Council Action Requested:
Section 4-9-150 of the State code states that the County have an independent annual audit of all financial records and transactions. The audits must be made by a certified public accountant or public accountant who has no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the county government or any of its officers. The current audit agreement ended with the audit of fiscal year 2022. The County issued a request for proposal (RFP) for independent auditing services with a due date of April 27, 2023. It is now time to award another contract for auditing services.
Points to Consider:
Two proposals were received, CHK CPA and Advisors, LLC and Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC. After initial review from procurement staff, CHK was disqualified for the lack of a valid license to practice in South Carolina. Although the firm has applied for a license, a SC license was a mandatory criterion in the RFP. After further review, CHK also proposed a subcontractor on the engagement who is not licensed to practice in South Carolina.
Mauldin & Jenkins was the only responsive bidder and specializes in governmental auditing services. After review, they met all of the criteria and qualifications listed in the RFP. The firm is large enough to rotate qualified staff who spend 100% of their time serving state and local governments. They will provide an Audit Manager and Technical Resource Partner on the engagement with a different team from the past three years. Given the size of the County and the number of resources accounted for, it is important to have a qualified firm for auditing & financial reporting.
Key criteria in the RFP:
- The firm must be independent and licensed to practice in South Carolina- mandatory.
- The firm must affirm there are no conflicts of interest with the County- mandatory.
- The firm must submit a copy of its last external quality control review report and have a record of quality audit work- mandatory.
- The firm's past experience and performance on comparable government engagements is important.
- The quality of the firm's professional personnel to be assigned to the engagement and management support personnel is key.
- Must have an adequate staffing plan.
- Adequacy of sampling techniques and analytical procedures.
Funding and Liability Factors:
Cost:
- FY2023- $59,000
- FY2024- $63,000
- FY2025- $67,500
Additional single audit services if the County has more than one major federal program- $7,500 per additional major program.
Recommendation:
Approve an Auditing Services contract with Mauldin & Jenkins.