the audit of the organization;
3. Describe how and why your firm is different from other firms being considered, and why our selection of your firm as and independent auditor is the best decision we could make;
4. Include fee proposal to complete the services outlined in this request, with whatever guarantees can be given regarding increases in future years.
5. Include estimated on site time required to complete the services.
6. Provide at list 3 references from not-for-profit organizations that you’ve conducted audit for in the recent years and are still your clients;
7. Provide names and resumes of key personnel that will conduct the audit.
Proposals, shall be submitted to Lutheran World Relief, Kenya Office, email address: info@lwrearo.org no later than 13th April 2012

SELECTION CRITERIA

Lutheran World Relief, Kenya, in consultation with its head office will select the audit firm based on a combination of criteria including: evidence of proficiency in the audit of domestic non-profit organizations, fees, and required time to complete the engagement. The final decision will be made prior to 30th April 2012. Selected audit firm shall aim to complete the audit no later than 31st May 2012. Only shortlisted firms will be contacted.