External Audit Services - Soft Market Engagement

The University is looking to tender, in the near future, its requirement for a supplier to provide external audit services and would like to engage with the marketplace by means of discussions via individual virtual meetings to help enable the University to understand the dynamics of the current marketplace and to enable the opportunity for potential suppliers to ask us any questions or raise any issues directly with the people that matter - the day-to-day end users and owners of the future contract.

This exercise is not a call for competition but engagement with the market to help inform our procurement approach in future.

The University envisages the scope of the contract to include the below:

• External audit of the annual consolidated financial statements of the University of Southampton;
• External audit of the annual financial statements of relevant subsidiary companies;
• External audit of the annual accounts for the University of Southampton Pension and Assurance Scheme (PASNAS);
• Audits relating to the National College for Teaching and Learning, and the Teachers' Pension Scheme contributions and the Federal Family Education Loan Program Compliance report;
• Supporting the University in complying with the reporting requirements of a Public Interest Entity and Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules (DTR) in relation to the University's debt securities.

For a University of the complexity and size of Southampton, the external auditor would need access to specialist audit skills, be familiar with specific higher education issues and bring relevant knowledge of the large business units operating within the University (e.g. academic faculties, catering, estates, library services etc.). The auditor must be aware of developments within Higher Education particularly where these may have mandatory applications to institutions and/or potentially have significant financial effects.