Established in August 2009 under the Companies Act, Cap 110, as a company limited by guarantee and not having share capital, the African Centre for Media Excellence is a non-profit media development and support organisation. In 2017, following the enactment of the Non-Governmental Organisations Act and the NGO Regulations, ACME was registered with the then National Bureau of Non-Governmental Organisations as an Indigenous Organisation.

ACME is committed to excellence in journalism, constructive discourse on public affairs, and quality civic information in Africa, starting at home in Uganda. More information about ACME’s mission and objectives can be obtained from www.acme-ug.org.

Key objective:

ACME intends to conduct a statutory external audit review of its financial performance for 2024. In pursuit of this objective, it wishes to engage the services of a competent professional firm in the area of external audit and assurance to conduct an audit of the organisation’s financial statements and all the underlying information.

Timeframe and Terms of Engagement:

To meet the stated objective, the firm will be expected to perform the tasks and deliverables of the assignment for a period not exceeding six (6) weeks on a fixed-price basis.

 Key deliverables:

A formal report containing an opinion on, but not limited to, whether ACME’s financial statements, related resources and environment adequately:

  1. Safeguard assets, maintain data and financial statements;
  2. Provide relevant and reliable information;
  3. Achieve organisational goals and consume resources efficiently; and
  4. Have internal controls that provide reasonable assurance that operational and control objectives will be met, undesired events will be prevented or detected and rectified in a timely

Recommendations on areas of improvement as part of the formal report.

Qualifications:

The firm should have the following qualifications:

  1. At least one (1) or more members of the firm who have/are:
    1. At least three (3) years of experience at a senior level in performing annual audit of financial statements and advisory work, preferably in an NGO/non-profit setting.
    2. Professionally affiliated with and certified by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Uganda (ICPAU), plus any other relevant certification.
  2. The team leader should be:
    1. A qualified assurance professional with a minimum of three (3) years of experience in carrying out similar exercises.
    2. A competent certified public accountant (CPA) of Uganda.
  3. The members of the firm designated to conduct the assignment should possess or have ready access to all of the necessary technical expertise.

Other key requirements:

The firm should have:

  1. Valid professional indemnity insurance
  2. Ability to produce results within agreed and strict
  3. Valid ICPAU practicing licenses for the partners.
  4. Fulfilled its obligations to pay taxes and social security contributions (where applicable) and PAYE for its organisation and
  5. Three (3) client references.

Proposals should contain comments on the terms of reference.

Selection criteria:

ACME will assess proposals on the basis of the following technical and financial criteria:

  1. Overall capabilities of the firm
  2. Professional team assigned
  3. Proposed methodology
  4. Understanding of the assignment
  5. Cost
  6. Any other criteria that may be deemed pertinent during the selection process

Reporting:

The firm shall report directly to the ACME Board Finance Committee through the Committee Chairperson. However, during the course of performing the assessment, the contact person shall be the Finance Manager.

Budget:

The firm is required to give its quotation of the fees charged for conducting this exercise in Uganda shillings.

Submission of proposals:

Two (2) hard copies each of sealed technical and financial proposals in separate envelopes should be delivered and submitted to the address below between the 6th and the 10th of January 2025 during the business hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Any proposal received after the deadline for submission will be rejected and returned unopened to the applicant.

For proper identification, the envelope containing the respective proposal should be marked at the top as follows:

  • Technical proposal for audit services 2024 – Submitted by [insert bidder’s name, physical address and telephone contact number]
  • Financial proposal for audit services 2024 – Submitted by [insert bidder’s name, physical address and telephone contact number]

A stamped acknowledgement will be issued to confirm receipt of the technical and financial proposals.

Submission address:

Hard copies of the proposals should be delivered and submitted to:

The Procurement Committee

African Centre for Media Excellence

Plot 130 Nanjala Road, Bunga-Kalungu, Kampala

For inquiries:

Send email with the subject line “Audit services 2024” to: admin@acme-ug.org

Download the request for consultancy services here.