Accounting services

Tender description

This contract forms a critical part of the Department’s strategy to continue to improve its financial reporting relating to academy trusts. We are seeking a supplier to work closely with us as we aim to deliver the academies Sector annual report and accounts (SARA) more quickly and without any audit qualifications. We also want to enhance our approach to financial reporting to deliver improvements that increase value and reduce burdens. There are two key aspects of this contract: — Accountancy services to support the production of the SARA for the academies sector in England. This involves making validations against and accounting adjustments of financial and non-financial data collected from each Academy Trust before consolidation for the SARA. — Automating the collection of the data from each Academy Trust to DfE. This involves end-to-end technology transformation. DfE is seeking to bring the majority of the services of this contract in-house over the course of the 3-year term The Department for Education (DfE) secured agreement from Parliament to remove the academy sector from its consolidation boundary from the financial year 2016-2017 and to prepare a separate standalone Annual report and accounts (ARA) for the academy sector for the academic year 2015/16 onwards – the academies Sector annual report and accounts (SARA). The Department for education has secured, through open competition, an organisation to assist in the production of the SARA. The existing contract expires on 8.12.2018, and the Department is seeking to secure an organisation to assist with the future production of the SARA. The services covered by this invitation to tender form a critical part of the Department’s strategy for continuing to improve its financial reporting relating to academy trusts. At its core, our vision is for a financial reporting system where: — the data supplied by academy trusts is used to provide a range of products and services that add value to both the individual institution and the academy sector as a whole; — the cost to academy trusts of providing information is minimised, thereby releasing resources to invest in the provision of education; — the Department is highly efficient and effective in delivering its reporting responsibilities to a range of stakeholders, at a time of growing numbers of academies, offering value for money for the public purse. We are looking for proposals from individual bidders about opportunities for increasing value and reducing costs for the academies sector and the Department. However, we believe there is scope to deliver improvements in many of the following areas: — removing process inefficiencies, — improving systems, — removing unnecessary requirements, — reducing existing demands on people’s time, — increasing insight around financial management, — supporting better use of resources, — increasing timeliness, — supporting the Department to perform its financial reporting functions more effectively. To deliver these outcomes the Department requires a supplier that is highly professional, innovative and experienced in effective implementation. The supplier will be confident in engaging with a wide range of stakeholders — sometimes with competing priorities — and able to persuade and influence in a manner consistent with the programme’s priorities. In addition, the supplier will have extensive experience in managing change — crucial to the Department’s intention to bring in-house aspects of the service over the life of this contract. These requirements will combine into a set of services and products that represent excellent value to the taxpayer, bring genuine benefit to the academy sector, whilst also allowing the Department to continue to meet its financial reporting responsibilities. Our approach with this ITT is to be explicit about the outcomes we are seeking to achieve and the parameters within which we — and the successful supplier — will need to operate. Beyond this context, we have attempted to provide bidders with the space to develop an innovative solution that meets the Department’s objectives. We have actively avoided mandating requirements unless it is critical to the delivery of the service. We are hoping bidders use this opportunity to look strategically at what the Department is seeking to achieve and the best approach to delivering this whilst offering confidence about delivery of the stated outcomes. A new contract will commence in June 2018, leading to services commencing in October 2018. The contract is likely to require the delivery of services to the end of June 2021, with a 1 year extension option included. It is anticipated that the value of the contract will be approximately 7 500 000 GBP for an initial 3-year term, increasing in line with extension options. Please note these figures do not include VAT that may be applicable.