SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- OIG Audit Services
- Notice Date
- 8/22/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Railroad Retirement Board, Acquisition Management Division, OA, Procurement Section, 844 North Rush Street, 9th Floor NE, Chicago, IL, 60611-2092
- ZIP Code
- 60611-2092
- Solicitation Number
- RRB05R005
- Response Due
- 9/7/2005
- Archive Date
- 9/22/2005
- Description
- A. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subject 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. A1. This solicitation is issued as Request for Proposals RRB05R005. A2. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular Number 2005-05. A3. This solicitation is not a small business set-aside. A4. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) to qualified firms to conduct a review of the RRB?s Financial Interchange (FI). A5.BACKGROUND: The RRB is an independent agency in the executive branch of the Federal government. Its primary function is to administer comprehensive retirement-survivor and unemployment-sickness insurance benefit programs for the nation's railroad workers and their families. These programs are provided under the Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA). In addition, the RRB has administrative responsibilities under the Social Security Act for certain benefit payments and Medicare coverage for railroad workers. The FI is a collective term that describes a series of legally mandated periodic fund transfers between the RRB and the Social Security Administration, the RRB and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the RRB and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury). In 1951, Congress enacted amendments that increased benefit levels under the RRA. This legislation guaranteed that benefits paid under the RRA would never be less than what would have been payable if the worker?s railroad earnings had been credited as Social Security employment instead of RRA covered compensation. As part of that same legislative package, Congress established the FI between the Social Security and Railroad Retirement systems as an additional funding source. When the Medicare program was enacted in 1965, the Healthcare Financing Administration (now, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) became a party to the FI. In FY 2004, the RRB reported financing sources of approximately $10 billion of which $3.4 billion (34%) was attributable to the FI. FI transfers between the three agencies are made in a lump sum for an entire fiscal year in June, approximately 8-9 months after the end of the fiscal year. RRA Amendments enacted in 1981 and 1983 provide for monthly advances of amounts due under the FI from the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury which are repaid at the time of the annual transfers. Interested parties may obtain more information about the RRB?s programs and financing from its public website U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Home Page. The available information includes descriptions of the agency?s organization and programs as well as financial reports prepared by the agency?s Bureau of Fiscal Operations and statistical and actuarial reports prepared by its Bureau of the Actuary. 1)Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2004 2)22nd Actuarial Valuation of the Assets and Liabilities Under the Railroad Retirement Acts http://www.rrb.gov/act/pdf/valuation.pdf 3)Miscellaneous Actuarial and Statistical Data RRB Statistical Data - Annual Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Act Data. Prospective offerors should review a copy of the ?Summary and Documentation? for the 52nd annual FI determination and transfer, available upon request from: (by U.S. MAIL) Henrietta B. Shaw, Assistant Inspector General, Audit, Office of Inspector General, 844 N. Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611, or (by Email):hshaw@oig.rrb.gov. An electronic formatted version of this RFP is available by e-mail request to Henrietta B. Shaw, at the address provided above. B.SERVICES AND FEES.B1.SERVICE: The Contractor shall provide professional audit services in accordance with the requirements of this contract. The Contractor shall provide all management, supervision, manpower, materials and equipment (except as otherwise provided), and shall plan, schedule, coordinate and assure effective performance of all services described herein. B2.FEES: The Contractor shall quote only a firm fixed price for the entire project as described below. The price quoted shall include all services and deliverables necessary to complete the project and fulfill the requirements of the Statement of Work. C. STATEMENT OF WORK. C1.SCOPE OF WORK: The contractor shall provide all services, personnel, equipment and materials necessary to perform the work described by this statement of work in compliance with standards for the performance and reporting of attestation engagements promulgated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants(AICPA)and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).C2.LEVEL OF EFFORT: The mandatory level of effort under the contract will be to perform a review of the determination and settlement of the FI through the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004 (53rd annual determination). C3.REVIEW OF THE FINANCIAL INTERCHANGE: The contractor shall be required to assess, evaluate and provide assurance as follows. C3.a.Review of F.I. Determination: The contractor will determine whether the RRB has complied with the FI provisions of the RRA as evidenced by the final determination and settlement, including whether: (1) the FI statistical model adequately implements the law; (2) the model has been accurately translated into formulae; (3) the sampling methodology is valid; (4) the data inputs are current and accurate; (5) assumptions are valid; and (6) sampling error is minimized. C3.b. Review of Treasury Advances: The contractor will determine whether the related borrowing/advances from the U.S. Treasury are computed, requested, repaid and reported in compliance with the law. C3.c.FI Settlement Review: The contractor will determine whether the annual settlement and transfer are conducted in compliance with the law and pertinent inter-agency agreements. C3.d.Review of Internal Control: The contractor will determine whether the RRB has designed and implemented management and information system controls to ensure the following: (1) The FI process is properly documented, authorized and accurate. (2)The information and information systems that support the FI are protected from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction in order to provide integrity, confidentiality and availability. C3.e.Recommendations for Improvement or Corrective Action: The Contractor will make recommendations for corrective action or process improvement as indicated by their findings in C3.a, C3.b, C3.c and C3.d above. C4.GOVERNMENT FURNISHED DATA. C4.1.Supporting documentation for the annual FI determination is maintained at RRB headquarters, 844 N. Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611. C4.2.Contractor access to supporting documentation, including Electronic Data Processing (EDP) generated data will be coordinated by the OIG after contract award. C5.ENTRANCE/EXIT AND OTHER CONFERENCES: Entrance and exit conferences are to be held with the COTR or his/her designated representative(s) and responsible RRB officials. At the completion of the review, the Contractor shall hold an exit conference with the COTR or his/her designated representative(s) and responsible RRB officials. At this conference the Contractor must communicate the findings and recommendations developed during the engagement and elicit initial views from agency officials. C6.EMERGENCY BRIEFINGS AND PROGRESS REPORTS. C6.a.Briefings: The Contractor shall immediately notify the COTR or his designated representative of any problem/issue encountered during the course of the engagement that could impact the completion of the task or the due date of the deliverables. A verbal notice shall be presented to the COTR on the same business day of the discovery of the problem and a written description shall follow within one business day. C6.b. Written Progress Report: The Contractor shall present the COTR or his designated representative with a semi-weekly written progress report providing a general description of progress in achieving the objectives and meeting the timeframes established in the approved work plan. This is in addition to the emergency notices described in C6.a. C7.COMMUNICATE RESULTS: The Contractor shall communicate the results of its review in a written report that details the objective, scope, methodology and results of review in accordance with the applicable standards of the AICPA and the GAO. The report must address all required elements of the statement of work as set forth in Section C3. C7.a.Draft Report: The Contractor shall prepare and circulate their findings and recommendations in draft for discussion and comment with the OIG and responsible agency officials. The OIG COTR will provide the contractor feedback on the draft report within two weeks of receipt as to form, substance, and as to whether they should proceed with the Final report. C7.b.Final Report: The Contractor shall prepare and circulate a final written report communicating its findings and recommendations. C8.CONFIDENTIALITY: All work performed under this contract is confidential and is not to be released to outside parties without express written permission from the Contracting Officer. C9.PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS: Contractor Personnel assigned to this engagement must have a 4 year college degree and shall have met the continuing education requirement of the Government Auditing Standards for the most recent calendar year. The minimum average total number of years of experience in performing financial audits, performance audits or attest engagements for persons assigned to this review is 8 years or more for partners, 5 years of more for managers, 2 years or more for seniors and 2 years or more for statisticians, actuaries and EDP specialist. D.PACKAGING AND MARKING.D1.PACKAGING: Preservation, packaging and packing for shipment or mailing of all work deliverables hereunder shall be in accordance with good commercial practice and adequate to insure acceptance by common carrier and safe transportation at the most economical rate(s). D2.MARKING: Each package, report or other deliverable shall be accompanied by a letter or other document which: a. Identifies the contract by number under which the item is being delivered. b. Identifies the deliverable item number or report requirement which requires the delivered item(s). c. Indicate whether the Contractor considers the delivered items to be a partial or full satisfaction of the requirement. E.INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE.E1.INSPECTION: Inspection of all items under this contract shall be accomplished by the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative or any other duly authorized representative as designated by the Contracting Officer. E2.ACCEPTANCE: a. Acceptance of all work and effort under this contract shall be accomplished by the Contracting Officer or his designee. The right to reject the work performed under this contract shall continue for 30 days after receipt. b. Acceptance will be demonstrated by written notice to the Contractor. E3.GOVERNMENT AUDIT STANDARDS: All work must be performed in compliance with the applicable provisions of: a. Attestation Standards as promulgated by the AICPA. b.?Government Auditing Standards " (the "yellow" book) promulgated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).Government Auditing Standards (2003 Revision), GAO-03-673G, June 2003 which includes standards for attestation engagements is available from the GAO website at http://www.gao.gov/govaud/yb2003.pdf. E4.UNACCEPTABLE WORK. E4.a.Testing and Inspection: The OIG has the right to test and inspect the work called for by this contract. If it is determined that the Contractor's work is unacceptable because it did not meet the GAO standards, the Contractor will be required to re-review and re-submit a revised work product in conformity with the proper standards. If the Contractor fails to promptly perform the required re-review, the OIG may (a) by contract or otherwise perform the services and charge to the Contractor any cost to the OIG which is directly related to the performance of such service or (b) terminate the contract for default. E4.b.OIG Acceptance: The OIG will notify the Contractor of its acceptance of work performed under this contract in writing. F.DELIVERABLES AND PERFORMANCE. F1.PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Performance of work described in Section C (Statement of Work)of this contract shall commence on the date of the contract award and continue until acceptance of the last deliverable. Work under this contract is expected to commence no later than September 30, 2005, and will continue until acceptance of the last deliverable. F2.DELIVERABLES: The following shall be provided by the Contractor: F2.a.Review Plan: The contractor shall submit a detailed overall approach and detailed plan schedule for the review. F2.b.Proposed Staffing: The contractor shall submit a staffing plan demonstrating the professional qualifications of the engagement staff. The plan shall include the name, skill level, and professional certification and/or academic qualification for each individual member of the Contractor?s staff. F2.c.Work Plan: The contractor shall submit a work plan detailing the methodology and timeframes for the engagement including identification of applicable professional and technical guidance and the manner in which requirements will be met. F2.d.Report: The contractor shall submit a written report communicating the results of the review and any other findings pursuant to applicable reporting requirements. F3.WORKING PAPERS: The OIG will have access to and, at its sole discretion, require the contractor to provide copies of any working papers created in performance of this engagement. F4.DEADLINES.F4.a.Review Plan: The review plan will be submitted within 10 days of contract award. F4.b.Proposed Staffing: A proposed staffing plan will be submitted within 10 days of contract award. F4.c.Work Plan: The work plan will be submitted within 30 days of contract award. F4.d.Report: The contractor will submit the draft and final deliverables within the timeframes established in the work plan. **PLEASE SEE AMENDMENT TO FOLLOW (WITHIN 24 HOURS) CONTAINING THE REMAINING SECTIONS G THROUGH I OF THE SOLICITATION.
- Place of Performance
- Address: 844 N. Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611
- Zip Code: 60611-2092
- Country: U.S.A.
- Zip Code: 60611-2092
- Record
- SN00876403-W 20050824/050822212640 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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