Request for Information

For providing Tax, M & A Due Diligence & Valuation services, Statutory Audit,
Oracle ERP support Services, Pay roll and Book Keeping services for QuEST

30 th May 2018
QuEST Global
Request for Information Page |2

Table of Contents

Topic Page Number

Organization Over View 3
Brief Back round of the RFI 4
Company Structure Legal Entity Structure 5
QuEST Expectations 5
RFI - Information to be provided by the Partner 5
Audit – Outputs Expected 7
Selection Criteria 7
Submission Deadlines 7
Expected outcome in key stages of the RFI 8
Document Standards 8
Guidelines for the RFI 8
Annexure I – Tax Services 9
Annexure II – Statutory Audit Services 11
Annexure III – M & A Services 12
Annexure IV – IT Services 13
Annexure V – Pay Roll related Services 14
Annexure VI – Book Keeping Services 15

QuEST Global
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Organization Overview

QuEST is a diversified Product Development Solutions company, delivering

value adding services to numerous Fortune 100 companies for over two decades by
providing quality engineering and manufacturing solutions. We are a trusted,
strategic, and global long-term partner for Market Leaders across industries. We
employ more than 10,000 professionals across 35 Delivery Centers distributed
globally

We believe a key differentiator for QuEST is our focus on fewer, larger, more
strategic relationships, as opposed to pursuing the tactical many. Our vision is to be
the most recognized and trusted Global Engineering Partner to our Customers. We
provide these relationships with management attention, company focus, and
investments in people and infrastructure to ensure mutual success. QuEST has
standard practices we deploy in all our strategic engagements. Their common theme
is to make us a trusted partner, engaged and aligned at the highest levels of our
organizations, with a constant drive to provide better and more value across our
customer’s business. The result can be seen in our portfolio of customers and the
extent of these relationships, shown graphically below.

We are a geographically diverse company with 35 Delivery Centers across North

merica, Europe, and Asia-Pacific with a Headcount of more than 10,000
professionals.

QuEST Global
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Brief Background of the RFI

QuEST being a Global player with aggressive growth plans has audit, tax,
compliance, M & A, Payroll & IT support requirements across the globe. These support
services are being availed with different service providers across the globe. QuEST
India team is coordinating with various service providers. QuEST would like to avail the
benefits of scale & leverage the Global model to deliver substantial savings with respect
to its global service requirements for Tax, Pay roll, M &A, Oracle support and Audit
and would like to float an Global RFI and Broad details of the engagement is given
below

 Tax requirements cover State, Federal, Compliance and Strategic requirements

for India, US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Singapore Canada, Romania.
This would also cover requirement like Tax restructuring entity restructuring ,
availing applicable Tax incentives, aligning business model in line with changing
tax regulations etc. ( Ref Annexure - I)

 Audit would cover both local entity audits as well as Global consolidation audit for
India, US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Mauritius Canada and
Romania. ( Ref Annexure- II)

 M & A activities would cover Due Diligence covering Financial, Tax & Legal
Diligence for around 4 M & A’s / year. ( REF Annexure – III)

 QuEST uses Oracle as ERP system and would require systems modification &
optimization to suit their global ERP systems as and when required. ( Ref –
Annexure IV)

 Pay roll process service for the countries listed in Annexure V

 Local book keeping requirement for countries listed in Annexure VI

 QuEST also intends to consolidate and keep only one entity in each of the
country.

 QuEST also intend to explore local book keeping in international locations also
under the scope of RFI for countries like Germany, Japan, Spain & Italy

QuEST Global
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Company legal entity structure

QuEST Expectations

Now that QuEST intends to consolidate their partner base for their TAX, M & A, ERP and
Audit Services to accomplish the following objectives

 Adapting to Local/ Global model to leverage on India low cost arbitrage

o India team should provide a SPOC who in turn with their global counter parts
for all the work covered under this engagement

o Explore complete outsourcing as the model matures

 To engage a Global preferred vendor or vendors and avail special cost structure

 Explore outcome based model for Tax incentive ailment

 Ensure our cash outflow becomes more predictable and as well as less.

RFI - Information to be provided by the partner

 How should QuEST engage globally with its partner to achieve the best quality
service with quick turnaround time at the lowest possible cost?

 Which all Countries and what all services can be supported? How would you
manage the conflicts for various services e.g. statutory audit vs IT advisory?
 How Scalable can this model be?

QuEST Global
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 What is the best way to roll out this engagement & partnership model?

 What can be the expected cost savings?

 What other benefits will accrue to QuEST with the model suggested by you?

 What kind of commercial model works best at the start and when we gain maturity
let’s say 12 months’ time? Does it differ by the kind of services provided?

 What would be expected of QuEST to make this model successful?

 What are the likely challenges companies face due to the partnership model of its
partners? How is it best overcome?

 Provide case studies of similar engagement done

 What are the typical SLAs and what are the penalties for breach of SLAs?

 How is the engagement governed?

Apart from the above,

 Partner must ensure detailed requirements are gathering during the discussion and
propose the best suited approach & solution for QuEST

 Proposed Model should have the ability to Support Scalable Enterprises of

additional entities / acquisitions at least next 3 years across the globe.

 Detailed expectations of support required from QuEST for completing the assigned
task/services

 List out services to covered under this scope where QuEST has to incur the
additional cost.

Audit- Outputs expected:

 Signed audit report for all standalone financial statements before one month of due
date of filing

 Audit committee presentation deck on quarterly basis before 5 days of audit

committee meeting date

 Audit to be conducted in line with audit standards applicable in respective countries

 Management report outlining the process improvement opportunities

QuEST Global
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In short QuEST would like to short list a vendor on the TCO for 3 years which shall include
product cost, cost of additional services during the contract period,

Submission Deadlines

All submissions for responding to this request must be submitted in e mail and
shared to Veerasunder / Mohan Kumar. There may be changes to the timelines based on
internal stakeholder’s availability. Dates to remember.

STEP Activity / Process Date

1 NDA Signoff for the identified Partners 30 th May
2 Sharing of RFI , which outlines basic 30 th May
details of the scope
3 QuEST providing clarification regarding 4 th June – 6 th June
scope to Partners

4 RFI response submission 8 th June

5 RFI presentation ( 2 hrs window will be 11 th June -12 th June
provided for each partner on this day)
6 RFP from QuEST 14 th June

7 Draft RFP response submission 30 th June

8 RFP presentation by Partners 9 th July and 10 th July

9 Submission of final proposal -With 17 th July

commercials-RFP

10 Internal Evaluation 25 th July

11 Award of contract. Initiate MSA 30 th July

 Partners to seek all the questions/clarification after going through the RFI. This
may be pertaining to scope, model or any other technical clarifications during
the discussion on 4 th June- 6 th June.

 The clarifications can be sent through mail to Mohan Kumar/Veerasunder. Only

clarifications received through e mail will be responded.

 This will be a face to face meeting and our functional experts will share the
required inputs on 4 th June – 6 th June

QuEST Global
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 Partners to come with minimum representation, so that the discussion can be

focused and fruitful.

 Partners to share their preferred time to Mohan Kumar/VeeraSunder in advance

so that there is no clash, latest by 6 th June. Else available slots will be provided.

Document standards:

 Must be in Microsoft Word/ Powerpoint Presentation 2003-97 format

 Must be sent encrypted to protect confidential information

Guide lines for the RFI

 QuEST reserves the right to modify/reschedule or cancel this RFI at any point of
time by providing notice and without any reasons.
 QuEST reserves its rights to reject any partners for reasons it deems fit, without
any obligation to disclose to the rejected partner or the reasons for such
rejection
 Mere receipt of this RFI does not give any right or entitlement for an award of
work or service by QuEST or to make any claim of loss of profits or business. It
is purely at the discretion of the Partner to participate in the RFI.
 No service charges will be entertained for having participated in the RFI/RFP
 Selection of the partner is purely at the discretion of QuEST and no claims in
future shall be entertained in this regard. The terms mentioned in the RFI could
go through some modification in the course of this RFI/RFP.
 An e mail should be sent confirming the participation in the RFI by 1st June to
mohan.kumar@quest-global.com, with the single point of contact. All
communication will be to be shared to the single point of contact.
 No change in the timeliness will be provided.
 Please refrain from contacting any of the team members @ QuEST. This is to
avoid any conflict of interest and contradicting information being shared.
 Post Step 9, we will not have any discussion on this RFI/RFP with any partners.
 Post awarding of the RFP, Partner should ensure that there is no conflict of
interest arises in any of the assignment. In case of any conflict, QuEST should
provide written authorization for such an assignment.
 A detailed MSA/Terms and conditions will be discussed with shortlisted partner.

QuEST Global
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Annexure I -Tax Services

Sl # Location Services Type

1 India Transfer pricing Regular
2 India ITAT & CIT charges Litigation
3 India CIT(A) for SEZ Regular
4 India Tax Advisory Regular
5 India Professional Charges on Tax matters Regular
6 India Entity Consolidation Regular
7 India VAT CST returns & services Regular
8 India Documentation of Input tax credit Regular
9 India Service Tax related services Regular
10 India Proceedings before the High Court Regular
11 India TDS returns Regular
12 India Indirect tax consultancy Strategic
13 India 15CA / CB Regular
14 India Restructuring Strategic
15 India Restructuring Strategic
16 US Transfer pricing Regular
17 Singapore Transfer pricing Regular
18 UK R&D claim Structural
19 Singapore Assessment Litigation
20 Japan Assessment Litigation
21 US Review of Connecticut Department (US) Regular
22 Germany Tax Advisory Regular
23 Japan Tax Advisory Regular
24 Japan Corporate and WHT Tax returns Regular
25 Spain Tax return preparation Regular
26 Japan consumption tax return filing Regular
27 Advisory on the methodology to avail the benefit of
Germany detachment under the India Germany SSA Regular
28 US Restructuring Regular
29 Fixed asset questions and additional analysis ,R&D
US credit, Progress bill for tax return Regular
30 US federal and state returns Regular
31 US progress bill for tax return Regular
32 US state tax payment for QuEST Global Corporation Regular
33 US calendar year tax return charges Regular
34 US property tax payment Regular
35 US OHIO CAT return Regular
36 US state tax consulting charges Regular

QuEST Global
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Annexure I -Tax Services

(Continued)

Sl # Location Services Type

37 US State notices ,TX Franchise Tax Return Regular
38 Germany Tax Audit & Return filling Regular
39 Japan Tax Return filling Regular
40 Singapore Global Tax compliance Regular
41 US B & O Tax payment Regular
42 UK Tax return preparation Regular
43 France Corporate Tax returns Regular
44 UK Valuation Services Regular
45 Canada Corporate & GST returns Regular
46 UK R&D assistance Structural
47 USA R&D Credit Structural
48 Mauritius Corporate tax return of QuEST Mauritius Holdings Regular
49 Corporate tax return of QuEST Global Mauritius
Mauritius Holdings Regular
50 Germany Restructuring of Payroll in Germany Structural
51 Alternate options from US tax perspective on
US integration of QuEST Strategic
52 Italy Corporate Tax return of QuEST Italy entity Regular
53 Italy VAT Tax return of QuEST Italy entity Regular

QuEST Global
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Annexure II - Statutory Audit Services

Sl # Country Services
1 Italy Financial statement of QuEST Italy entity
2 Germany Financial statement of QuEST German entity
3 Germany Financial statement of QuEST German entity
4 UK Financial statement of QuEST UK Entity
5 UK Financial statement of QuEST UK entity
6 Spain Financial statement of QuEST Spain entity
7 Singapore Financial statement of QuEST Singapore Entity
Financial statement of Singapore Entity - USGAAP - Quarterly &
8 Singapore Annual
9 Singapore Financial statement of Singapore NeST entity
10 Singapore Financial statement of Singapore Holdings
11 Singapore Financial statement of new entity at Singapore - HASK
12 India Financial statement of QuEST Defense entity
13 India Financial statement of QGESPL
14 USA Financial statement of QuEST USA - Review report
15 Mauritius Financial statement of QuEST Mauritius Holdings
16 Mauritius Financial statement of QuEST Global Mauritius Holdings

QuEST Global
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Annexure III M & A Services

Expected, M & A‘s in the current year - 4

Services Expected

Sl # Services
1 Financial Due Diligence
2 Tax Due Diligence
Legal Due Diligence
3 Valuation services if required

Potential target Countries

1. USA
2. France
3. Mexico
4. India
5. Germany
6. Japan
7. UK
8. More countries can be added

QuEST Global
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Annexure IV - IT Services

Sl # Services
1 Entity Consolidation / Integration
2 Oracle optimization- Implementation of diagnostic study findings
3 Tool Modification
4 Support Services

QuEST Global
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Annexure V – Payroll Services

Sl # Services
1 Spain
2 Japan
3 UK
4 Germany

QuEST Global
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Annexure VI – Local book keeping, preparation of Financial Services

Sl # Services
1 Spain
2 Japan
3 UK
4 Germany

QuEST Global
30 th May 2018 CONFIDENTIAL