How Gmp Can Help
As government procurement experts, GMP already has the experience and reputation needed to win government contracts. In fact, we already have several that we can leverage to your businesss advantage. With our capabilities and an over 20-year history of success, we can endorse your businesss products and services to the government. As a veteran-owned and -operated small business that has long since caught the governments eye, we know how to do bidding and can do all of the legwork for you. With us, theres no need to get a contract yourself, as we already own contracts. We will simply market what your business has to offer to the government, making your chances of successfully selling to them much higher. For more information on government procurement and what we do, contact us today!
What Is Government Procurement
Government procurement is a huge business market in the United States. This is because the government operates using resources, goods, and services from the public, such as real estate, construction, office supplies, health care equipment, and many others. Many businesses find it economically beneficial to enter this industry because they know that the government will buy what it needs from commercial organizations. Heres what you need to know about the multifaceted industry that is government procurement.
Tenders Not Covered By The Public Contracts Regulations 2015
When a tender process is not subject to the Public Contracts Regulations because the estimated value of a contract falls below the relevant threshold, you must continue to apply the principles of non-discrimination, equal treatment, transparency, mutual recognition and proportionality.
Part 4 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 introduced some key reforms of which you must be aware:
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abolition of a pre-qualification stage for procurements below the EU thresholds, and a requirement to have regard to guidance on qualitative selection issued by Cabinet Office for above EU threshold procurements
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requirement for contracting authorities to insert provisions in all public contracts to ensure prompt payment through the supply chain
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requirement to advertise public sector opportunities in one place, Contracts Finder, and to publish award notices for contracts and call-offs from framework agreements.
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Plan For The Public Procurement Of Food And Catering Services
Using the food procurement toolkit central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should commit to procuring food using the balanced scorecard method and revised Government Buying Standards for food and catering services.
You will find suppliers that can help you achieve this via the procurement portal. You should also manage your contracts proactively, and work with suppliers to source responsibly and comply with the balanced scorecard approach.
Whats The Difference Between Indirect Direct And Services Procurement
Direct, indirect, and services procurement are subsidiaries of the overarching procurement process and differ in aspects like definition, assignments, and more. By taking a deeper look at the difference between these processes and understanding what they comprise, stakeholders will have an easier time taking appropriate measures to fulfill their needs.
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Keep For Your Records
All steps above need to be documented for internal and external audits, so youâll need a central location to store invoices, orders, and other accompanying documentation. Make sure youâve built in redundancy here youâll likely be using a digital purchasing method, so it may benefit you to print out paper versions of documentation and store them in a secure place in case of a total electronic apocalypse.
The Local Government Transparency Code 2015
As a Local Government buyer, in addition to the legal requirements to publish covered by both the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the The Local Government Regulations 2015 legislation, there are additional recommended requirements for greater disclosure in the Local Government Transparency Code.
For procurement information this includes monthly publication on Contracts Finder of every invitation to tender or invitation to quote for contracts to provide goods and/or services with a value that exceeds £10,000 , details of ITTs that have not been formerly advertised and all contracts in their entirety where the value of the contract exceeds £5,000. Responsibility for this legislation and Code lies with the Department for Communities and Local Government, who conducted a consultation on strengthening the code, details of which can be found online.
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State Of Texas Procurement And Contract Management Guide
The Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide provides a framework for navigating the complexities of Texas procurement law and offers practical, step-by-step guidance to ensure agencies acquire goods and services in an effective and efficient manner, in compliance with the law.
The State of Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide, Version 2.1 incorporates recent procurement-related legislation from the 87th Legislative Session and recent rule revisions.
To assist procurement professionals and agency personnel, SPD is providing a Crosswalk that will show detailed changes between the State of Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide, Version 2.0 and the State of Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide, Version 2.1.
Any questions or feedback can be emailed to the .
How Has The Covid Pandemic Impacted Government Procurement
During the course of this last year, as the pandemic has unfolded, there have been some important changes to procurement policy from the new presidential administration. The first few weeks of the Biden administration were marked by rapid regulatory changes and executive orders. On Janurary 25th, 2021, one of these executive orders was to refocus federal procurement to American made products and solutions. The executive order declares that the future will be made in America.Buying American-made and American-sourced goods for government use has received a great deal of bipartisan support recently, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the financial stability of smaller businesses and the American economy as a whole.
Heres what this mean for governemnt procurement and how the Biden administration will aim to shape procurement policy:
- Tightened definitions of American-made products
- Restrictions on the abilities of businesses to outsource production overseas
- Incentivizing the government procurement industry to look within American borders for their products and services
- Shoring up and strengthening the industries and economy of the United States
- Growing the number of quality, union-protected jobs for American workers
- Creating a new senior leadership position in the Office of Management and Budget to oversee Bidens changes
- Giving small businesses more contracting opportunities
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The Standard Selection Questionnaire
Procurement Policy Note 08/16 provides the standard selection questionnaire, statutory guidance on how and when to use it and a list of frequently asked questions. The questionnaire asks suppliers to self-declare against the list of mandatory and discretionary exclusions set out in the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The standard selection questionnaire in PPN 08/16 also provides the standard questions to help buyers decide if a supplier has the capability and capacity to carry out a contract. These questions are designed to give information about a suppliers financial strength and experience in delivering the required goods and services along with other issues relevant to the contract.
Finalization Of Purchase Order
It will now move to the finalization of purchase orders if all parties agreed with the terms of the contract. A purchase order will be created that details the needed materials or services of the company.
The purchase order details include the quantity, price, time, and date of delivery of the materials. Purchase orders must be compared against the quote and purchase requisition to check the accuracy of the orders.
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Public Procurement And Steel
In October 2015, government published Procurement Policy Note 16/15: procuring steel in major projects, which sets out how government buyers should source steel for major projects in a more strategic and transparent way. This is underpinned by more detailed guidance explaining how departments should take into account the social impacts of competing suppliers as well as environmental factors for certain procurements involving steel.
These measures will help to create a more level playing field for suppliers who bid for public contracts, both directly and through the supply chain, contributing to economic growth.
Contracting Officers Role In The Federal Procurement Process
In the federal government procurement process, the Contracting Officer is the only person that acts as an agent on behalf of the agency and the only person that can legally bind the federal government. When a federal government procurement passes through the contracting office, the project is usually overseen by a contracting officer. Get information about appealing the contracting officers final decision.
- Contracting officers have different levels of buying power.
- Depending upon the agency, contracting levels have varying dollar amounts and purchasing amount authority.
Developing a Plan to Sell to a Federal Public Procurement Agency? If you are contemplating selling your goods and services to the federal government, you must first learn about the procurement market. This means knowing which government officials typically buy your product or service. There is research that can be done to help you narrow your efforts. It also helps you budget your marketing dollars.
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Procurement : Process Types And Optimization Guide 2023
Paper-driven procurement has a cascading effect on an organizations bottom line. Manual inefficiencies cost organizations a huge chunk of cash in long purchase cycles, missed discounts, and transaction disputes. Trying to speed up procurement processes with outdated tools like spreadsheets and emails is like trying to start a microwave with steel and flint.
To take advantage of early purchase and payment discounts, organizations need to toss stone-age procurement practices out the window and embrace technological solutions. A great way to do that is to automate your procurement process. It comes with a host of benefits. Modern procurement tools can transform a painfully slow procurement strategy into world-class overnight.
If your procurement process still relies on ancient tools, its time for a major technology makeover. Heres all you need to know to power up the procurement process.
Prompt Payment And Performance Reporting
Following the 2015 budget all departments must publish the percentage of their invoices paid within 5 days and 30 days on a quarterly basis. Since April 2016, if your organisation is within scope, you need to publish all interest liable under the late payment legislation on a quarterly basis. Procurement Policy Note 05/15 restated the policy announced in May 2010 that departments should aim to pay 80% of undisputed invoices within 5 working days.
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Whatis Procurement Process Flow
Before exploring the world of procurement process flow, we must first understand what the procurement process is. The procurement process covers all the processes in obtaining the needed goods or services of a company.
The procurement process is important as it streamlines the purchasing of goods or services that will benefit the company.
Now that we have a brief introduction to the procurement process, lets now go to the procurement process flow. The procurement process flow is the steps followed in the procurement process or procurement cycle.
The procurement process flow allows you to visualize each process that creates transparency in the company. This will enable the financial status of the company to develop.
Ultimate Supplier Plotting Checklist 2023
How To Use The Smart Guide
The Contracting Professionals Smart Guide is organized into two sections: Contract Formation and Contract Administration. The tables below link to the Activities and their corresponding flow charts. Each Activity contains three columns, identifying relevant tasks, related FAR references, and additional information. At the top of the first page, each Activity links to relevant FAI and DAU courses, related online tools , and the corresponding flow charts, which provide a graphical representation of the tasks. Please click here to download the Complete Guide.
Contract Formation
Contract Formation consists of 29 Activities that range from acquisition planning to contract development to contract award.
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Procurement Process Flow The Ultimate Guide Of 2023
The procurement process flow is different for each business but some parts stay the same. The process flow is important to make the purchasing of goods or obtaining of services easy.
For this article, we will talk about what procurement process flow is. We will explore the different steps to streamline the procurement process. Additionally, we will check the flow of the procurement process.
After this article, you will learn about procurement process flow and how to utilize it in your business. This will also allow you to visualize the flow of the process that will surely help you or your business.
Terms And Conditions Of Contract
You should use the model terms and conditions, as follows:
The Model Services Contract was introduced in March 2014 on the basis that all departments should use it for IT and Business Process Outsourcing contracts with a through life contract value of £10 million or more.
The Short Form Terms and Conditions were issued in April 2014 for low value procurement of goods and services.
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Standing Offers And Supply Arrangements
Standing offers and supply arrangements are two types of non-binding agreements between the federal government and potential suppliers of specified goods or services. These agreements outline the terms and conditions that will apply to future requirements to be ordered on an as and when required basis.
Background Of Government Procurement
The foundation of todays government procurement system is based on two laws, the Armed Services Procurement Act of 1947 and the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. These two laws combined and clarified many other regulations that had been appearing. In 1979, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act Amendments were passed, which called for a simplified, more direct path for government purchasing. This led to the Federal Acquisition Regulation , the official guidebook for anyone wanting to pursue government contracts, and the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, which launched the official competitive government contract bidding process.
Since then, the government has taken steps to include both large and small businesses in purchasing opportunities, and the Small Business Administration works on behalf of the interests of small businesses to make this possible. Opportunities like the SBAs 8 Program work to help disadvantaged small businesses reach their government selling goals.
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Central Government Transparency And Publication Of Contracts
Central Government buyers must publish all tender documents and contracts with a contract value of over £10,000 on Contracts Finder. Guidance is available online.
The Transparency Principles were updated on 16 February 2017. These require central government departments to proactively release information in line with the above commitments during the life of the contract.
You should establish at the start of a contract what information can be published with exemptions following the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, for example on national security or commercial confidentiality grounds. Only genuinely commercially sensitive information should be withheld. Further guidance on exemptions can be found online.
Procurement Process Flowchart Example
HEFLO has made this example of a business procurement process flowchart available to you, providing most of the tasks that are usually used for this type of activity.
But as we said, it is fully adaptable.
As you can see, in this procurement process flowchart example there are 5 lanes defined in the pool:
- Applicant: The person from any area authorized to make purchase requests.
- Manager: Is responsible for the cost of the acquisition.
- Purchasing Clerk: The person responsible for the purchase of the product or service.
- Warehouse: The area of the company that receives and stores the acquired assets.
- Accounts Payable: Makes the payment and ends the process.
The procurement process flowchart occurs as follows:
The procurement process flowchart proceeds as follows:
- Registration and collection of the required data is done with the supplier.
- Armed with a purchase order, the Purchasing Clerk makes the purchase.
- The Purchasing Clerk uses the order data to confirm the purchase and determine a delivery time.
- Next, there are two alternatives: In the case of services, the requester encourages the supplier, authorizes and validates the service. For products, the warehouse receives the purchase order and awaits the receipt of the request.
- Once the merchandise is received the warehouse sends the invoice for continuity in accounts payable.
This company procurement process flowchart example can be tailored to your needs.
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Tailoring The Flowchart Of Purchasing Processes
With a simple drag of the elements or by clicking on them to change them, HEFLO allows you to adapt this process flow to the characteristics of your company.
For instance, your business may need the manager who requested the purchase to authorize the purchase again, after the financial analyst approves the quote. Just include these flows through connectors and detail the decisions to be taken.
And, sometimes the quality control department needs to evaluate the products purchased to see if they are within the companys standards, in this case, you may want to create a new lane and indicate the tasks and connectors to define the flow.
HEFLO allows you to model and document processes in an agile and intuitive way, generating documentation with an excellent presentation. And all of this via the cloud, which is, of course, accessible from anywhere.
How Do I Use It
The following scenario from UNITAS explains how the procurement process flow chart is employed in its Delta River Project.
Amira and her project team buy goods and services on a regular basis to achieve project objectives and goals. Most purchases are small, such as office supplies, training materials, water testing kits and items to maintain vehicles. But the team also needs to buy more expensive items, including a photocopier for the office and a new vehicle.
As a high value item, the purchase of the vehicle requires a more detailed process to promote transparency, ensure the best use of project resources and manage the risk of fraud. Amira and the team have used the procurement process flowchart to guide them in setting up the steps for the projects procurement system.
After determining the specification for the vehicle, Amira makes sure that there is sufficient money available in the budget and then she submits an official purchase requisition to obtain the authorization she needs to go ahead with the purchase. Once the requisition is signed off, the next step is to obtain quotations from suppliers for vehicles that meet the specification. The quotes are then reviewed by a purchasing panel, which then selects the preferred supplier.
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