[Notice revised July 26, 2007]
The Alabama Department of Insurance (DOI) hereby gives notice of the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for qualified respondents to provide the DOI with Certified Public Accountant Services.
Please Note: The RFP previously issued this year has been revised. Under “General Qualifications,” Paragraph 2.1.1.1 now requires a minimum of one CPA on staff with 10 or more years of financial examination experience.
Contracts are contemplated to be awarded for the term October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Responses to the RFP must be received not later than July 30, 2007, at 3:00 PM CDT. The RFP is made up of three individual documents as follows: The RFP, the basic contract contemplated (which is Exhibit “A” to the RFP), and a Disclosure Statement. All three documents must accompany any response.
Additional information is set forth in the attached files, each accessible in either Word or Adobe format, as indicated:
The Disclosure Statement can be accessed from the Attorney General’s web site at the following address: http://www.ago.state.al.us/ag_items.cfm?Item=70
For the procedures and forms for foreign corporations to qualify to do business in the State of Alabama, please visit the web page for the Alabama Secretary of State at http://www.sos.state.al.us. The direct link to the page regarding foreign corporations is http://www.sos.state.al.us/business/forqual.htm.
For additional information, please send an E-Mail request to Reyn.Norman@insurance.alabama.gov
REVISIONS TO THIS NEWS RELEASE AND RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS WILL BE POSTED BELOW.
- Regarding Current Contractors.
Question: What firms are currently under contract with the DOI to provide the services covered by the RFP?
Answer: The following table provides the requested information:
| Contractor |
|---|
| Carr Riggs & Ingram, LLC |
| Taylor Chandler LLC |
| Wilson, Price, Barranco, Blankenship & Billingsley, P.C. |
- Regarding Current Contractor Rates.
Question: Please provide the most current contracted rates being paid to contractors providing similar services.
Answer: A list of the current contractors is provided above in response to another question. The contracts currently in use are substantially similar to those posted for use next year. We respectfully decline to provide the specific amounts paid to the current contractors; however, the current range of hourly fees for CPA Level I is $82 to $150 and for Level II, $82 to $100.
- Regarding Location Services will be Performed.
Question: What percentage of the services do you expect will be performed in Alabama and in what other locations will services be performed?
Answer: All CPA services will be performed in the State of Alabama.
- Description of Services to Be Performed.
Question: Can you give additional explanation of “Planning and technical support for information systems”? Would this be in-house services for the Department? What would this involve, e.g., designing systems, writing programs, providing disaster recovery support, selecting package software or training staff on software? What services have been provided in the past?
Answer: This would involve planning and technical support in the designing and developing of database programs at the DOI, typically to collect licensing information and fees and provide necessary reports. While this work is currently done exclusively by DOI staff at the current time, it is possible the contract services would be needed again.
- Description of Services to Be Performed.
Question: Can you give additional explanation of “Other services deemed appropriate based on Contractor’s profession”? What services have been provided in the past?
Answer: This is a catch-all phrase intended to give us access to any other service provided by the contractor.
- Description of Services to Be Performed.
Question: My question is "Does this RFP require attestation services?"
Answer: Probably not, as most services will be in the nature of auditing financial statements filed with the DOI. It is, however, possible that such services will be needed.
- License to Practice Public Accountancy in Alabama.
Question:
Are the services described in the RFP considered the practice of public accountancy in the state of Alabama? If so, is it acceptable to present a proposal that includes persons who are CPA's in good standing in other states, but who have not yet received "temporary annual permits" to practice public accountancy in Alabama?
Answer: While the RFP does not specify that an Alabama license is required, it is anticipated that such licensing will be necessary for the majority of services performed. Thus, a firm without an Alabama-licensed CPA will likely not be considered to be qualified.