Job Description

Background

The Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG) is a youth-focused Non-Governmental Organization that is also non-partisan and with no religious affiliation. The Foundation was founded in 2002 with a head office based in Bolgatanga in the Upper East region, of Ghana. It is registered as an NGO with the Registrar General Department, the Department of Social Welfare, and the National Youth Authority. The guiding belief is that helping Ghana's deprived youth conserve and develop their physical and mental strength through education, and entrepreneurial training for improved living conditions is the right way to ensure their viability to society and fight poverty.

YHFG is asking adequately qualified audit firms to submit technical and financial proposals as follows in accordance with its procurement and audit policies:

Objectives of the assignment

• To conduct yearly comprehensive financial audits to express an opinion on whether the financial statements prepared by the directors give a true and fair view of the organization's financial situation in accordance with international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) and the Ghanaian Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).
• To assess how well YHFG's internal controls, risk management systems, and procedures are working.
• To review the effectiveness of management of donor-funded projects in YHFG and conduct specific project audits as may be determined.

Preparation of Annual Financial Statements

 YHFG Responsibilities:

• YHFG is responsible for preparing financial statements, including adequate disclosures.
• YHFG is also responsible for selecting and applying accounting policies and preparing the Financial Statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and in a manner prescribed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana.

Auditors Responsibilities:

• The auditor is responsible for forming and expressing opinions on the financial statements.
• The Auditor would audit the organization and its projects per the International Standards on Auditing (ISA), as promulgated by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana.

Scope of Audit

• These terms of reference address audit requirements for the audit of financial statements of YHFG covering the period 1^st January to 31^st December of each year.
• A draft audit report should be submitted by 31^st March and a final signed audited report with certified statements by 15^th April of the following financial year. Thus, the financial statements for the financial year will be made available no later than 15^th April following the end of the financial year.
• Auditors may also be required to audit specific donor-funded projects. YHFG and donor partners will pay for these specific assignments separately from the annual statutory audits.
• The audits should consider and cover fraud and errors: Consider the risks of material misstatements in the financial statements due to fraud as required by ISA 240: The Auditor’s responsibility is to consider fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements.
• The audit report should indicate whether the audit complied with all the standards, national laws, and regulations and approved financial and accounting procedures for the organization (such as the use of human resource manuals, accounting, and operations manuals, etc.).

Project Financial Statements

Organizational and Project financial statements shall include:

1. A summary of funds received from donor Partners.
2. A summary of expenditures by project components, both for the current fiscal year and accumulated to date and
3. A Statement of Financial Position showing bank balances, other assets of the project, and liabilities if any.
4. Notes, comprising a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.

The Audit Report and Management Letter

• Audit Report: The auditor's view should be expressly stated in the audit report. This would, at the very least, include the following: The title, addresses, and an opening or introductory paragraph that identifies the financial information audited, including the period covered; a statement of the responsibility of the entity's management and the responsibility of the auditor; a scope and methodology paragraph that describes the nature of the audit, referencing the accounting standards that have been applied and indicating the effect of any deviations from those standards; and a conclusion paragraph that summarizes the report. The job the auditor did and the Audit Standards that were used. An Opinion paragraph disclosing whether the financial statements and supporting documents fairly present the cash receipts and expenditures in all material respects. Whether the financial transactions reflected in the statements comply with financial regulations and procedures, budgetary provisions, and other applicable directives. The Auditor may expand the report to include other information and explanations necessary for the engagement. Audit reports will be provided in English.
• Management Letter: The Auditor should submit a management letter to the Board and management of YHFG after the audit. The topics/issues to be covered in the letter should include:
• Provide feedback on the accounting records, systems, and controls that were looked at during the audit.
• Point out any weaknesses or flaws in the systems and controls and offer suggestions on how to strengthen them.
• Discuss issues that have come to their attention throughout the audit and may have a significant influence on how projects are carried out.
• Comment on how unresolved problems or requirements have been handled.
• Comment on audit recommendations from the past that weren't adequately carried out.
• Alert YHFG to any issues the auditor deems important, such as improper spending.
• Include recommendations to fix/eliminate the identified internal control flaws.
• Management comments/response to audit findings and recommendations.

Duration

The assignment will be for three (3) years. i.e., 2023 to 2025, subject to an additional term renewal in line with YHFG audit Policy. However, YHFG reserves the right to change auditors during this framework period if they are not satisfied with the work of auditors.

Clients Input and Counterpart Personnel

Services, facilities, and property to be made available to the Auditor by the Client:

The auditor shall be given unlimited access to all information and explanations necessary to facilitate the audit, including legal documents, correspondence, vouchers, records, and any other information associated with the project and deemed necessary by the auditor.  The Auditor may also seek written confirmation of amounts received and disbursed from the client Bank. The Task Manager will provide documents.

Specifically relating to the YHFG are the following documents:

• Funding Agreements/contracts
• Amendment to the funding agreements.
• Project budgets
• Draft Accounts
• Bank Statements
• Payroll
• Cash book & monthly reconciliation statements
• Relevant Schedules and
• Assets Register

Professional and Support Counterpart Personnel to be assigned by the Client to the Auditor’s Team:

• Finance Manager, Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG)
• Project Accounts Officers
• Project Officers

This request does not constitute an offer, and YHFG is not bound to accept any bid. Proposals will be evaluated based on the qualifications and experiences outlined above.

Required Skills or Experience

 Team Composition and Qualification Requirements for the Key Experts:

• The Audit Partners should hold a professional membership with good standing with ICA Ghana, ACCA, and FCA and with a minimum of 5 years of work experience working on donor-funded projects as auditors.
• The Audit Manager should hold a professional membership with good standing with ICA Ghana, ACCA, and FCA and with a minimum of 3 years of work experience working on donor-funded projects as an auditor.
• The Audit Supervisor should hold a graduate or postgraduate qualification in accounting or a related field with at least 5 years of Audit experience.  Professional membership with good standing with ICA Ghana, ACCA, and FCA will be an added advantage.
• The auditor must be fully unbiased and free from financial or managerial ties to the organization they are auditing. Any relationship that can be risky to the auditors' independence should be disclosed.
• The auditor should know how to apply IFRSs and ISAs. The Auditor must deploy enough personnel with the necessary professional training and ISA experience, including knowledge of auditing the financial records of organizations with similar sizes and levels of complexity to YHFG.
• The proposal should include the audit partner's Curriculum Vitae (CVs) and key employees. Details on audits performed by the relevant staff members should be included in CVs, along with any current tasks demonstrating their competence and capacity to conduct the audit and their expertise in auditing financial statements in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards. The Audit Firm should be registered and have a practicing license from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana. The firm should have relevant experience auditing NGOs and projects, especially donor-funded operations. The audit firm should have at least two full-time partners and have existed for not less than five (5) years.
• As and when necessary, YHFG partners will make inputs into requests for specific project audits.