PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector, LLP

B-415205.3 May 09, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector, LLP (PwC), of McLean, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that the Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), reimburse the protester's cost of filing and pursuing its protest of the issuance of a task order to RMA Associates, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. HQ0423-17-Q-0009, for audit readiness and remediation services. We grant the request. We grant the request. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector, LLP--Costs File:  B-415205.3 Date:  May 9, 2018 Paul A. Debolt, Esq., Emily A. Unnasch, Esq., Michael T. Francel, Esq., and James Y. Boland, Esq., Venable LLP, for the protester. April Breck, Esq., Department of Defense, for the agency. Kenneth Kilgour, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST GAO recommends reimbursement of protest costs where the agency unduly delayed taking corrective action in response to a clearly meritorious protest where the agency failed to properly assess whether the awardee had an unmitigated organizational conflict of interest. DECISION PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector, LLP (PwC), of McLean, Virginia, requests that our Office recommend that the Department of Defense (DoD), Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), reimburse the protester's cost of filing and pursuing its protest of the issuance of a task order to RMA Associates, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, under request for quotations (RFQ) No. HQ0423-17-Q-0009, for audit readiness and remediation services.  We grant the request.  BACKGROUND The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (the Act) required that DoD develop and maintain the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness Plan.  The Act required DoD to set forth in the plan specific actions and costs associated with correcting the financial management deficiencies that impair DoD's ability to prepare timely, reliable, and complete financial management information and ensuring that DoD's financial statements were validated as ready for audit by September 30, 2017.[1]  Agency Report (AR), Exh. 13, RFQ, Performance Work Statement (PWS) at 1.  To help accomplish these financial management goals, DoD issued this solicitation to address the need for a certified public accounting firm with financial audit readiness and/or audit/examination experience with large federal agencies or organizations of comparable size and complexity to address issues impeding auditability of appropriations.  Id. at 1-2.  DFAS issued the RFQ pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 8.4, to firms holding a General Services Administration Federal Supply Schedule contract referred to as the Professional Services Schedule for Financial Business Solutions.  RFQ at 3.  The RFQ contemplated the award of a fixed-price and labor hour task order for a base term of 12 months, with four 12-month options.  PWS at 2, 13.  Award was to be made to the vendor whose quotation represented the best value to the government, based on a consideration of the following evaluation factors, listed in descending order of importance:  experience, past performance, project management plan (PMP), peer review report, price, and small business participation.  RFQ at 6-8.  All non-price factors, when combined, were significantly more important than price.  Id. at 8. With respect to project management, offerors were to describe their approach to meeting the solicitation's requirements, and provide an organization chart and staffing plan.  RFQ at 4-5.  As relevant to the protest, the RFQ required that at least four members of the proposed contractor team possess an active top secret/sensitive compartmented information (TS/SCI) clearance with a completed background investigation in order to access secure sites/information.  PWS at 14. The RFQ also required the vendor's future performance and work products to "be in compliance and consistent with [a list of] Federal and [DoD] regulations, directives, guidance and all industry specific requirements."  PWS at 18.  These compliance requirements included the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 and the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.  Id. at 18-19.  According to the RFQ, those two Acts "require the annual preparation and audit of Federal agency financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS)."  Id.