Request for Proposal for a Standing Offer for a Financial

Auditor for the period of July 2026 to June 2029

January 27, 2026

Inquiries and proposals should be directed to treasurer@evaluationcanada.ca

General information

Purpose. This request for proposal (RFP) is to identify financial auditors to conduct the annual audit of financial statements to the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) for a one-year period (renewable) beginning in July 2026.

Who May Respond. Sole proprietor auditors or firms who are legally entitled to work in Canada may respond to this RFP. Preference may be given to bilingual professionals.

Instructions

1. Closing Submission Date. Proposals must be submitted no later than 5pm EST on March 31, 2026.
2. Inquiries. Inquiries concerning this RFP should be emailed to treasurer@evaluationcanada.ca no later than March 16, 2026. We will endeavour to reply within 48 hours. Questions and answers may be shared with the potential bidders, at the discretion of the CES.
3. Conditions of Proposal. All costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal responding to this RFP will be the responsibility of the Offeror and will not be reimbursed by the CES.
4. Instructions to Prospective Contractors. Submit your proposal via email as a single electronic file, using the adobe acrobat format (.pdf) to treasurer@evaluationcanada.ca with the subject header: Proposal for Standing Offer for Financial Auditing Service, CES. It is the responsibility of the Offeror to ensure that the proposal is received by CES, by the date and time specified above. Late proposals will not be considered.

Right to Reject. CES reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received in response to this RFP. A contract for a standing offer for the accepted proposal will be drafted based upon the factors described in this RFP.

Notification of Awards. It is expected that a decision selecting the successful contractors will be made within four weeks of the closing date for the receipt of proposals. Upon conclusion of final negotiations with the successful contractors, all Offerors submitting proposals in response to this Request for Proposal will be informed, via email of their status.

Basis of Payment. It is expected that the contracts for the standing offer shall be on the basis of per diem or hourly rates to perform the work described below.

The CES

Description of Entity. The CES is a bilingual not-for-profit professional association dedicated to the advancement of evaluation theory and practice in Canada and beyond. In serving its members, CES offers a range of products and services including an annual conference, an online learning platform (the e-Institute), and a professional designation, and communicates with members and potential members through a variety of channels including our website, weekly message, and social media.

The CES is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The CES contracts a range of professional services with an association management company to support the operations of the organization; these include bookkeeping, communications with members and non-members, day-to-day operations of the online training institute and of the credentialing program.

CES Mission. Through our national operations and a network of chapters, members, and partners, we promote the development of evaluation theory and practice, lead the professionalization of evaluation, build awareness of and capacity for evaluation, and advocate for the use of quality evaluation.

CES Vision. Advancing excellence in evaluation across Canada and internationally.

CES Values. All of our activities and operations are driven by the three core professional values in the CES Ethics Guidance for evaluation practice: (1) Upholding the rights and well-being of persons, Peoples, and all of nature; (2) Seeking truth, honesty, and transparency; and (3) Being responsible to all engaged in or affected by their evaluation work.

Further information can be found on the CES website at evaluationcanada.ca .

Financial systems. The CES financial systems are highly disciplined, electronic, and well documented. All documents are available in digital format off the CES cloud storage.

Scope of Services

The Offeror shall be readily available to provide an audit opinion on CES’ national financial statements (exclusive of regional chapter operations) through a year-end audit, specifically targeted at the balance sheet, cash flow statement and the income statement. The CES fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The first audit period would cover fiscal year 2025-2026.

The audit will include:

1. Preparation and submission of an annual audit plan to the Board of Directors.
2. Year-end field audit, normally held in September conducted according to Canadian generally accepted auditing standards and the requirements of the NFP act.
3. Provision of a management letter, making any recommendations on improvements to existing financial and reporting practices based on any weaknesses found during the course of the year-end audit.
4. Virtual presentation of audited statements to the Board of Directors, if needed.

All of the above must be completed by December of each calendar year in order for the Board to review and approve the Financial Statements prior to its presentation to and approval by the membership at the Annual General meeting, usually held in mid to late June.

The Offeror shall be prepared to submit a detailed billing statement for all services billed at an hourly rate broken down into time increments of no more than a quarter hour. Offeror shall also include summaries of work performed and time spent on services performed as discussed below.

Our budget for these services is estimated at $14,000 annually. Given that we are a member-based organization, we emphasize efficiency and value for our members’ money. Pricing will be one of the evaluation criteria.

Proposal Contents

The Offeror, in its proposal, shall, as a minimum, include the following;

1. Financial Auditing Experience. The Offeror should describe the auditing experience of team members, including the names, addresses, contact persons, email address and telephone numbers of at least three references, preferably including clients similar to CES. Experience should include the following :
   1. Experience auditing statements of not for profit organizations. Preference will be given to those with experience with professional associations.
   2. Organization, Size, Structure, and Areas of Practice. If the Offeror is a firm, it should describe its organization, size, structure, areas of practice, and office location(s).
   3. Consultant Qualifications. The Offeror should describe the qualifications of consultants to be assigned to the representation. Descriptions should include:
      1. Professional and education background of each consultant.
      2. Overall supervision to be exercised.
      3. Prior experience of the individual consultant with respect to the required experience listed above. Only include resumes of consultant(s) likely to be assigned to the representation. Education, position in firm, years and types of experience, and continuing professional education will be considered.
2. Price. We expect the proposal to include a cost estimate with supportive argumentation based on an hourly rate for each team member. Associated fees should be listed.
3. Approach and Level of Effort. The consultant should describe the approach to be taken in conducting the financial audit for the CES and the level of effort required of each team member. The proposal should include a workplan identifying, in the format of a table, the activities, expected dates, and deliverables.

Proposal Evaluation

Evaluation Procedure and Criteria. The CES Audit Committee and the Chair of Governance and Process will review proposals and make recommendations to the Board of Directors for final approval. The proposal reviewers may request a telephone or video meeting with some qualified Offerors prior to final selection. Proposals will be reviewed in accordance with the following criteria:

1. Level of experience of the individual(s) identified (20 points)
2. The Offeror’s experience with similar clients (20 points)
3. Proposed approach (20 points)
4. Response from references (10 points)
5. Price (30 points)

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https://evaluationcanada.ca/fr/a-propos-de-nous/dernieres-nouvelles.html?id=603

Après avoir fait appel au même cabinet d’audit pendant plusieurs années, le Conseil d'administration de la SCÉ a décidé de recruter un·e nouvel·le auditeur·trice pour la période 2026-2029. L'appel d'offres contient tous les détails pertinents. Les propositions doivent être soumises avant 17 h (heure de l'Est) le 31 mars 2026. Les auditeur·trices indépendant·es ou les cabinets légalement autorisés à exercer au Canada peuvent répondre à cet appel d'offres. La préférence peut être donnée aux professionnel·les bilingues.

Le·la soumissionnaire doit être disponible pour fournir une opinion d'audit sur les états financiers nationaux de la SCÉ (à l'exclusion des opérations régionales) dans le cadre d'un audit de fin d'exercice, axé spécifiquement sur le bilan, le tableau des flux de trésorerie et le compte de résultats. L'exercice financier de la SCÉ s'étend du 1er juillet au 30 juin. La première période d'audit couvrirait l'exercice 2025-2026.

N'hésitez pas à partager ces informations avec les personnes et les cabinets susceptibles d'être intéressés.