INTRODUCTION
1.1 African Agricultural Technology Foundation
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) is an international not-for-profit organisation that facilitates and promotes public/private partnerships to promote food security and enhance livelihoods of smallholder farmers in SSA. AATF works with African governments, private and public technology owners and developers, NGOs, seed companies and other value chain players and African farmers to identify and access technologies that address farmers’ key problems and empower them through availability of a choice of agricultural innovations that generate wealth and health for their families and communities. The Foundation’s headquarters is based in Nairobi, ILRI Campus.
The Foundation is registered as a Company limited by guarantee in the UK and as a Charity in the UK and in the US. In Kenya and Nigeria, the Foundation has HCA (Host Country Agreement).
1. 2. AATF Accounting System
AATF uses SUNSystem in the management of its finance, grant, and accounting data. We have used this accounting system since the inception of the Foundation in 2003. In 2017, AATF incubated a for-profit seed company and a year later, in 2018, a second for-profit commercial entity.
Another Seed Company was incubated in Nigeria in 2020. These three entities are full subsidiaries of the Foundation. These companies maintain their own separate accounting systems with a separate chart of accounts. They also have their own Accounting Teams that manage the daily and annual statutory reporting.
AATF accounting and finance functions are centralized in the HQ.
1.3 AATF Financial Reporting
AATF has adopted full IFRS in management and reporting of its financial transactions in Kenya and Nigeria. Statutory reports prepared in Kenya are also used for filing in Nigeria. In addition, the Foundation prepares and files annual accounts in the UK and US as per UK GAAP and US GAAP, respectively.
The Foundation also prepares semi-annual budget utilisation reports and other customised reports for Board of Trustees (BOT) and Management purposes.
1.4 The Purpose of the Request for Quotation
AATF would like to engage an experienced accountant (the “Consultant”) to prepare Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Report and Financial Statement in accordance with the charities’ statement of recommended practice (SORP) reporting requirements. The Consultant will work with and train the finance team in AATF Head Office in preparation of these reports, and in addition prepare the workflows and Desktop Procedures Manual for future reference. In addition, the consultant will be expected to prepare the mapping of IFRS to SORP for ease of refence. The reports include.
- Annual SORP financial statements i.e., Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA), Statement of Financial Position (SOFP) and Statement of Cashflows (SCF)
- Selected UK GAAP (SORP) schedules e.g., “Charitable Expenditure Schedule”
- Desktop Procedure manual and mapping of IFRS to SORP
- Documented workflows and training materials
1.5 Submission Requirements
AATF invites professional firms and individuals with a proven track record of preparation of financial statements and coordination of reporting with external auditors.
- Capability Statement or Profile detailing experience in handling similar work (list of past and present clients)
- Curriculum Vitae and relevant certifications/testimonials.
- Workplan and timeframe to execute the assignment.
The proposal should be brief and succinct.
1.6 Proposal timeline
The entire assignment, including preparatory work, planning, and implementation, should be completed within three months of contract award. The consultant will be required to work with the team in Nairobi for a minimum of one week, after which the remaining work can be completed remotely. We anticipate beginning around March 15, 2023, subject to the completion of the IFRS audit.
1.7 AATF Support
- Provision of previous year reports & and current year Trial Balance and Audited Financial statements
- Prompt payment of completed work within acceptable standards and contract terms.
1.8 Qualification, experience, and skills
Preference will be given to applicants with the following:
- Experienced Accountants with over five years ‘practical experience in the preparation of Reports and Financial Statement in accordance with the charities’ statement of recommended practice (SORP) reporting requirements
- Proficient in Microsoft Office suite, especially Excel with the ability to prepare and link data to the reports
- Experience in the UK tax laws and other requirements
- A member of a professional Accountancy Associations would be an added advantage
1.9 Submission of proposal
Applications should be summitted electronically to AATF Procurement Officer at procurement@aatf-africa.org and clearly marked “Preparation of Fiscal Year 2022 SORP accounts” by the 24 February 2023 5:00 pm E.A time.
1.10 Evaluation and Award
AATF shall evaluate the proposals and award the assignment based on technical and financial feasibility. AATF reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.
1.11 Terms and Conditions of the Proposal
AATF reserves the right to request new or additional information regarding each service provider and any individual or other persons associated with its project proposal. AATF reserves the right not to make any appointment from the proposals submitted. Service providers shall not make available or disclose details pertaining to their Project proposal with anyone not specifically involved unless authorized to do so by AATF. Service providers shall not issue any press release or other public announcement pertaining to details of their project proposal without prior written approval.
AATF Service providers are required to declare any conflict of interest they may have in the transaction for which the tender is submitted or any potential conflict of interest. AATF reserves the right not to consider further any proposal where such a conflict of interest exists or where such a potential conflict of interest may arise.
1.12 Confidentiality Statement
All data and information received from AATF for the purpose of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these Terms of Reference are assigned to AATF.
