Request for Proposals - Audit Services

Location:	Iowa
Posted:	Jan 30, 2026
Due:	Mar 4, 2026
Agency:	Bondurant-Farrar Community School District
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	R - Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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I. INTRODUCTION

REQUEST FOR AUDIT SERVICES PROPOSAL

II. General Information

The Bondurant-Farrar Community School District (“district”) is requesting proposals from qualified firms of

certified public accountants for audit services relating to the annual audit for the three fiscal years

ending June 30, 2027, 2028 and 2029 with the option of renewals for each of two subsequent years

ending June 30, 2030 and 2031. Attached is information relating to minimum specifications of services,

proposal content, evaluation criteria and bid sheet for auditing services.

Electronic proposals will be accepted until 12:00 P.M. on Wednesday March 4, 2026. Sealed proposal

can also be mailed to the district office in Bondurant located at 300 Garfield Street SW, Bondurant, IA

50035. If mailed, the proposals must be received by 12:00 P.M. on March 4th and should be mailed to:

Cari Aylsworth, Director of Business Services

Bondurant-Farrar School District

300 Garfield Street SW

Bondurant, Iowa 50035

aylsworthc@bfschools.org

No oral or facsimile proposals will be accepted. The Bondurant-Farrar Community School District

reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted and to accept the proposal deemed to be in

the best interest of the school district in its sole and absolute discretion.

If mailed, the submitted sealed proposals should indicate on the outside of the envelope in the lower

left-hand corner that it is the sealed proposal for “Request for Audit Services Proposal” and the name of

the firm submitting the proposal. Each proposal must be submitted on forms provided with specification

packet.

Only proposals received at the location above or emailed to aylsworthc@bfschools.org in the time

frame given will be considered.

The district’s finance committee will evaluate proposals submitted on March 6th. Therefore, it is important

that your proposal be responsive to the data requested. During the evaluation process, the district

reserves the right, where it may serve the district's best interest, to request additional information or

clarifications from proposers, or to allow corrections of errors or omissions. The District recognizes that

auditor transition may involve additional administrative effort and operational risk. As such, demonstrated

institutional knowledge and the ability to minimize disruption will be considered in the evaluation.

The district reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and to use any ideas in a proposal

regardless of whether that proposal is selected. Proposers understand that the laws of Iowa require that

at the conclusion of the selection process, all proposals become property of the district, and the

contents of the proposals will be placed in the public domain and subject to the laws of Iowa Code

Chapter 21. Submission of a proposal indicates acceptance by the firm of the conditions contained in

this request for proposals, unless clearly and specifically noted in the proposal submitted and confirmed

in the contract between the district and the firm selected.

The selection of a firm and contract for services may be awarded at the board meeting scheduled for

Monday, March 9, 2026 upon approval of the board of directors.

A. Term of Engagement

A potential five (5) year engagement is contemplated. The board of education understands the

need for a commitment from both parties to more than a single year’s arrangement. It is the intention

of the board to enter into an agreement which covers the next three (3) fiscal year audits plus the

option of renewals for each of two subsequent years. Therefore, the board requests proposals for five

(5) years. It must be understood, however, that the suditor’s services will be reviewed annually and that

this agreement can be terminated after thirty (30) days written notice from either party for future years.

III. NATURE OF SERVICES REQUIRED

A. Scope of Work to Be Performed

The audit will be a Single Audit conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing

standards. It will include tests of the accounting records and other procedures you consider necessary

to enable you to express an unqualified opinion that the financial statement are fairly presented, in all

material respects, in conformity with the statutory basis of accounting and to report on the Schedule of

Federal Financial Assistance and on Bondurant-Farrar Community School District’s compliance with

laws and regulations and its internal controls as required for a single audit.

An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the

financial statements; therefore, our audit will involve judgment about the number of transactions to be

examined and the areas to be tested. Also, you will plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable

assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. As required by

the Single Audit Act of 1996 as amended, your audit will include tests of transactions related to federal

assistance programs for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. However, because of the

concept of reasonable assurance and because you will not perform a detailed examination of all

transactions, there is a risk that material errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including fraud of

defalcations, may exist and not be detected by you. You will advise us, however, of any matters of

that nature that come to your attention, and will include such matters in the reports required for a

Single Audit.

The district will provide you with the basic information required for your audit and that we are

responsible for the accuracy and completeness of that information. You will advise us about

appropriate accounting principles and their application, and will assist in the preparation of our

financial statements, but the responsibility for the financial statements remains with us. This responsibility

includes the maintenance of adequate records and related internal control structure policies and

procedures, the selection and application of accounting principles, and the safeguarding of assets.

B. Auditing Standards to Be Followed

To meet the requirements of this request for proposals, the audit will be performed in

accordance with Chapter 11 of the Code of Iowa, generally accepting auditing standards as set forth

by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, financial audit standards contained in

Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and the

requirements of the Single Audit Act of 1996 as amended and Uniform Administrative Requirements,

Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200, Subpart F).

C. Reports to be Issued

Following the completion of the audit of the fiscal year’s financial statements, the auditor shall

issue the following management letter as a part of the comprehensive annual financial report which

shall include reports of the following:

1. A report on the fair presentation of the financial statements.

2. A report on the internal control structure based on the auditors’ understanding of the control

structure and assessment of control risk.

3. A report on compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

4. An “in-relation-to” report on the schedule of federal financial assistance.

5. A report on the internal control structure used in administering federal financial assistance

programs (this report may be combined with report number 2).

6. A report on compliance with specific requirements applicable to major federal financial

assistance programs.

7. A report on compliance with specific requirements applicable to non-major federal financial

assistance programs (this report may be combined with report number 6).

8. A report on compliance with general requirements for both major and non-major federal

financial assistance programs.

9. A report on any material misstatements presented in the financial statements.

In the required reports on internal controls, the auditor shall communicate any reportable conditions

found during the audit. A reportable condition shall be defined as a significant deficiency in the design

or operation of the internal control structure, which could adversely affect the organization’s ability to

record, process, summarize and report financial data consistent with the assertions of management in

the financial statements.

Reportable conditions that are also material weaknesses shall be identified as such in the report. Non-

reportable conditions discovered by the auditors shall be reported in a separate letter to management,

which shall be referred to in the reports on internal controls.

The reports on compliance shall include all instances of noncompliance.

Irregularities and illegal acts. Auditors shall be required to make an immediate, written report of all

irregularities and illegal acts or indications of illegal acts of which they become aware to the board of

directors.

D. Special Considerations

The schedule of federal financial assistance and related auditor’s report, as well as the reports

on the internal controls and compliance are to be issued as part of the annual financial report.

1. Three copies of the annual financial report, including the management letter, a detailed per

diem audit bill and a copy of the news release shall be provided to the Auditor of State.

2. The firm must have completed a peer review within the three years prior to the date of the

proposal.

3. The fees quoted in your proposal and included in the contract will be the maximum paid per

hour and in total, unless an amendment to the contract is completed by both parties.

4. The Bondurant-Farrar Community School District reports in compliance with applicable

Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements, including but not limited

to GASB 34, GASB 68, GASB 75, and GASB 87, as applicable. The auditing firm will be asked to

help the district with the preparation of any additional reports, worksheets, or schedules

required to meet compliance with these standards.

5. The Audit report should conform to any standard reporting formats specified by the State of

Iowa Auditors Office, AICPA Audit Guides, Governmental Accounting Standards Board reporting

requirements, and the requirements of the Single Audit Act of 1996 as amended and Uniform

Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR

Part 200, Subpart F).

6. The Audit should include auditing the General Fund, PPEL Fund, Capital Projects Fund,

Management Fund, Debt Service Fund, Activity Fund, Construction Fund, and Nutrition Fund.

7. A pdf format of the final audit shall be timely provided to the school district.

8. The board at its discretion may request an oral presentation of the audit report at a board meeting.

9. Notification to the district whenever service requests by the district are deemed to be outside

the scope of services for this auditing engagement. Said notification shall include cost for

performing the additional services and request for approved prior to proceeding.

E. Working Paper Retention and Access to Working Papers

All working papers and reports must be retained, at the auditor's expense, for a minimum of

three years, unless the firm is notified in writing by the district of the need to extend the retention

period. The auditor will be required to make working papers available, upon request, to the

district or any state or federal agency that requested them for examination.

In addition, the firm shall respond to the reasonable inquiries of successor auditors and allow

successor auditors to review working papers relating to matters of continuing accounting

significance.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT

A. Name and Telephone Number of Contact Persons

The auditor's principal contact with the district will be Cari Aylsworth, Director of Business

Services, (515) 967-7819, who will coordinate the assistance to be provided by the district to

the auditor.

C. Budgetary Basis of Accounting

The district does prepare its budgets on a basis consistent with generally accepted accounting

principles.

D. Computer Systems

The district’s financial reporting system is on Software Unlimited (SUI) software.

E. Electronic Documents

The district utilizes K12 docs (a partner of SUI) for document retention. Due to this, all invoices,

contracts, bank reconciliations and supporting documentation in addition to other documents,

are made available electronically with view only access, allowing a review of some

documentation without physically being on site.

F. Additional Information

Interested proposers wanting additional information, including a copy of the June 30, 2025

Comprehensive Annual Financial Audit Report should contact Cari Aylsworth, (515) 967-7819. If

requested, the district will use its best efforts to make other prior audit reports available for

review by proposers at the district office. The final auditor’s reports on the financial statements

and compliance matters are expected to be received during December or early January.

V. TIME REQUIREMENTS

A. Proposal Calendar

The following is a list of key dates up to and including the date proposals are due to be

submitted:

Request for proposal issued

January 21

Due date for proposals

March 4

Board of Education decision

March 9

B. Notification and Contract Dates

Selected firm notified

March 10

C. Date Audit May Commence

The district will have all records ready for audit as of August 31, with CAR completed by

September 15.

D. Schedule for the FY 2027 Fiscal Year Audit (A similar time schedule will be developed

for audits of future fiscal years if the district exercises its option for additional audits.)

Each of the following should be completed by the auditor no later than the dates indicated.

1. Interim Work/Detailed Audit Plan

The auditor shall complete all interim work by July 15. We understand our time constraints this

year based on the timing of this RFP, and understand this may not happen until later, However,

we would hope to eventually get to a position where this can be accommodated with mutual

consideration.

2. Fieldwork

The auditor shall complete all fieldwork by September 15. Again, we understand our time

constraints this year based on the timing of this RFP, and understand the fieldwork may not

happen until later, However, we would hope to eventually get to a position where this can be

accommodated with mutual consideration.

3. Draft Reports

The auditor shall have drafts of the audit report and recommendations to management

available for review by the Director of Business Services and Superintendent by December 1.

4. Final Report

The auditor shall have the final report completed and an electronic copy delivered to

the district no later than December 15 with the possibility of a presentation at the next regularly

scheduled board meeting.

Please note that additional preference will be awarded to firms able to deliver prior to the

above deadlines. Please provide projected timetable.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS

1. District will not reimburse responding firms for any expenses incurred in preparing proposals in

response to this request or accommodating district requests for meeting to further discuss the

proposals.

2. Only proposals received at the location described on the front page and in the time frame

given will be considered. The provided Bid sheet must be submitted.

3. The engagement may be terminated by the district by giving the other party written notice of

the termination not less than thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of Termination. The

district reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received or any portion thereof. The

successful Proposer’s proposal is subject to approval by the board of directors of the district and

will be effective only when such approval is received.

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

Request for Proposals - Audit Services

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