Addendum #1
March 10, 2022
Question: Are county joint ventures (e.g., SWALCO) or component units (e.g., Lake County forest Preserves) potentially in-scope for the risk assessment purposes?
Response: No.
Question: In addition to department heads, elected officials and a couple board members, approximately how many other key leaders could reasonably be expected to provide risk assessment input?
Response: There are approximately 15 departments that have financial interactions that would likely warrant risk assessment input. The remainder of the departments/funds (over 60) generally perform the same more basic financial functions of accounts receivable and accounts payable.
March 9, 2022
Question: Which areas of specialization would the County view as helpful in augmenting the quality of the requested services (e.g., cybersecurity, construction audit, forensics, municipal financing, etc.)?
Response: Lake County is interested in an internal audit function that adequately addresses the needs of a County of our size and scope. We are not necessarily looking for specialization but rather a thorough assessment and recommendation of an approach that covers all types of risk.
Question: Would the County please clarify “Internal control procedures” as stated in the Scope of Work #1 (second bullet) by explaining if the County envisions that these procedures would be designed for the internal audit function as guidance for assessing and testing controls, or for management’s use in developing policies and standard operating procedures?
Response: The purpose is to develop an internal audit function that adequately assesses and tests controls based on best business practice policies and standard operating procedures.
Question: Would the County please clarify its expectations for Scope of Work #4 Deliverables, “a written assessment report with recommendations”?
Response: Lake County wishes to have an assessment of internal audit functions with recommendations for improvement.
Question: Are there existing audit plans, policies and procedures, or other relevant practices to evaluate? If not, on which areas, functions, structures, or practices would the assessment and recommendations be focused?
Response: Lake County has incorporated internal audit functions within the Finance Department, but is looking to improve upon the existing practices by making it a unique and independent function. The purpose of this assessment is to assist in that effort.
Question: Is it the County’s expectation that the written assessment drive/support the proposed audit plan or would the assessment and the audit plan be separate deliverables?
Response: The assessment will drive/support a recommended audit plan that can be executed by Lake County.
Question: Would the County provide prior audit plans or risk assessments as a reference for developing our approach to the requested services?
Response: This information will be shared as part of the engagement.
February 28, 2022
Question: To help us prepare a proposal and design a project approach that best meets the County’s needs, what is the County’s cost estimate for the requested services?
Response: Lake County will not be providing a cost estimate. Lake County wishes to receive proposals that meet the scope, rather than proposals that meet a particular dollar amount. The project does have available appropriated funding in FY2022.
Question: Page 16 - #1 under Scope of Work states, “All deliverables and recommendations in the assessment must be pursuant to State of Illinois statutes and in accordance with standards set by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS).” Is the County requesting the services to be performed to follow IIA and GAGAS standards? If yes, would the County be open to the services being provided under the AICPA’s Consulting Services Standards?
Response: The County is looking to receive guidance and best practices in accordance with all standards, requirements, and statutes that apply to Lake County.
Question: Could the services requested be performed entirely remotely?
Response: If the proposer believes they can successfully meet the scope with all services performed remotely, yes.
Question: Page 18 - #7 under Company Background states, “ Provide one to three examples of similar work including one reference for similar work with a Continuum of Care.” Should this be similar work related to internal audit rather than Continuum of Care?
Response: Provide one to three examples of similar work including one reference for similar work related to internal audit.
Question: Since questions are due by March 8, 2022, and proposals are due soon thereafter (March 15, 2022), will an extension of the proposal due date be considered so that reasonable time can be given to review all questions and responses and appropriately apply that information to our proposal?
Response: The questions are being addressed and posted as they are received, the due date remains March 15, 2022.
Question: Has the County had internal audit consulting services provided in the past? If so, who provided the most recent services? How long ago was the engagement? Please provide a copy of any reports, if applicable. What were the fees and hours incurred for the most recent internal audit consulting services?
Response: Lake County has not had internal audit consulting services performed in the past.
Question: Are there special circumstances or events that generated the need for the services described in the RFP?
Response: Lake County unsuccessfully recruited for an in-house Internal Audit Manager.
Question: Would the County consent to proposers using the County’s logo in their proposal document? If so, please provide a high-resolution jpeg image.
Response: No.
February 23, 2022
Question: Does the County currently have an internal audit department? If so, is it 100% in-house, co-sourced or outsourced?
Response: Internal audit functions have been absorbed by Finance Department staff and are currently done in house.
Question: The Scope of work section of the RFP, section 1 discusses possible tasks and deliverables. However, section 4 deliverables only discusses a project plan, a risk assessment report and a presentation to the County. Should our pricing focus on the tasks/deliverables in Section 1 or Section 4 or both? Specifically, in addition to the assessment, would the vendor be expected to develop an audit charter, multi-year audit plan and internal audit checklist?
Response: The proposal pricing should include both a response to the (1) Scope of Work and to (4) Deliverables. Specific to the assessment, the proposer is expected to provide their recommendations to achieve a recommended model for successful internal control at Lake County which could include any of those possible tasks and/or deliverables mentioned and should price the engagement accordingly.
Question: Is the expectation for the vendor to just complete consulting services to conduct an assessment on the County’s current Internal control and internal audit functions OR would the County expect the Vendor to also perform the audits within the audit plan?
Response: The expectation is for the vendor to just complete consulting services to conduct an assessment on the County’s current Internal control and internal audit functions. Based on the results of the assessment, Lake County will evaluate next steps for implementation.
a. If the vendor is also expected to complete the audits, should that be included in the pricing section or would that be a separate procurement.
Question: The RFP references Forensic Accounting and Fraud examiners in the qualifications section. Is there a specific concern or area that the County would like the vendor to address? OR is this just to help ensure that, in general, fraud risks are incorporated in the assessment and addressed by the County’s audit function.
Response: This reference in the qualifications section helps ensure fraud risks are included in the assessment and addressed by Lake County’s internal audit function.