SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- USAC Request for Information for Small Business Set-Asides: Certified Public Accountants for Quality Assurance Reviews
- Notice Date
- 9/7/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541211
— Offices of Certified Public Accountants
- Contracting Office
- Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Managing Director, Contracts and Purchasing Center, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20554
- ZIP Code
- 20554
- Solicitation Number
- USAC-IAD-2010-09-07
- Archive Date
- 10/6/2010
- Point of Contact
- Jay H. Beard, Phone: 202-776-0200
- E-Mail Address
-
jbeard@usac.org
(jbeard@usac.org)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- INTRODUCTION The Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) is requesting information from small, small disadvantaged, small woman-owned, small HUB-zone, small veteran-owned and service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses (collectively, “small businesses”) capable of providing quality assurance (“QA”) services set forth herein. Stated broadly, this RFI pertains to a future requirement for the procurement of firms to perform QA reviews of compliance audits and agreed-upon-procedures (AUP) reviews to confirm their compliance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (“GAGAS”) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States (July 2007). STATEMENT OF NEED The Federal Communications Commission (“Commission” or “FCC”) appointed USAC the administrator of the Universal Service Fund (“USF”) and the universal service support mechanisms— High Cost (“HC Program”); Low Income (“LI Program”); Rural Health Care (“RHC Program”), including its pilot program; and Schools and Libraries (“SL Program”) (collectively referred to as the “Programs”)—as set forth in Title 47, Part 54, Section 701 of the Code of Federal Regulations. USAC administers, subject to FCC regulations, directives and oversight, the USF and the Programs. At the direction of the Managing Director of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), USAC will be contracting with firms to perform audits and agreed-upon procedures reviews of Program beneficiaries and USF contributors (“BCAP audit(s)”). The BCAP audits are designed to: (1) assess compliance by USF beneficiaries and USF contributors with applicable law; (2) detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse by beneficiaries and contributors of the universal service programs; and (3) identify areas for improvement in the compliance of beneficiaries and contributors with applicable law and in the administration of the USF. In addition to the BCAP audits, USAC intends to procure the services of auditing firm(s) to perform quality assurance reviews (“QA Reviews”) to confirm that the BCAP audits are conducted in compliance with GAGAS. This RFI seeks input from qualified small businesses interested in performing the QA Reviews. Firms performing, or competing for, BCAP audits will not be permitted to compete for or perform the QA Reviews. USAC contemplates issuing multiple indefinite quantity task order contracts of up to five years duration to meet this requirement. Depending upon the information received in response to this RFI, these contracts may be set aside for small businesses. USAC is not a federal executive agency or a federal prime contractor, and any contracts awarded by USAC for BCAP audits will not be U.S. Government contracts or subcontracts. SCOPE OF QA Reviews • The QA Reviews shall be conducted to ensure compliance audits and AUP reviews are in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (“GAGAS”) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States (July 2007 • Contractors performing QA Reviews must be properly licensed certified public accountants and comply with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“AICPA”) standards applicable to compliance audits and AUP reviews. • Contractors performing QA Reviews must be familiar with applicable FCC regulations governing USAC and the USF. • Firms selected to perform the QA Reviews must be capable of providing resources suitable to the level of effort required for the scope of each evaluation to permit the evaluation to be completed efficiently, accurately and within the time required for effective program compliance oversight. • QA Reviews will cover approximately 50 USF contributors and 290 support mechanism beneficiary compliance audits or AUP reviews annually. • Firms selected to perform QA Reviews shall be ineligible to perform compliance audits and AUP reviews. DESCRIPTION OF FIRMS SOUGHT • Firms selected to perform the QA Reviews must demonstrate experience with performing compliance audits, AUP reviews, or QA reviews consistent with GAGAS. • Firms selected to perform the contract must be capable of providing resources suitable to the level of effort required to complete all work efficiently, accurately and within the time required. • Firms must have a satisfactory record of past performance in assignments of similar scope and complexity, have a satisfactory record of compliance with AICPA professional standards and must be eligible to receive federal government contracts. (USAC is not a federal government agency, and the contract resulting from a future procurement will not be a federal government contract or subcontract; but USAC does follow certain federal government contracting procedures, including requiring that its contractors be eligible to receive federal government contracts.) DESCRIPTION OF YOUR FIRM Please briefly describe your firm’s ability to meet the needs of this future procurement. Your description should include: • Your overall experience in performing services similar to those identified in this RFI; • Your familiarity with FCC regulations governing the USF; • Your experience with GAGAS and AICPA standards.; • Your experience conducting AUP reviews with the federal government; • Any experience or knowledge of FCC Form 499-A; • Your experience conducting audits in accordance with GAGAS; • List of contracts in previous three years conducting audits in accordance with GAGAS standards; • The identity of your firm as a small business (e.g., small business, small disadvantaged, small woman-owned, small HUB-zone, small veteran-owned, or service-disabled veteran-owned businesses); • Your average annual revenues for the past three years. CONCLUSION This announcement is for information purposes only. This announcement shall not be construed as a commitment by USAC. This is not a request for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with the provision of the information requested in response to this announcement. Respondents will not be notified of the results of any evaluation. This is a Request For Information (RFI) only. Responses to the RFI should be emailed to Jay Beard at jbeard@usac.org no later than 5:00pm EDT on September 21, 2010. Submissions received after this date and time may be reviewed but may not be considered in contract planning or in the creation of a solicitation. Failure to respond to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future competition for this requirement.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/FCC/FCCOMD/FCCCPC/USAC-IAD-2010-09-07/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 2000 L Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, District of Columbia, 20036, United States
- Zip Code: 20036
- Zip Code: 20036
- Record
- SN02271343-W 20100909/100908063726-7fe4bd8d59801800ab34a37cb9169d54 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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