Consultants at Plan International

Details:

1         Objectives and scope of the audit

The objective is to audit the financial report for the period 01 May 2018 – 30 April 2019 as submitted to Plan International Sweden and to express an audit opinion according to ISA 800/805 on whether the financial report of NGA100048 is in accordance with the relevant terms and Plan International Sweden's instruction for financial reporting as stipulated in the agreement, including annexes between Plan International Sweden and Plan International Nigeria.

Plan International Sweden wants to emphasise the importance that the Auditor, as a part of the assignment, reviews whether the subsequent partner organisations follow the requirements from SIDA, see "Plan International Sweden's Audit instructions for SIDA funded projects", version September 2018.

2         Additional assignment

Engagement to perform Agreed-Upon Procedures regarding financial information in accordance with International Standard on Related Services, ISRS 4400

The following areas should be included:

• Follow up whether salary costs debited to the project/programme are recorded throughout the duration of the year in a systemized way and examine whether the salary costs can be verified by sufficient supporting documentation.[1]
• Check whether Plan International Nigeria complies with the applicable tax legislation in regard to taxes and social security fees.
• Examine whether the financial report includes a comparison, for every budget item, between the actual costs/expenditures of activities and the budgeted costs/expenditures as approved by Plan International Sweden for the period.
• Based on materiality and risk, the auditor shall examine whether there is sufficient documentation supporting all reported costs.
• Examine whether exchange rate gains/exchange rate losses have been reported in accordance with what are generally accepted accounting principles.
• Follow up whether Plan International Nigeria has adhered to the procurement guidelines annexed to the agreement.
• Review if outgoing balance for previous period is the same as incoming balance for the current period.
• Verify the unspent balance at the end of the financial year.
• Verify the unspent balance that shall be repaid to Plan International Sweden in the final report of the last agreement year. (Only applicable in the final report of the last agreement year).
• Regardless of materiality, quantify the amount for costs lacking sufficient supporting documentation.
• If Plan International Nigeria applies modified cash basis as accounting principle, the auditor shall motivate whether the applied accounting principle is acceptable for the type of financial report.
• Verify that Plan International Nigeria has signed agreements with its subsequent partner organisations.
• Verify that the audit requirements in the agreements with subsequent partner organisations are in accordance with the audit requirements as stipulated in Plan International Nigeria agreement with Plan International Sweden.
• Review whether there is an unbroken chain of audited financial reports according to the requirements as stipulated in the agreement between Plan International Nigeria and Plan International Sweden, for funds disbursed the previous year. The review shall include whether Plan International Nigeria makes documented assessments of the audited financial reports submitted to Plan International Nigeria and whether these reports are followed-up by Plan International Nigeria. The review shall include verification of contributions equivalent of a minimum of 50 % of the total of disbursed funds as well as 50 % of the number of contributions. The review shall also include observations from auditors that Plan International Sweden should be informed about.
• Verify if the same principles for reporting exchange rate gains/exchange rate losses are used between Plan International Nigeria and Plan International Sweden, as well as between Plan International Nigeria and its subsequent partner organisations.
• Follow up if weaknesses identified in previous audits are implemented as described in the management letter or the Report of factual findings.
• Report observations, weaknesses and recommendations that have emerged during the audit process.

3         The Reporting

• The reporting shall be signed by the responsible auditor (not just the audit firm) and title.
• The reporting from the auditor shall include an Independent Auditor’s Report in accordance with the format in standard ISA 800/805 and the auditor’s opinion shall be clearly stated. The financial report that was subject to the audit shall be attached to the Independent Auditor’s Report.
• The reporting from the auditor shall also include a Management letter with audit findings and weaknesses identified during the audit process. The auditor shall regardless of materiality, quantify the amount for costs lacking sufficient supporting documentation. The auditor shall make recommendations to address the weaknesses identified and the recommendations shall be presented in priority order. If the auditor assesses that no findings or weaknesses have been identified during the audit that would result in a Management letter, an explanation of this assessment must be disclosed in the audit reporting.
• Measures taken by the organisation to address weaknesses identified in previous audits shall also be presented in the Management letter.
• The additional assignment according to agreed-upon procedures ISRS 4400 under paragraph II, shall be reported separately in a “Report of factual findings”.
• If the auditor assesses that the observations presented in a Report of factual findings include the information that would have been included in a Management letter, a Management letter is not required. In such a case, the “Report of factual findings” shall also include recommendations to Plan International Nigeria and an explanation of why a Management letter has not been developed. In those cases, Plan International Nigeria shall make a Management Response to the recommendations the auditor has made in the Report of factual findings.
• Plan International Nigeria is responsible for making a Management Response for all audits, even if there are no findings during audit. The management response shall respond to all auditors' recommendations which shall include a time-bound action plan. The Management Response can be included in the audit reports or as an annex and shall be signed by management.
• The reports are to be written in English in one copy and submitted digitally to Plan International Sweden no later than 15 July 2019. Submission of draft reports to Plan International Sweden for review is due by 15 June 2019.

[1] If the budget includes salary costs to be debited to the project, the auditor shall always examine salary costs as stipulated here.