Competitive Bid: How to Approve or Reject a Competitive Bid (Final Approval)

This article provides approvers with the steps necessary to approve or reject a Competitive Bid prior to inviting vendors to participate (i.e., bid release).

This content reflects standard Beeline Enterprise functionality which may vary from what you see when logged into Beeline Enterprise depending on any client-specific settings or adjustments.

Table of Contents

To approve a Competitive Bid prior to inviting vendors to participate:

1. Navigate to the Beeline Enterprise Home screen.
2. In the My To Do quadrant, click the number link located within the alert sentence, “You have # Competitive Bid Submitted for Final Approval tasks awaiting action”. A new window with a list of bids ready for final approval displays.
3. Click the Action drop-down arrow of the specific bid you want to review.
4. Select the View Details option. The Competitive Bid – Final Approval screen appears.
5. Click the Competitive Bid name link to open the bid in the ribbon format. The ribbon opens on the Welcome tab.
6. Click the Next button to advance to the General Info tab. This section usually includes a brief description of the project scope and explains the rules/conditions used for the sourcing event.
7. Click Next to advance to the Contributors tab. This section will list resources associated with the bid along with their respective role.
8. Click Next to advance to the Events tab. Verify the posted dates and deadlines.

   Notice that the Action tab is located in the final slot and you now have access to all tabs on the ribbon. A single tab can include multiple sections that are displayed on separate screens. Use the Next button to ensure that you cycle through ALL sections assigned to a single tab rather than moving from one tab to another by clicking on the ribbon icon. You can scan the section headers in a tab by hovering over the section icons that display directly beneath the “active” tab icon in the ribbon.

9. Click Next to advance to the Details tab. This section is used to define the scope of the proposed project, including background information and other specifications. Review the information. Use the Next button to review all sections within this tab.
10. Click Next to advance to the Assessment Builder. This section is a list of vendor questions. Questions can be designated as required and/or knockout. Point values must total 100 across all questions and are required except for Text Box and Essay questions. Use the Next button to review all sections within this tab.
11. Click Next to advance to the Financials tab. No action is needed here since this tab is reserved for the participating vendors who will enter their proposed financials during the Response phase of the Competitive Bid. Click the Invite Vendors icon (envelope) to advance to the next tab or use the Next button to view which type(s) of financials are associated to this bid (varies by template).
12. Review the list of selected vendors and their designated contact(s) on the Invite Vendors tab.
13. Click Next to advance to the Q&A Forum tab. This forum is available to all participating vendors based on the date/time settings entered on the Details tab.

    This forum is intended for participating vendors to submit questions to the client. All participating vendors have visibility to all questions and client responses posted in this forum. Questions should not be accepted by the Program Office and/or client managers unless they are posted in this forum to ensure that the bid process remains vendor neutral.

14. Click Next to advance to the Action tab.
15. Click Approve. The Competitive Bid - Final Approval - Approve dialog box appears.
16. Click Approve to confirm your approval. Comments are optional. The Competitive Bid profile screen displays an updated status of “Released” after the Competitive Bid Number – Name information. The upper right-hand quadrant of the Competitive Bid profile screen now displays as a Bid Summary section with a list of all invited vendors and their respective point of contact(s).
17. Click Return to exit the Competitive Bid profile and return to your Home screen. An invitation to participate routes to each vendor contact. All contributors/vendors are also notified that the Q&A Forum is open.

To reject a Competitive Bid (final approval):

1. Navigate to the Beeline Enterprise Home screen.
2. In the My To Do quadrant, click the number link located within the alert sentence, “You have # Competitive Bid Submitted for Final Approval tasks awaiting action”. A new window with a list of bids ready for final approval displays.
3. Click the Action drop-down arrow of the specific bid you want to review.
4. Select the View Details option. The Competitive Bid – Final Approval screen appears.

5. Click the Competitive Bid name link to access the Competitive Bid in the ribbon format. The ribbon opens on the Welcome tab.
6. Click the Next button to advance to the General Info tab. Review the information entered.
7. Complete steps 6 through 14 as described in the preceding Approve/Option 2 section.
8. Click Next to advance to the Action tab.
9. Click Reject. The Competitive Bid – Final Approval – Reject dialog box appears.
10. Enter comments in the Comments box. Comments are required as indicated by the asterisk (*).
11. Click Reject to confirm your intent. The Competitive Bid profile screen displays an updated status after the Competitive Bid number and name information. The status will reflect the previous workflow step.