Fixed Period Contract External Audit Services – Statutory Audit

Tender description

Applications are invited from service providers with the relevant qualifications, expertise and knowledge to provide and execute an independent external audit of the statutory financial statements of MG ALBA, commencing with the current financial year ending 31st March 2024. The contract will begin on 1st February 2024 and the audit is expected to be completed by mid-May, to allow Board approval and sign-off prior to presenting the Annual Report & Accounts to the UK Government in late June. MG ALBA Funding and Activities MG ALBA is funded by the Scottish Government. Annual Reports and Accounts up to the year ended 31 March 2023 can be found on the MG ALBA website page https://mgalba.com/corporra/foillseachaidhean/. A description of MG ALBA’s reporting procedures, the composition of the Board and the remit of the Board’s sub-committees, namely Audit and Assurance committee can be found in the Annual Report, available at https://mgalba.com/corporra/foillseachaidhean/. MG ALBA’s core funding is currently 12.8m GBP with other income generated from rental of offices and studio space, the hire of production facilities as well as additional grant support. More details of our funding and expenditure are available in the Additional Documents. MG ALBA operations include: - Commissioning for BBC ALBA - Multi-year programme production contracts with independent production companies (“Volume deals”), two published commissioning rounds per annum - Broadcasting – scheduling and promoting BBC ALBA, intellectual property in programming and programme audits - Technical operations and compliance of media to broadcast standards - Properties/locations – Stornoway, Inverness and Glasgow - Programme development; industry training; communications and promotions; administration; digital and social media. Accounting Systems MG ALBA uses Xero accounting software to process all transactions and produce management reports. There are in the region of 15,000 transactions per annum. The finance team produces and reports on monthly and quarterly management accounts. Annual Statutory Accounts are prepared by the Accountant. Payroll processing is outsourced. MG ALBA has 43 permanent staff. Experience and Skills Tenderers are expected to demonstrate specialisms in some or all of the required service areas. Submissions are expected to include: - Details of the Audit Partner and Manager; - An explanation of the audit approach and the firm’s policy in relation to continuity of staff involved in the audit; - Other areas of expertise that MG ALBA could call upon for technical support and advice as required; - An indication of the level of expertise within the company in relation to the broadcasting industry in the UK.