Call for Financial Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) Consultant 112 views

I.BACKGROUND / RATIONALE

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is desirous in supporting one of its local partners, namely the Hararghe Catholic Secretariate (HCS) in its revitalization efforts to strengthen and put in place improved financial workflow system that would enhance probity and accountability. Thus, CRS Ethiopia Office is looking for a consulting firm / individual professional to support the review of current financial department practices and proposing workflow process improvements aligned with a new financial software to be introduced.

Under the umbrella of the Office of Ethiopian Catholic Secretariate, Hararghe Catholic Secretariate (HCS) is one of the strategic partners working with CRS Ethiopia Programme for the last 20 + years. HCS is mainly working in the eastern parts of the country on emergency/relief and development activities with considerable amount of annual financial transactions. HCS is working to be direct funding recipient from potential donors like USAID and one of the leading local partners in the country.

II. OBJECTIVES OF THE SERVICE / WORK 

The objective is to support the Hararghe Catholic Secretariate (HCS) Finance and Operations Department in reviewing existing financial workflow systems and processes and develop improved processes to ensure that the overall financial management system of the organization is strengthened, robust and aligned to the Ethiopian Accounting and international standards (IFRS and GAAP). The consultant will also assist with the introduction of the new workflow to the HCS staff where necessary.

III. SCOPE OF THE SERVICE / WORK

The Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Consultant/Firm will apply process improvement and reengineering methodologies and principles to conduct workflow improvement for HCS’ finance department. The consultant will be responsible for reviewing existing workflow, identifying gaps, and redesigning processes to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and recommend best practices to optimize the financial operations.

The consulting firm / individual will work under the overall direction and guidance of the Finance and Administration TA, Operations Technical Advisor, and Program Manager II, and in closer coordination with key HCS staff including the Executive Director, Finance Manager, HR Manager, Procurement and Operation Support Division.

The consultant will undertake the following key activities:

• Prepare a detailed implementation plan, including timelines, milestones, and resource requirements
• Conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of HCS’s financial workflow processes and systems
• Identify gaps, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks in the financial processes and propose solutions for improvement.
• Redesign workflow process using business process reengineering to streamline financial system, enhance internal controls, and eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Support implementation activities using change management approaches and interact with staff and senior leadership to accomplish project objective
• Interact with all levels of management to collect, analyze data and document existing processes to recommend enhanced financial department workflow processes
• Develop recommendations and propose process improvements to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.
• Conduct training/working sessions on improved business processes, change management, and other process improvements and recommendations
• Provide guidance and advice to senior leaders and officers on change management to ensure positive and measurable outcomes
• Identify opportunities to improve work processes, enhance quality of service and productivity, and communicate opportunities to operations department leadership
• Work in a team environment and provide business process management expertise to staff engagements and project work streams

IV. EXPECTED OUTPUTS / DELIVERABLES

The Consulting firm / individuals will be expected to produce the following outputs during the period of the consultancy:

• A detailed timetable of the assessment and BPR implementation plan including proposed methodology for review and approval.
• Assessment report of existing financial workflow process detailing the assessment methodology, overall process, gaps, and recommendations.
• A monthly progress report
• Presentation document with the specific recommendations on the workflow and organogram for HCS Management and Board review as well as CRS.
• Report with final BPR design that considers HCS finance and related operations department needs.
• The development of a financial workflow processes and systems for HCS aligned with the Ethiopian Accounting standards and international standards (IFRS and GAAP).

V. METHODOLOGY / APPROACH OF THE SERVICE (WORK)

The consulting firm / individual will be expected to carry out this assignment by:

• Assessment of existing system including internal control measures
• Qualitative data collection and analysis including Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with concerned parties such as the CRS Finance and Operations staff, CRS PCS /LL Team, HCS Finance and Operations Team, HCS Programme staff, and ECS Operations department.
• Review of past financial reports including audit reports, and
• Review of existing HCS financial and operations policies, manuals, and procedures

VII. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT / REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

The consulting firm/individual will work under the overall direction and guidance of the Finance and Administration TA, Operations Technical Advisor, and Program Manager II PCS/LL/SL, and in closer coordination with the Executive Director of HCS, Finance Manager, HR Manager, Procurement and Operation Support Division.