SRCSGT | R | A-123 Review of Internal Controls

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF JANUARY 09, 2013 FBO #4064
SOURCES SOUGHT

R -- A-123 Review of Internal Controls

Notice Date: 1/7/2013
Notice Type: Sources Sought
NAICS: 541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
Contracting Office: Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, FSA Acquisitions, Union Center Plaza, RM 91F1, 830 First Street, NE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20202-5405
ZIP Code: 20202-5405
Solicitation Number: FSASS0001
Point of Contact: Ellen Mason, Phone: 202-377-3063, Richard Degich, Phone: (202) 377-3918
E-Mail Address: ellen.mason@ed.gov, richard.segich@ed.gov
(ellen.mason@ed.gov, richard.segich@ed.gov)
Small Business Set-Aside: Total Small Business
Description: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DoED), FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FSA) Request for Information (RFI) for Financial Assessment Services Adhering to Guidance Contained in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-123, Appendices A and C A. PURPOSE: 1. Federal Student Aid (FSA), a 1,250+ person performance based organization, within the Department of Education (DoED), is geographically located in Washington D.C. (headquarters) and at 10 regional offices. The mission of FSA is to facilitate the availability of financial assistance to millions of eligible applicants pursing education beyond high school. Annually, this involves disbursing over $150 billion of loans, grants and other forms of assistance, while also managing a loan portfolio valued at almost $1 trillion. 2. The purpose of this RFI is to identify INTERESTED and viable SMALL businesses capable of fulfilling the broad DoED, FSA requirement of continuing performance of internal controls over financial reporting, improper payments and other types of related assessments, to ensure more complete adherence to guidance contained in OMB Circular A-123 Appendices, especially A and C. More specifically: a. Maintain, bolster and advance the existing FSA internal control framework, including delivering high quality support to plan, execute, synthesize and report the results of an annual internal controls assessment of financial reporting, performed consistent with the requirements contained in FMFIA, OMB Circular A-123 appendices A and C, related guidance and best practices, Also, provide sophisticated services support to estimate, identify, recover, reduce and prevent improper payments, including to plan, execute, synthesize and report the results of applying statistical methodologies to calculate estimates with high precision and confidence. b. Working with FSA business units and other involved stakeholders, maintain a repository of program control documentation, needed for assessments, about specific program operations, processes, systems, controls and other attributes. Note: FSA administers grant, loan, and loan guaranty programs involving complex operations; requiring coordination and administrative activities between FSA and a multitude of stakeholders (e.g., schools and financial institutions); and many of these programs have complex accounting and reporting requirements, e.g., those defined in the Credit Reform Act. c. Work closely with involved FSA staff to develop new statistical improper payment estimation methodologies and obtain OMB approval, to implement. d. Continue to build out an integrated enterprise-wide internal controls program in support of A-123A, improper payment and relate types of compliance assessments; institutionalize related process and procedures; and continue leveraging analytical approaches being successfully used at other agencies with similar types of operations. 2. REQUIRED RFI RESPONSE INFORMATION: 1. Request interested and capable small businesses submit a 20-page or less summary describing its capabilities to fulfill the aforementioned requirement. Please explain why the provider believes, given its expertise and overall capabilities and experiences; it will stand out as being highly qualified to satisfy this FSA requirement. In addition to general core competencies, respondents shall provide input about its capabilities, knowledge and understanding of, and overall experience with and in performing the following types of activities. a. Possession of demonstrated in-depth knowledge, understanding and experience with Title IV programs and requirements; working with similar large and complex types of programs at other Federal agencies subject to the Credit Reform Act; expertise in successfully auditing or assessing the internal controls and developing statistically valid estimates of improper payments related to these types of programs; simultaneously auditing or assessing, in accordance with FISCAM, controls for several complex IT systems; and expertise performing or evaluating SSAE16 reviews of FSA service provider or similar complex servicer operations and systems controls. Please note, significant controls within FSA programs reside at schools and financial institutions (e.g., at lenders, services, and guaranty agencies), so the provider shall provide insights about its expertise assessing controls at and performing oversight of higher education and financial services operations, including but not limited to loan origination, loan servicing, default and credit management. Also, managing similarly types of complex assessment engagements; staffing and managing involved human resources; and developing and managing stakeholder relationships. b. Possession of the right depth, breadth and balance of experience and qualifications to be able to effective engage senior leaders and other involved manager, while concurrently adhering to the FSA internal controls framework and execute each phase of the assessment life cycle, along with properly vetting assessment results, and being able to continuously make real and beneficial process improvements. c. Possession of industry recognized credentials and licenses as well as experience, working other engagements, in program management, financial statement audit or assessment, IT audit or assessment, statistical, teaming approaches, and other related areas. d. Experience integrating statisticians into assessment and evaluation teams; successfully working directly with OMB or other government agency OIG staff(s) or both, to obtain approval to use of the statistically-based estimation methodologies preferred by supported clients. Further, overall experience with successfully integrating improper payment estimation methodologies and fieldwork directly into A-123A assessment efforts or other types of compliance reviews being performed or both. This includes providing insights into the types of resources, e.g., statisticians, software, proprietary methodologies, etc., the respondent will be able to readily employ to satisfy stated FSA requirements. e. Experience effectively expanding the use of data analytics to identify anomalous transactions, patterns and trends and use these results to efficiently and effectively identify, investigate and reduce improper payments and related unacceptable risks. f. Provide insights into experiences in building out an integrated enterprise-wide internal controls program in support of A-123A, improper payment and relate types of compliance assessments; institutionalize related process and procedures; and continue leveraging analytical approaches being successfully used at other agencies with similar types of operations. 2. In 5-pages or less provide 2-3 references, preferably governmental if available, if not, then use commercial, for previous work performed, over the last 2-3 years, similar to the aforementioned requirement. Include a brief description of the work provided, in terms of scope, complexity and magnitude; state the total contract dollar value of this effort; and provide reference point of contact (POC) information such as name(s), phone number(s) and email address (es). For government references, provide the contract number and names of the involved program manager (PM), Contracting Officer Representative (COR), and Contracting Officer (CO). 3. In 3-pages or less provide information about any existing government contractual arrangements the respondent already has in place that FSA may be able to potentially use as a source for filling the aforementioned requirement. For example, GWACs, GSA schedules, direct agencies contracts possibly open to use by other government agencies, etc. Also, the respondent MUST provide confirmation regarding its small business (SB) status and related SB categories it may qualify for, such as being classified as disadvantaged SB, woman-owned business or woman-owned SB, veteran owned SB, service-disabled veteran owned SB, 8(a) SB, Hub zone SB, etc.. 4. All information provided should be labeled as “Procurement Sensitive”. Upon receipt, this input will be treated as such. 5. This RFI does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), nor restrict the Government to a specific acquisition approach. This Sources Sought announcement should NOT be construed as any form of commitment by the Government. 6. Although the specific acquisition plan related to the aforementioned requirement is still evolving, currently, based on market research results including responses to this Sources Sought and other potential information exchanges, FSA intents to release, on or before mid-March 2013, either an RFP or RFQ to compete the aforementioned requirement. 7. Please note FSA anticipates the majority of the aforementioned requirement will be performed at its headquarters facility in Washington DC. Though no geographic restrictions are being placed on potential respondents; it is CRITICAL for respondents to realize the Government will NOT pay for costs associated with travel to or from the Washington, DC local metro area. 8. It is important respondents recognize, if the aforementioned requirement is acquired from a small business, the prime contractor will be required to perform 51% or more of the cost of delivering the required services. 9. In responding to this Sources Sought announcement, each business entity is required to report, to the CO, any known, suspected or perceived potential conflicts of interest (COIs). Please note, in Government procurement, based on known and reported facts, the determination as to whether or not an actual or perceived COI exists and what mitigation actions are acceptable is a CO decision. 10. The content of this response shall be clear, concise, complete, accurate, and relevant. 11. The Government intends to use the information submitted in response to this Sources Sought for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to, identifying interested small businesses capable of providing the required services; making final decisions regarding the use of an RFP; considering the potential use of set asides; identifying key evaluation criteria; etc. Further, respondents may be subsequently contacted and be asked to engage in added exchanges with FSA regarding input submitted on capabilities, references and other related information. 12. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. All information submitted in response to this announcement must arrive on or before the closing date. 13. Provide at least one respondent source, including name, phone number and email address that FSA may contact to engage in subsequent exchanges regarding information submitted in response to this Sources Sought announcement. After review of the responses received, a solicitation synopsis may be published in the Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. 14. To ensure wide dissemination, please note that this announcement is being posted both in GSA eBuy, as an RFI, and, in FEDBIZOPS, as a sources sought announcement. Respondents may, but need only respond to one of these announcements. 15. The required services are currently being obtained from Deloitte and Touche L.L.P., under Task Orders 0007 and 0008, which were awarded under BPA ED-07-AG-0005, established against GSA schedule GS23F8132H. 3. RFI RESPONSE DUE DATE AND TIME: All questions related to this Sources Sought Announcement and information submitted in response to the RFI, shall be submitted, via email, on or before noon (12:00 PM) EST, on 18 January 2013, to Ellen.Mason@ed.gov with information copies to Linda.Simpson@ed.gov and Richard.Segich@ed.gov. ANY RESPONSES RECEIVED AFTER THE DUE DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
Web Link: FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ED/FSA/CA/FSASS0001/listing.html)
Place of Performance: Address: US Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, UCP, 830 First Street, NE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20202, United States; Zip Code: 20202
Record: SN02959964-W 20130109/130107233838-10c4e296d702b8055050b2bca174b8c2 (fbodaily.com)
Source: FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |

Loren Data's SAM Daily™

R -- A-123 Review of Internal Controls