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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A FIRM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE EXTERNAL FINANCIAL AUDIT OF HEI LTD, FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024
- CONTEXT
HORIZON EDUCATION INVESTMENT Ltd (HEI Ltd) is a Limited Liability Company; incorporated on 14/06/2015 and registered with Rwanda Development Board (RDB) on 16/07/2015 under Code 103695931. Its registered office is established in Kigali, City of Kigali, Gasabo District, Kinyinya Sector.
Horizon Education Investment Ltd aims to carry out all commercial, financial, industrial, movable or real estate operations relating directly or indirectly to the promotion of education in Rwanda.
Horizon Education Investment Ltd may also be interested, in Rwanda or abroad, by way of contribution, merger, subscription or in any other manner, in any companies, associations or companies having a similar, analogous or related object, or likely to promote the development of the company.
It will focus on the following points:
- Contribution to the promotion of the quality of Education through the establishment of appropriate infrastructures,
- Creation and management of private schools: Nursery, Primary, Secondary, Technical and Vocational and Higher Education.
- Contribution to cultural, civic and sports education aimed at promoting socio-professional development;
- Carrying out all commercial, financial, industrial, movable or real estate operations relating directly or indirectly to the promotion of education in Rwanda.
In order to effectively and efficiently manage the activities of Horizon Education Investment Ltd (HEI Ltd), it has been included in its procedures and management manual, the use of an external financial audit firm to examine the eligibility and accuracy of its financial transactions covering the period from January 1 to December 31 of each year.
- AUDIT OBJECTIVE
The objective of the audit of the financial statements of HEI Ltd is to enable the auditor to express an independent professional opinion on the financial position of the company at the end of the accounting period and to ensure that the company’s resources are well managed, with a view to achieving the company’s development objectives.
The expression of this professional opinion will be based on the financial statements and supporting documents prepared and made available to the Auditor by the General Management of HEI Ltd.
- RESPONSIBILITY OF STAKEHOLDERS .
3.1. Responsibility for the preparation of the Company’s financial statements, including appropriate disclosures, lies with the Company’s Coordination. The Company’s Coordination is also responsible for:
- Of the choice and application of accounting principles. The company prepares the financial statements in accordance with the applicable accounting standards: either international accounting standards, or international financial reporting standards (IFRS), or national accounting standards that are consistent, in substance, with IFRS; and
- Implementation of accounting principles and administrative and financial procedures recorded in the company’s procedures and management manual.
- To provide the auditor with:
- Access to all information known to management that relates to the preparation of the financial statements, such as accounting, related documentation and other elements;
- Additional information that he may request from management for the purposes of the audit.
3.2. The auditor is responsible for expressing an opinion on the financial statements based on audits conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. National auditing standards that are consistent in substance with International Standards on Auditing are also accepted.
- SCOPE OF THE AUDIT
4.1. The audit will be conducted in accordance with international standards and will include such audit tests and procedures and such checks as the auditor deems necessary in the circumstances. The period covered by the auditor’s mandate is the financial year ending 31 December 2024.
During the audit, special attention should be paid to the following points:
Resources :
- Obtain a list of HEI resources and accounting documents relating to resource mobilization and recovery, verify that all revenue has been collected and recorded during the period under audit.
Expenses :
- Budgetary aspects: Verify the existence and document the budgetary process (preparation, approval, execution and monitoring of the budget) by identifying strengths and weaknesses and formulating, where appropriate, the recommendations necessary for improving the system in place;
- Acquisition of goods and services: Check that the system for supplying goods and services complies with current regulations;
Ineligible expenses should be the subject of a separate paragraph in the audit report; they should be mentioned in the “Letter to Management”, and if they are considered significant, they should be included in the auditor’s opinion.
- Procurement and contract management aspect
- Verify whether the current procurement process was followed in the implementation of these projects;
- Compare forecasts with actual results, document variations;
- Verify compliance with the implementation of the related contracts;
- Inventories of stocks and tangible fixed assets
- Check the internal control system in the management of stock of supplies, uniforms etc.
- Verify the internal control system in the management of tangible fixed assets
4.2. In accordance with international auditing standards, the auditor shall pay attention
Particular to the following points:
- Fraud and Corruption : The auditor shall identify and assess fraud risks, obtain or provide sufficient audit evidence of analysis of these risks and appropriately address identified or suspected fraud;
- Laws and Regulations : When designing the audit approach and implementing the audit procedures, the auditor will need to assess compliance with regulatory and legislative texts by the management of HEI Ltd, to detect cases of non-compliance likely to lead to significant anomalies in the financial statements;
- Governance : The auditor will check whether the meetings of the AGM, CA, CA Committee, HEI Management Committee are held regularly and that the relevant minutes are produced and filed.
- Risk : The auditor will implement appropriate audit procedures in response to the risks/anomalies identified during his assessment.
- FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE COMPANY
The auditor will verify that the financial statements of HEI Ltd have been prepared in accordance with accepted accounting principles and give a true and fair view of the financial position of the company at the financial year-end date, as well as of the resources and expenditure incurred at that date.
Based among other things on the various studies and assessments of HEI Ltd’s assets that have been carried out to date (asset appraisal report, inventory, etc.), the auditor will detail and document all the elements constituting HEI’s assets and identify the variations during the period under audit.
The financial statements must include:
- Notes to the financial statements describing the accounting principles used and presenting a detailed and explained analysis of the main accounts;
- Balance sheet showing the company’s cumulative funds, bank balances and other assets and liabilities of the company at the end of the financial year in question;
- Income statement;
- Cash flow statement (or financing statement) used to determine cash flows during each financial year;
- The statement of changes in equity
The auditor shall present the following items as an appendix to the aforementioned financial statements:
- A statement of reconciliation of accounts;
- A detailed list of fixed assets acquired during the financial year.
- AUDIT REPORTS :
6.1. The audit report must include:
- The auditor’s opinion on the financial statements; and
- The complete list of financial statements as described in paragraph 5 above.
In addition to the report on the financial statements, the auditor will prepare a “Letter to Management”
» In which it will include:
- Comments and observations on the accounting records, procedures and management systems examined during the audit;
- Specific anomalies and weaknesses in the management system and will make recommendations for their improvement;
- Communication issues identified during the audit engagement that may have a significant impact on the company;
- Comments on any other anomalies that the auditor considers relevant including ineligible expenses.
Ideally, the “Letter to Management” should include reactions/comments from the implementing entities on the weaknesses noted by the auditor.
- GENERAL INFORMATION
- The auditor shall have access to all legal documents, reports and information relating to the company that he deems necessary;
It is recommended that the auditor familiarise himself with the following documents from HEI Ltd:
- HEI Ltd Procedures Manual and Internal Regulations;
- HEI Ltd. Business Plan
- HEI Ltd Articles of Association
The auditor is recommended to meet and discuss all aspects relating to
Audit with general management before the start and at the end of the mission.
- EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION OF THE AUDITOR
8.1. The audit firm must be registered and listed on the board of a nationally or internationally recognised order of chartered accountants (ICPAR).
The firm must have proven experience in accounting and financial auditing of companies or projects.
8.2. Key personnel for the audit mission shall include at least:
- A financial accountant, with at least 10 years of experience in financial auditing and approved by the order of chartered accountants in his country;
- A mission manager, with at least an Ao level diploma in auditing and accounting, and with at least 5 years of experience in financial auditing;
- An assistant auditor with appropriate professional experience and qualifications.
8.3. Given that the audit reports will have to be produced in French, it is expected that the personnel required to carry out this mission will be familiar with French.
- THE APPLICATION FILE
An auditor’s application file must include:
Administrative documents :
- Letter of submission;
- Commercial register;
- Certificate of non-royalty to RRA
- Certificate of non-royalty to RSSB;
- Proof that the financial accountant is approved by the order of chartered accountants in his country.
Technical offer must include:
- Bidder profile;
- Methodology;
- Three recent technical references from the last three years;
- Execution schedule;
- List of staff with their CVs and responsibilities;
- Photocopies of the diplomas of the listed personnel and their identity cards.
Financial Offer
The financial offer must clearly show whether the estimated cost is inclusive of all taxes or exclusive of taxes.
- MISSION PROGRESS :
Duration of intervention:
The mission will be carried out over a period not exceeding 10 working days.
Report :
The report will be written in French. The report will be published in a provisional version (two copies) and submitted to the general management, which will make its observations. The report will then be revised to incorporate, where appropriate, the observations of the general management. The revised report will be published in three copies and must reach the general management of the company no later than the date agreed in the contract;
The audit firm shall present the final audit report to the General Meeting.
NB: The details contained in the TDRs are not exhaustive, the selected audit firm must follow the norms and standards of the profession as well as good management practices.
- DEADLINE AND PLACE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS .
Interested candidates should send their application files in a sealed envelope containing two separate envelopes with the following information:
Technical offer
Financial offer
No later than 02/11/2025 at 5:00 p.m. local time , at the headquarters of Horizon Education Investment Company located in Gacuriro in the Ecole l’Horizon building.
No Application files will be accepted after the closing date and time.
Done in Kigali, 01/23/2025
Managing Director of HEI Ltd
HABARUGIRA Simeon
