Provision of External Audit & Taxation Services to Jigsaw Homes Group.

Jigsaw Group is inviting tenders for the provision of external audit and taxation services.

Any professional firm looking to tender for the provision of external audit and taxation services should address the following requirements.

The firm should be able to be objective in the performance of its duties by complying with the following requirements;

• No relationship exists between any board/staff members of the Group (including subsidiaries) and the audit firm’s staff that might undermine the objectivity or independence of the audit.
• No current member of the audit firm’s staff is presently a board or staff member at Jigsaw.
• The audit firm does not provide other services to Jigsaw that might undermine the objectivity or independence of the audit.
• The firm should be able to demonstrate that it has relevant experience in the social housing sector and has the necessary, locally based resources to carry-out the audit, taking into account the size, location and nature of the audit. As part of the tender document, the firm is to provide full details of the office and the proposed team (demonstrating social housing experience and expertise) to provide the service and which other social housing clients the team serves. Jigsaw may require the firm to provide contact details to allow it to take references.
• The audit must be carried out in accordance with up to date auditing standards, any code of practices relevant for registered providers, and comprises such examination of the financial statements, underlying records and control systems as is necessary to reach an opinion of the financial statements. The appointed firm may wish to liaise with the internal audit team and place reliance on their work where appropriate.