Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (M95494-20-Q-0005)

B-418449 May 18, 2020 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (Booz Allen), of McLean, Virginia, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. M95494-20-Q-0005, issued by the United States Marine Corps for financial statement audit support services. Booz Allen contends that the RFQ requirement that the prime contractor or its affiliate be an independent public accountant (IPA) is unduly restrictive of competition, and outside the scope of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The protester also argues that the solicitation violates various procurement statutes and regulations. We sustain the protest. 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:  Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. File:  B-418449 Date:  May 18, 2020 Gary J. Campbell, Esq., G. Matthew Koehl, Esq., Nathaniel J. Greeson, Esq., and Lidiya Kurin, Esq., Womble Bond Dickinson-US, LLP, for the protester. Ellen B. Clark, Esq., United States Marine Corps, for the agency. Lois Hanshaw, Esq., and Evan C. Williams, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Solicitation requirement that prime contractor or its affiliate be an independent public accountant is unduly restrictive of competition where the agency does not show that the specifications are reasonably necessary to meet the agency’s needs. 2.  Protest that task order requirement for performance of audit services by an independent public accountant exceeds the scope of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, multiple-award contract for audit services is sustained where it was not reasonably foreseeable that the task order would limit performance of services to independent public accountants. DECISION   Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (Booz Allen), of McLean, Virginia, protests the terms of request for quotation (RFQ) No. M95494-20-Q-0005, issued by the United States Marine Corps for financial statement audit support services.  Booz Allen contends that the RFQ requirement that the prime contractor or its affiliate be an independent public accountant (IPA) is unduly restrictive of competition, and outside the scope of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract.  The protester also argues that the solicitation violates various procurement statutes and regulations. We sustain the protest.  BACKGROUND On May 8, 2018, the Navy awarded the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) contract, which is a multiple-award, IDIQ contract for financial statement audit support, to Booz Allen and three other vendors.[1]  Protest at 3.  The RFQ was issued on January 15, 2020, under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 16.5 to firms holding the FIAR IDIQ contract.  AR, Tab 1, Email from Agency to IDIQ Holders, Jan. 15, 2020.  The RFQ is seeking a contractor to help the Marine Corps with audit readiness for the fiscal year 2020 Full Financial Statement Audit by performing four key objectives: (1) audit remediation; (2) audit response/coordination; (3) audit coaching; and (4) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) A-123 Financial and Information Technology (IT) controls.[2]  AR, Tab 3, RFQ at 10.  The RFQ contemplates the issuance of a fixed-price task order with a base period of 9 months and two 1-year option periods.  Id. at 2.[3]  Award would be made on a best‑value tradeoff basis, considering two factors:  (1) price; and (2) technical and management approach.  Id. at 7.  The RFQ identifies the historical price range for similar services as being between $34 and $40 million.  Id. at 6. As relevant here, the RFQ also included a mandatory threshold requirement that a firm was required to meet before the agency would evaluate the remaining evaluation factors.  Id.  In this regard, the agency would evaluate whether the prime contractor was either an IPA (independent public accountant) or proposing an IPA affiliate in accordance with the performance work statement (PWS) requirements.  Id.  The RFQ does not define the term IPA; the agency describes an IPA as an independent entity responsible for performing an audit and reporting on an organization’s financial statements in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  Agency Response to GAO RFI, Apr. 27, 2020 at 1.  The PWS required a contractor to maintain an IPA certification for the entirety of the contract.  RFQ at 10.  The agency would evaluate this requirement on a pass/fail basis; a rating of fail would render the entire quotation ineligible for award.  Id.