Call for applications: Sound Connects Fund bookkeeping and audit support officer
Goethe-Institut and the Music In Africa Foundation are looking to hire a bookkeeping and audit support officer for the Sound Connects Fund (SCF). Companies or freelancers (individuals) are welcome to bid for the contract.
The tasks and services of the successful candidate will include bookkeeping support for subgrantees of the ACP-EU-funded SCF aiming to adequately prepare for audits and to minimise ineligible costs.
The submission deadline is 6 February at 6pm SAST.
Context
Goethe-Institut and Music In Africa Foundation recently started the implementation of SCF, a 40-month initiative funded by the European Union (EU) in partnership with the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. The SCF will support creatives in Southern Africa in nine countries namely – Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and eSwatini. The project aims at supporting creatives and practitioners through sub grants to improve their products and services, in gaining more access to markets and to finances as well as in implementing initiatives focused on audience literacy.
Two organisations are leading the action and involved in working with a diversity of creatives, key institutions, organiations, public and private organisations in the nine countries:
The Music In Africa Foundation is a non-profit, pan-African organisation with a vision to be the leading source of information and exchange in and for the African music sector. The objectives of the Music In Africa Foundation include providing reliable and useful information that promotes the African music sector and its operators; connecting and promoting exchange between music operators from, or related to, Africa and its diasporas; promoting and encouraging the creation of content by Africans, about Africa or related to Africa and its diasporas; improving the distribution, accessibility and viability of such content; promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship among the African music sector; enhancing music education; facilitating and promoting, through research, development and education, the use by professionals and audiences of current and future technologies; and providing one single and viable access point for all of the above that links existing initiatives, services and resources.
Goethe-Institut: as the Federal Republic of Germany’s internationally active cultural institute, Goethe-Institut promotes access to the German language, encourages international cultural cooperation and provides up-to-date information about Germany. With 157 institutes in 98 countries, as well as cooperative arrangements with partner establishments, the Goethe-Institut global network offers 1 100 points of contact around the world.
Key responsibility/objective
1. Gain a strong understanding of all applicable accounting policies and rules of the donor, the MIAF and the Fund, as well as the contractual obligations of grantees (about 35 grantees over a 3 year period).
2. Review and approve grantee reports. This responsibility shall involve:
- Creating a schedule for monitoring and tracking all grantee financial reports.
- Continuous bookkeeping and accounting support to existing teams.
- Reviewing and approving all submitted financial reports from grantees ensuring that all expenses are eligible and according to the approved grant budget as well as the applicable policies as stipulated in the contracts. This process involves checking all expenses and supporting documents.
- Communicating efficiently and professionally with grantees with a view to remedy any identified issues on submitted reports before they can be approved.
- Submitting approved reports for filling to MIAF.
3. Support grantees for audits. All expenses of the project will go through an auditing process with an external company (about 12 per year). This support role shall include the following:
- Creating together with grantees a clear audit pack including statement of projects expenses, supporting documents and other requirements.
- Liaising with the MIAF and grantees to ensure smooth preparation for said audit.
- Assisting in the finalisation of the overall grant report (expenditure verification report) which shall be submitted to the donor.
4. General grantee support. Provide necessary input to subgrantees in the form of virtual workshops/input sessions or emails as required covering all relevant aspects. In order to continuously improve the delivery of the fund as a whole, the service provider will regularly engage with the SCF team. This will include but not be limited to:
- Immediate information on systematic challenges rendering it inadequately difficult for subgrantees to meet the requirements (e.g. proposing changes in upcoming call for applications, etc.).
- Immediate information on severe challenges with specific subgrantees allowing the SCF to take necessary steps.
- Regular exchange on support provided and input sessions/workshops planned and delivered.
Note: The expertise of the consultant will guide the deliverables of the outputs in these ToRs, but the final tasks and scopes will be approved by the SCF management team.
Profile of service provider qualifications of personnel:
- Proof of registration with a professional accounting body.
- Expertise and experience of working in the Southern Africa region in accounting, bookkeeping, and audit preparations.
- Profound knowledge of EU regulations on expenditure verification, eligible/ineligible costs, and alike.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Portuguese will be an advantage.
- In-depth understanding of operational characteristics, services and activities of arts development projects. An understanding of accounting practices for NGOs will be advantageous.
- Highly proficient with MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outloook) and iOS. Excel experience is a must.
- Experience working in XERO.
- Ability to work independently with minimum supervision. Applicants must be able to meet frequently with the SCF team in Johannesburg as required.
- Long-standing experience in bookkeeping and accounting following international standards and procedures.
- A professional team all with a wide range of diverse abilities.
- Preferably, experience in capacity building training and workshops.
Qualifications of personnel:
- Clear indications of all personnel involved (by providing respective CVs). Past experience working in/with the different focus countries of the project is preferable.
- Overview of past experience of the bidding company/consortium of companies/freelancers covering at least the last three years (maximum the last six years).
- Indication of language abilities, especially with regards to Portuguese. Any personnel involved in training and support must be able to communicate fluently in English.
Budget plan and other aspects:
- Prices (presented either in ZAR or EUR) must include any taxes (incl. VAT) and other components (e.g. internet access, working materials, etc.). Goethe-Institut will only pay the total price as indicated by the offer. An indication of the desired payment modalities (e.g. monthly, quarterly, instalments, etc.) would be desirably included in the bid.
- Any equipment needed for the provision of the tasks shall be provided by the contractor. Travel by the service provider where necessary will need to be included in the work plan, but listed as separate items in the offer with related costs. Project-related travel, expenses are reimbursed exclusively in accordance with the finance protocols existing in the SADC region. All travel has to adhere to the COVID-19 protocols currently operational in the region.
- Music In Africa Foundation and Goethe-Institut shall not be able to provide working spaces.
General provisions
- Rights of usage: Goethe-Institut and Music In Africa Foundation shall be granted an exclusive right to use the products of the contract for all known and unknown types of use, which is unlimited in terms of time, space and content. This right of use also extends to the right to utilise individual parts or the entire product in connection with other works not originating from the contractual partner.
- Criteria for selection: A committee compiled by Goethe-Institut and the Music In Africa Foundation will evaluate the different bids submitted. Submissions after the deadline will not be considered. Goethe-Institut reserves the right to ask for additional documentation after submission. The evaluation consists of four parts: Price (30%), quality of proposed project team (20%), regional expertise (20%) and quality of the offer (30%). The offer with the highest number of cumulative points across all four sections will be awarded.
- Relevant project documents: Upon conclusion of the contract including necessary confidentiality provisions, relevant project documents will be made available to the successful bidder. The log frame can be requested by potential bidders before the submission of an offer.
Submission of proposals
Only qualified and experienced service providers capable of delivering services on time and at affordable rates with a proven track record will be considered. The successful service provider will work closely with the appointed accounting personnel from the Music In Africa Foundation and the Goethe-Institut. The contract will be signed with Goethe-Institut and the service provider is expected to present (within a week of signing the contract) their support plan to Goethe-Institut as a PDF document.
Interested service providers should submit detailed technical and financial proposals with a detailed budget detailing all costs related to this call. The set of proposals should include:
- A technical proposal with an executive summary, appendices and CVs of personnel.
- A Financial proposal should recommend a payment schedule based on milestones and deliverables.
- A detailed work plan outlining activities, deliverables, milestones and targeted completion dates.
- A list of references for similar work done. Full contact details of references (including email, telephones, addresses, contact person, cellphone numbers, and websites (if any).
- The service provider should agree to sign Goethe’s agreement with agreed addendums and when necessary, variations of terms of contract.
General information
The service provider’s contract shall be one year (12 months) with an option of renewal for another year (12months), subject to satisfactory deliverables of agreed and contracted terms. There shall be predefined and agreed milestones and deliverables for each task and a payment schedule to suit the delivery. The proposal should therefore demonstrate the fee structures across the main deliverables as indicated in this call for SCF management to consider.
General provisions
- Bidders should note that this is a project where time, affordability and availability are of essence. Once contracted, there will be no extension of allocated time, beyond the closing date.
- Failure to comply with the provisions of the contract could render the cancellation of the contract without prejudice to the contracting party.
- Goethe-Institut reserves the right not to appoint any consultant/service provider/ or to appoint the work to more than one bidder.
- Goethe-Institut reserves the right to undertake reference, and other checks and by responding to this bid, the consultant(s)/service provider hereby gives Goethe-Institut consent/authority to undertake such checks.
- Goethe-Institut reserves the right to withdraw this bid/ or amend these terms of reference by notice in writing (email or posting on the website) to only shortlisted bidders who will have responded to this call prior to the closing date.
- The award of the contract will be based on best value for money that being the best outcome for Goethe-Institut as a whole, considering price, economic, environmental and social benefits (if applicable).
- Goethe-Institut reserves the right not to make an award or to accept the lowest bid.
Application process
Candidates are invited to submit a budget and proposal that is a maximum of 10 pages, outlining proposed process with time frames, by the closing date.
Anti-competitive behaviour
Anti-competitive arrangements, particularly agreements and recommendations regarding the following are forbidden:
- Profit Margin.
- Profit sharing.
- Prices.
- Deficiency compensation/redundancy pay, etc.
- Terms & conditions for delivery of service, payment and contract which influence the pricing apart from exceptions mentioned in the GWB (German Competition Law, implementing article 101 of the EU treaty).
- Whether to submit or not to submit an offer.
Miscellaneous
- The information, materials and documents made available by the contracting authority may only be used for the purpose of this tender, have to be kept strictly confidential and are not allowed to be recirculated to third parties without prior approval of the contracting authority.
- Costs incurred for the preparation and presentation (including travel expenses) for the bid cannot be reimbursed. Unless otherwise agreed, the documents, samples, etc. attached to the bid will pass into the ownership of the contracting authority. Bidders cannot claim a reimbursement of any costs.
The instructions on submission of offer
Offers need to be submitted electronically (preferably in one PDF) in English to Priscilla Mwasinga (priscilla.mwasinga@goethe.de) with the subject line 'SCF Bookkeeping and Accounting Support' no later than 6 February at 6pm SAST. Late submissions will not be considered.
Contact for further inquiries:
- Priscilla Mwasinga, MEAL officer, at priscilla.mwasinga@goethe.de.
- Thabiso Mohare, SCF project coordinator, at thabiso@musicinafrica.net.
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