Managing Contracts Does Not Have to be Complicated

Contracts in Procurement can be complex for anyone to track. This is especially true for agencies that are scrutinized during every aspect of the process. Agencies must follow laws and policies that are not always applicable to private companies, and each agency is unique in the data they track.

Along with this, key stakeholders within the agency may need access to and are responsible for various aspects of the contract life cycle. Procurement provides the bid documentation to the Contract Administrator to execute the contract. Contract administrators are accountable for managing the contract. Legal needs to review and approve the contract language and clauses. Compliance officers are responsible for validating that all applicable laws and regulations are followed. Accounting needs to forecast the entity’s cash flow accurately. Finally, the Clerk must respond to public information requests (PIR).

Agencies must have a system to store their contracts efficiently and effectively, allowing access to multiple users and keeping key stakeholders notified while satisfying Auditors.

In the past, all documentation related to a contract would be printed and stored in a file. Let’s be honest, how often have we gone to a file, and the documentation doesn’t exist? Someone took out the documentation to review it and never put it back, or the file is simply missing. That’s not even considering that many employees now work remotely and need access to the data electronically. It is essential to have all critical documentation in a computer system that multiple employees can access and designate what is private versus available to the Contractor and the public (PIR). The system needs to allow email notifications for multiple employees, keeping everyone updated on the contract.

With eProcurement, managing contracts and key stakeholders has never been easier!

PlanetBids’ PB System™ manages all the stages of a Contract online. Unlike other services, where there is a manual component, PlanetBids’ PB System™ interconnected modules are entirely online, starting with Procurement and the bidding process. Once the bid has been awarded using the PB System™ Vendor and Bid Management, all information related to the bid, including the scope of work, awardee’s submission (pricing, documents, subcontractors, bonding, etc.), and classification goals, is digitally transferred over from Bid Management to Contract Management.

The PB System™ Contract Management module provides Contract Administrators the ability to import bidding information to create a contract record. They can designate stakeholders to receive notifications for the contract and request electronic signatures for those contracts and other vital forms using DocuSign. Once the contract and all documents are electronically signed and received, Legal can review and use DocuSign to electronically sign and execute the contract. The signed documentation and all supporting documentation are electronically stored within the record. The Compliance Officer can log in to the PB System™ Insurance Management and verify to ensure the correct insurance has been requested and submitted throughout the process.

Automatic notifications will keep the Contract Administrator and key stakeholders notified of pending expirations, including the maximum expiration reach—time to go back out to bid!

Once the contract has been executed, with Contract Compliance, Contractors can report their subcontractors’ monthly payments electronically. Subcontractors can review and verify the accuracy of the recorded payments. With this data, the Contract Administrator can track the Contractor’s progress to meet their committed goals throughout the contract’s life.

Many agencies are required by law to make contracts available to the public. Once the contract has been approved, specific contract data can be shared with the public through the public Contracts feature, which meets the Sunshine Act requirements, significantly reducing public records requests. Agency-selected contract information is accessible in one central location for the public records requests received, making it easy for the Clerk to fulfil the request.

Accountants can log into the PB System™ Contract Management module and see the approved or unapproved contract change amounts allowing them to forecast the cash accurately. This may drive issuing different funding sources such as bonds, commercial paper, etc. These contracts can be electronically tagged with these alternative funding sources since they often follow different rules.

To find out more, attend the PlanetBids Contract Management webinar: 

June 7 at 10am PST Register Today!

June 27 at 10am PST Register Today!

PlanetBids can help your agency with Contract Management needs. PlanetBids has been an industry leader for over 20 years, providing solutions for every step of the procurement process, including bid, vendor, contract, and insurance management.

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