The International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) is accepting proposals from CPA firms based in the US that have extensive experience in providing audit and tax services for not-for-profit organizations. Historically management of the finances has been conducted by a volunteer treasurer. As ISBNPA has grown, we want a trained professional to help manage our finances. We invite your firm to submit a proposal by close of business, March 31, for consideration. This request for proposal contains background information on ISBNPA and specific information that must be included in the proposal submitted.
Background
The International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, leading international research in behavioral nutrition and physical activity. ISBNPA’s mission is to stimulate and promote innovative and impactful research in behavioral nutrition and physical activity to improve human and planetary health and well-being worldwide. ISBNPA has an international presence with over 650 members representing 53 countries. ISBNPA holds an annual scientific conference with 600-1300 attendees, which is the primary revenue generation for the non-profit. The Society has approximately $0.5M in reserves. The fiscal year is January to December. ISBNPA is incorporated in Texas.
Scope of Work
Your proposal is expected to cover the following services:
- The primary focus of the work is to examine ISBNPA financial records in accordance with applicable directives of the laws, regulations, and contracts or grant documents.
- Preparation of final audit documents and management letters plus PDF file availability.
- Year-end tax filing for the organization.
- The audit and tax preparations will take place in a manner that will meet the established filing deadlines.
- Meeting with ISBNPA leadership and/or Executive Committee, as necessary.
- ISBNPA leadership and officers will be available to assist the auditors during audit.
- The auditor shall agree to keep the information related to all funds audited, related contracts, and all information regarding ISBNPA and its partners obtained in the course of the audit, in strict confidence. Other than reports submitted to ISBNPA, the auditor agrees not to publish, reproduce, or otherwise divulge such information, in whole or in part, in any manner or form, or authorize or permit others to do so.
- The auditor shall retain audit reports and related working papers in compliance with generally accepted audit standards (GAAS) and according to federal and state requirements.
- Audit documents shall be made available to ISBNPA upon request by authorized representatives of ISBNPA.
Proposal Submittal Requirements
In response to this request, your proposal must contain the following information. ISBNPA requires that all responses to this proposal be organized and formatted as outlined below:
A. Executive Summary
Describe your understanding of the work to be performed and your firm’s ability to perform the work.
B. Professional Experience
Detail your firm’s experience in providing auditing and tax services to companies in the not-for-profit sector, as well as associations of a comparable size to ISBNPA. This should include the firm’s philosophy, size, structure and qualifications with serving nonprofit organizations.
Describe how and why your firm is different from other firms being considered any why our selection to your firm as our independent accountants is the best decision we could make.
Provide information on whether you provide services to any related industry association or groups. This should include engagements your firm currently conducts in the not-for-profit sector.
C. Team Qualifications
Identify the partners, managers and/or field supervisors who will be assigned to our job if you are successful in your bid. Provide biographies specifying relevant experience to the type of services requested. Indicate any complaints against them that have been leveled by the state board of accountancy or other regulatory authority. Indicate any corrective actions that have been taken by the firm with respect to these people.
Also discuss commitments you make to staff continuity, including staff turnover experience in the last three years.
D. Audit Approach
Describe how your firm will approach the audit of the organization, including the use of any association or affiliate member firm personnel and the areas that will receive primary emphasis, and the type of assistance that will be required from ISBNPA.
Discuss the firm’s use of technology in the audit. Discuss the communication process used by the firm to discuss issues with the leadership and officers.
E. Fees
Provide an estimate of fees for services to be provided for the FY2024 and FY2025 audits. List costs for the audit and tax filing separately. Please submit a detailed budget with the proposal, which should include:
- Provide estimate number of hours and hourly rates to complete the audit by classification of your employees (i.e. partners, senior, supervisor, junior)
- Specify any additional expenses expected to be incurred (i.e. mileage, telephone, expendable supplies etc.)
- Describe how you will bill for questions on technical matters that may arise throughout the year.
- Provide standard billing rates for classes of professional personnel for each of the last three years.
- Describe what your firm considers to be services, which fall outside the scope of the audit. Also, provide the hourly rate, if any, for those services.
F. Client References
Provide a list of the relevant not-for-profit clients the firm has served within the past three years whom we may contact.
Also, identify any clients your firm has lost in the past three years and the reasons. In instances where loss of client due to an unresolved auditing or accounting matter, discuss the process of attempting to resolve the issue(s).
G. Additional Information
Include a copy of your firm’s most recent peer review report.
Please provide any additional information, not specially requested previously, considered essential to your proposal.
Evaluation of Proposals
ISBNPA will evaluate proposals on a qualitative basis. This includes:
- Prior experiences auditing not-for-profit organization
- Qualification of staff to be assigned to our organization
- CPA firm’s understanding of work to be performed
- References
- Completeness and timeliness of proposal
The final discussions of the selection of the firm to conduct the audit will be made by ISBNPA leadership and Executive Committee.
Submission Instructions
The deadline for receipt of your proposal submission is March 31, 2025. Proposal should be emailed to António Palmeira, ISBNPA Executive Director ([email protected]). All proposal submissions will be responded to once a decision is made.
Key Personnel
Following are key contacts for information you may seek in preparing your proposal:
António Palmeira, Executive Director, [email protected]
Meg Bruening, Treasurer, [email protected]
