January 24, 2024

The La Plata Economic Development Alliance is accepting proposals for Financial Review/Audit and 990 Preparation Services Beginning with the fiscal year ending 12/31/2023.

We invite your firm to submit a proposal by February 28, 2024. Please send a complete proposal to us via Email to Sarah Tober, Deputy Director, sarah@yeslpc.com

Background

The mission of the La Plata Economic Development Alliance (The Alliance) is to create a vibrant and resilient economy from the recruitment, retainment, and growth of businesses by fostering public and private partnerships and preserving our quality of life. The Alliance is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Colorado in 2010 and designated as a 501(c)(6) membership organization by the IRS. The Alliance is registered with the Secretary of State, the Department of Revenue in Colorado, and various other licensing entities. For more information, see our 2022 Annual Report.

As part of our work to build a resilient economy and preserve quality of life, the Alliance has recently expanded its workforce development programs by receiving a federal Opportunity Now grant through the CO Department of Local Affairs. Due to this influx of federal funds and solid growth in our other programs to build economic resiliency, we wish to conduct an outside Financial Review or Audit (depending on federal funding levels) annually/ as required. We are seeking a new firm to perform these services and prepare and file our annual Form 990. We do not currently have activity requiring filing a 990T, but that could change over the years.

Financial Structure and Program Volume Projections:

Year	FTEs	Federal Rev	Other Grants/Contracts	Contrib/memberships/other	Total Rev (est)
2023	3.5	$413,172	$528,118	$299,735	$1,241,025
2024	4.75	$567,551*	$754,202	$371,907	$1,693,660
2025	4.75	$600,000*	$600,000	$380,000	$1,580,000

*Depending on grants & contract opportunities, It’s very possible we will see larger amounts of federal funds and require a single audit for these years and beyond. 

The Deputy Director and Grants Coordinator handle day-to-day accounting and grant management in Quickbooks Online software using class tracking to delineate funds and programs. We outsource our payroll services locally to process semi-monthly, file payroll tax reports, and use SalesForce to track memberships. An outside accountant oversees monthly activity,  GL reconciliation, and grant/financial reporting. We have a strong, active Board of Directors that meets monthly.

 

Proposal

We request a proposal to cover pricing, timeline, and relevant details of the following services over the next five years. Please note that we do not require an onsite visit; we welcome the opportunity to work with your firm remotely or in person. Our accounting and other office records are predominantly electronic.

• Financial Reviews annually beginning with 2023
• Financial Federal Single Audit for 2024 and beyond, in place of Financial Review, if we exceed the federal threshold
• 990 tax filing annually

Your Response to This Request for Proposal

– Due by February 28, 2024, via Email to sarah@yeslpc.com

In responding to this request, please provide the following:

• Detail your firm’s experience in providing auditing and tax services to similar non-profits.
• Describe how your firm will approach the Review/Audit & 990 preparation, including the proposed timeline and your technologies and communication strategies. We understand you may have a busy calendar for 2024, so our timeline is flexible for the 2023 Review & 990.
• Set your fees per our requested needs above and include available indications of fee increases/changes over the next five years.
• Describe how you will bill for questions on technical matters that arise throughout the year.
• Provide current billing rates for classes of professional personnel at your firm.
• Provide at least three references of similar non-profit clients you have served for at least three years. The reference names provided should have practical familiarity working with members of your firm.
• Include a copy of your firm’s most recent peer review report, related letter of comments, and your firm’s response to the letter of comments.

Data Available for Your Review

To help you best understand our work and size, we have attached:

• 990 filings for FY 2021 and 2022
• FY 2023 financials through November

Key Personnel

The following are key contacts for more information:

• Sarah Tober, Deputy Director
• Michael French, Executive Director
• Carolyn Moller, Accountant

*contact information available in the full RFP document

Proposal Evaluation

Our Board of Directors’ Finance Committee and executive staff will evaluate proposals by February 29, using the criteria below.

• Adequacy and completeness of proposal
• Experience of firm in serving similar not-for-profit organizations
• Qualifications of staff to be assigned
• Cost of the review or audit and tax return preparation
• Suitability of the proposed timeline to completion

We appreciate your time and consideration of this request. We look forward to any questions you have and what additional information/documents would be helpful for us in drafting your proposal.