Agricultural Project in Malawi: Final Audit

Organisation

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

www.hoffnungszeichen.de, www.sign-of-hope.org

Position

Auditor

Type of Contract

Short-term consultancy

Type of Audit

In-depth – final audit

Location

Home-based with field mission travel to Mchinji, and Lilongwe, Malawi

Languages Required

English (required), Chichewa (asset)

Starting Date

01.06.2023

Auditing Period

From 01.12.2018 to 30.06.2023

Project Title

“Strengthening of small holder farmers’ resilience and self-help capacities against the effects of climate change in Mchinji”

Total Project Budget

764.185,50 EUR

Background and Organisational Setting

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. Based in Constance, Germany, Sign of Hope is dedicated to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.

An audit is commissioned under the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) funding guidelines for development projects run by private German executing agencies.

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, while Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM)will be the local implementing agency.

The project goal is to create food security and resilience to climate-related natural disasters for 3,000 small holder farmers in Mchinji, Malawi.

Audit Objectives

The in-depth audit aims to provide Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. with a sound basis for its accountability, transparency and accuracy in the financial disclosure towards the funding agency BMZ. The tasks of this recruitment relate to

1. A final audit, with a detailed examination of all the supporting documents between 2018 – 2023

2. A conclusive examination of the complete project duration (01.12.2018 – 30.06.2023). Thereby, the auditor can refer to the last annual audit reports to be available at that time.

This in-depth audit will verify the compliance with the standards of the funding agency BMZ, Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V., national regulations and international accounting standards.

The auditor will review the project’s financial documents, receipts lists, records of transactions, all vouchers and receipts disbursed, and relevant project documents in order to come up with a professional, independent opinion on the financial accounting of the project “Strengthening of small holder farmers’ resilience and self-help capacities against the effects of climate change in Mchinji” for all funds received and expended by CADECOM from 01.12.2018 to 30.06.2023[P2]

Additionally, the audit shall give recommendations on strengths, weaknesses, and required improvement[P3] in the project-related financial and human resources management systems of CADECOM[P4]

The audit will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and contribute to the decision-making process with regard to the project management and monitoring of finances by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. and CADECOM.

Expected Deliverables

The auditor is expected to produce an audit report, an audit certificate and a management letter, which will comprise the following:

1. Presentation of the scope and mandate of the audit, as well as the list of documents that formed the evidence for the audit,
2. An opinion on whether financial statements (statement of accounts) are issued in accordance with the financial reporting framework of the project, BMZ requirements and an internationally recognised accounting standard,
3. A checked, signed and stamped list of all project costs receipts, sorted by BMZ budget lines (list can be provided by the local implementing partner).
4. Recommendations on identified shortcomings, and, if applicable, comments on the follow-up of audit observations and recommendations from previous years.

Audit documents can be issued in English or German.

Scope of the Audit

The audit should focus on the following:

• The correctness and completeness of the accounting records,
• The financial report, showing all project-related income and expenditure structured by budget lines,
• Deviations of expenditure by budget lines. The expenditure, which exceeds or falls below the budget appropriations by more than 30 %, shall be explained separately, if the approval of the BMZ has not previously been obtained,
• That receipts and relevant supporting documents are available for all project-related income and expenditures,
• The management of the funds made available, which includes the transfer of project funds, all interest earned from the project funds during the reporting period and further income generated by the project,
• Reviewing the appropriate use of funds according to the project objectives,
• Evaluation of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the usage of funds,
• Budget adherence through the comparison between budgeted and actual costs in the currency in which the expenditure was incurred. The audit report will not convert the examined amounts into Euro amounts,
• Reviewing if personnel costs and social security contributions conform to the regulations in the project country and are locally comparable,
• The economical use of the project equipment and assets,
• The inventory and the use of capital items, their whereabouts and their purposive usage,
• Compliance with the legal framework of the project (project agreements and annexes, contracts, etc.) and the donor requirements,
• Compliance with the policies of the local implementing partner regarding procurement, financial administration, human resources management and travel.

Procedures and Communication

The auditor will be given access to all necessary documents in the project offices through the local implementing partner CADECOM as well as relevant donor documents through Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

The auditor will be responsible to set up a schedule in agreement with the local implementing partner CADECOM. Any expenses for field trips, postal and translation services and other expenses shall be included in the auditor’s proposed budget. CADECOM will support the auditor with logistics and arrangements, however, all payments of the contract will be made directly by Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

Qualifications and Experience

• Necessary qualification to serve as a recognized independent auditing authority,
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience conducting external independent audits of projects funded by international institutional donors in Malawi.