Swisscontact, Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation, is headquartered in Zurich and was founded in 1959 by leading figures from the Swiss private sector and Swiss universities. It is exclusively involved in international cooperation and, since 1961, has carried out its own and mandated projects. A part of the organisation, Swisscontact Bangladesh, is registered as an international non-governmental organisation (INGO) under the NGO Affairs Bureau, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, carrying out diverse projects across sectors such as Ready-Made Garments (RMG), Agriculture, Health, Water and Sanitation, Light Engineering, and Financial Inclusion.
BACKGROUND OF INSPIRE
Initiative to Stimulate Private Investment for Resource Efficiency (InSPIRE), is a challenge fund project that aims to accelerate sustainable energy adoption in Bangladesh’s RMG sector by enhancing technical and financial capacity. InSPIRE is a four-year project (January 2025–December 2028) in Bangladesh, funded by the Embassy of Sweden and implemented by Swisscontact. Despite Bangladesh’s RMG sector driving over 10% of the GDP and employing four million workers, its future growth and competitiveness are at risk due to high energy consumption from unsustainable sources such as fossil fuel. On that background, InSPIRE mobilises a blended finance instrument, where private investment is matched with a Challenge Fund, to support RMG factories and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), for investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The InSPIRE Challenge Fund aims to incentivise RMG factories, their suppliers and ESCOs to harness their innovation capabilities to deploy commercially viable energy efficiency measures and renewable energy projects, supported by robust TA to ensure successful implementation and long-term capacity building. It seeks to address underlying constraints in the RMG sector, such as high reliance on non-renewable energy and limited compliance with global sustainability standards, while promoting GESI by fostering equitable job opportunities and inclusive workplace practices. Through rigorous Monitoring, the fund will track environmental impacts (e.g., reduced greenhouse gas emissions), financial returns (e.g., positive ROI), and social outcomes, ensuring a gender-responsive and inclusive green transition that strengthens the sector’s global competitiveness.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The , hereafter referred to as the “Cooperation partner” wishes to engage the services of an audit firm for the purpose of auditing the “Initiative to Stimulate Private Investment for Resource Efficiency (InSPIRE)”, as stipulated in the agreement between the Cooperation partner and Sida. The audit shall be carried out in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISA) issued by IAASB . In addition, an assignment according to International Standards on Related Services (ISRS) 4400 shall be carried out. The audit and the additional assignment shall be carried out by an external, independent and qualified auditor.
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE AUDIT
The objective is to audit the financial report for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 and 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 as submitted to Sida and to express an audit opinion according to ISA, applying ISA 800/ISA 805, on whether the financial report of “Initiative to Stimulate Private Investment for Resource Efficiency (InSPIRE)” is in accordance with the Cooperation partner´s accounting records and Sida’s requirements for financial reporting as stipulated in the agreement including appendices between Sida and Cooperation partner (Agreement).
Additional assignment: according to agreed upon procedures ISRS 4400, review the following areas in accordance with the Terms of Reference below
Mandatory procedures that must be included:
1. Observe whether the financial report is structured in a way that allows for direct comparison with the latest approved budget .
2. Observe and inspect whether the financial report provides information regarding:
- Financial outcome per budget line (both incomes and costs) for the reporting period and columns for cumulative information regarding earlier periods under current agreement.
- When applicable, compare if the opening fund balance for the reporting period matches with what was stated as closing fund balance in the previous reporting period.
- A disclosure of exchange gains/losses. Inquire and confirm whether the disclosure includes the entire chain of currency exchange from Sida’s disbursement to the handling of the project/programme within the organisation in local currency/ies, if applicable.
- Explanatory notes (such as, for instance, accounting principles applied for the financial report).
- Amount of funds that has been forwarded to implementing partners, when applicable.
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3. Inquire and inspect with what frequency salary costs during the reporting period are debited to the project/programme.
Choose a sample of three individuals for three different months and:
- Inquire and inspect whether there are supporting documentation for debited salary costs.
- Inquire and inspect whether actual time worked is documented and verified by a manager. Inquire and inspect within which frequency reconciliations between debited time and actual worked time is performed.
- Inspect whether the Cooperation partner comply with applicable tax legislation with regard to personal income taxes (PAYE) and social security fees.
4. Review and confirm that the Cooperation partner screens IP’s and/or suppliers to ensure that such parties are not subject to the European Union’s financial sanctions list of persons, groups and organisations (EU Sanctions list).
Enquire whether there have been any reported findings from the screening process and if so, report on such findings.
5. a) Inspect and confirm that the unspent fund balance (according to the financial report) at the end of the financial year is in line with information provided in the accounting system and/or bank account.
b) Applicable for the final year: Inspect and confirm the unspent fund balance (including exchange gains) in the financial report and confirm the amount that shall be repaid to Sida.
SUBMISSION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS
The audit firm should submit the following documents along with the proposal:
- Tax Identification Number (TIN) Certificate
- Business Identification Number (BIN)
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Trade License
- Registration Certificate
- Latest Tax Return Certificate
- Other legal documents if relevant for an audit firm
Submission Details
The soft copy of the technical and financial proposal needs to be submitted by online to the following email address: bgd.inspire@swisscontact.org by 24 December 2025 addressing to: Senior Manager, Finance and Administration, InSPIRE. Please mention “Proposal for Annual Audit for InSPIRE project” on the email subject line. And the hard copy of the application should be submitted to Swisscontact Bangladesh Office within same deadline to the address: House 28, Road 43, Gulshan-2, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
For any clarification or questions regarding this assignment or the Terms of Reference (ToR), interested applicants may contact Swisscontact via email at farzana.boby@swisscontact.org. Responses to queries will be shared with all interested applicants, if deemed necessary, to ensure transparency and equal access to information.
Only shortlisted applicants shall be contacted for the next procedure.
Please find the detail ToR here.
The ToR is also available in the Swisscontact Bangladesh website. Please click the link: https://www.swisscontact.org/en/countries/bangladesh/requests-for-proposal
To learn more about the project please visit our website: https://www.swisscontact.org/en/projects/initiative-to-stimulate-private-investment-for-resource-efficiency-inspire
*No late submission will be accepted
*Swisscontact reserves the right to accept or reject any application, in part or full, or cancel the entire procurement process without assigning any reason whatsoever. Submission of an application does not guarantee the award of the contract.
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