Active SLED Opportunity · WASHINGTON · CITY OF SEATTLE
AI Summary
The City of Seattle seeks proposals for a seven-year financial audit of Seattle Public Utilities covering three funds, IT systems, wholesale contracts, and a joint project audit. The contract budget is $3.5M. Proposals due June 1, 2026, with a pre-proposal meeting on May 11, 2026.
The City of Seattle is seeking proposals for SPU Annual Financial Audit 2026-2032. Proposals are due no later than 1:00 pm on Monday, June 1, 2026. All questions are to be submitted through the e-procurement portal at https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/seattle no later than 5:00 pm on Thursday, May 14, 2026.
This request is for a new contract to solicit an outside auditing firm to audit Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) financial statements. This work includes four bodies of work: 1. Audit of SPU's three funds: Water Fund, Solid Waste Fund, and Drainage & Wastewater Fund statements of net position, statement of revenues, expenses and changes in net position, and statements of cash flows; 2. IT audit of systems; 3. Review of the agreed upon procedures for wholesale contracts; and 4. Ship Canal Water Quality Project Joint Project Agreement partnership contribution and cost reconciliation and audit. This is a one-time joint audit of all costs associated with the Ship Canal project between King County and SPU.
There will be three issued statements, one for each fund. The audits and agreed upon procedures will be performed in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Seattle Public Utilities has identified an estimated budget of $3,500,000 over the course of seven (7) years for this work.
SPU’s rates, budget, construction and financing efforts are subject to review and approval by the Mayor and Seattle City Council. The Council, in effect, serves as the Board of Directors of the Utility. General administrative authority over SPU rests with the Utility’s GM/CEO who is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council.
The City of Seattle’s financial information is processed using PeopleSoft, an Oracle suite of applications for financial reporting. SPU’s fund financial data is uniquely tracked within PeopleSoft.
The PeopleSoft modules include: • General Ledger • Project Costing • Accounts Payable and Receivable • Asset Management • Procurement
Other major applications that interface with the PeopleSoft system are: • the payroll processing system (Workday); the material inventory/management system (MAXIMO) and; • the customer billing system (CCB).
It is anticipated that the following will occur during the term of this contract, which will impact SPU process and Financials.
The City’s IT group is responsible for the internal control framework of the key financial systems and ensures that the IT infrastructure is sound. The infrastructure encompasses database, operating system and network for all applications within the City system.
The Citywide Accounting and Payroll Services Division of the Office of City Finance (OFC) is responsible for producing and maintaining the City’s annual financial reports; coordinating all accounting related services; overseeing day-to-day operations and maintenance of the City-wide financial management system (PeopleSoft); managing the City’s overall cash flow; and managing the City’s financial structure. Changes in the relationship between SPU and the purveyors and wholesale customers may occur during the term of engagement. These changes may affect the contract’s scope of work.
The accounting policies and financial reporting of SPU are regulated by the Washington State Auditor’s Office, Division of Municipal Corporations and conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America as applied to government units. The Governmental Accounting Standard Board (GASB) is the accepted standard-setting body for establishing governmental accounting and financial reporting principles. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) statements issued prior to December 1, 1989, are also used when no guidance is provided by GASB or when such standards are not in conflict with GASB.
Copies of SPU’s 2024 audited financial statements, wholesale customer statements and the Official Statements of the most recent revenue bond issues for the Water and Drainage and Wastewater funds are enclosed by attachment to this solicitation.
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Describe in detail how your team will approach planning and completing this work. Your response should be concise and include:
Describe your team members’ experience in conducting audits of large government enterprise funds, specifically utilities
See Attachment 5: Consultant WMBE Inclusion Plan.
Points are awarded for responses that evidence:
Core Functions:
A core function is any element of a particular scope of work which SPU is certain will be performed and completed through all phases of this Contract. Consultants shall focus on the core functions when developing meaningful and realistic integration of WMBE roles in proposed Inclusion Plans. SPU has identified the following core functions in this scope of work
This response is mandatory. The determination you have achieved all minimum qualifications is made from this section alone, and therefore, the Evaluation Committee is not obligated to check references or search other materials in your proposal to make this decision.
For each Minimum Qualification listed below, please describe how you meet the minimum qualification.
Minimum Qualification #1
Provide Minimum Qualification
Minimum Qualification #2
Provide Minimum Qualification
Minimum Qualification #3
Provide Minimum Qualification
Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.
Upload your pricing proposal here.
Please download the below document, complete, and upload.
Provide information to the extent this information is available. If your response is incomplete or requires further description, the City may request additional information within a specified deadline, or may determine the missing information is immaterial.
Make requested changes to the Contract language using track changes and upload here.
Are there qualifications the Consultants must have to even be considered? Minimum qualifications should ONLY be those that the Consultant must meet to have their proposal considered, meaning you will toss the proposal out in full if the Consultant cannot meet the minimum qualifications. If none, delete the paragraph and say there are no minimum qualifications. Minimum qualifications can sometimes be important, such as a professional license. If you require a Minimum Qualification, ensure it is fair, appropriate and reasonable. Consultants can protest these if they seem exclusionary and unnecessary. In addition, some federal requirements may restrict or prohibit the use of such qualifications. Review the terms of the grant to ensure compliance with all such requirements. For instance, for FTA funded projects, the use of geographical preferences is prohibited or extremely limited under certain circumstances. See the Sidebar Supplement for more information. Minimum Qualifications are only for factual yes/no items which can be easily proven as a matter of fact and on the face of the RFP/RFQ response. These are NOT subjective such as “Company needs to be experienced” or “needs to have good references.” These are instead hard and fast criteria we check off “yes or no,” and we will toss them out without further consideration if they say no.
If background checks are not required, select "may"
Note to department – All non-federally funded contracts above $395,000 require an Inclusion Plan. If potential work, including all phases, is above $395,000, retain the Inclusion Plan as a required submittal. The Mayor’s 2010 policy requires you to score the WMBE response, for no less than 10% of total points.
Departments are encouraged to list the core Scope of Work items that the department has determined to be available for subcontracting.
Contracts with FEDERAL FUNDING may require different or additional social equity requirements, such as federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements, which are required for US DOT funded projects, such as FTA projects.
Exceptions: Exceptions to the Inclusion Plan requirement are rare. Departments must notify their WMBE IDT representative and PC for a review and written approval of an exception. An exception does not relieve the Consultant of its responsibilities to seek WMBE inclusion if changes to the contract provides opportunities for WMBE inclusion.
For assistance, contact Miguel Beltran at Miguel.Beltran@Seattle.gov or 206-684-4525.
SLED stands for State, Local, and Education. These are solicitations issued by state governments, counties, cities, school districts, utilities, and higher education institutions — as opposed to federal agencies.
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