Creating a Grant Posting in COMMBUYS

This Job Aid provides instructions to post a Bid Solicitation advertising Grant Opportunities in COMMBUYS.

Launching COMMBUYS  

1. Launch COMMBUYS 
2. Select Sign In 
3. Type your Login ID and Password 
4. Select Sign In 

Creating a New Bid 

1. Navigate to the COMMBUYS logo  
2. Select the Plus Sign (+) 
3. Choose Bid Solicitation from the dropdown  
4. Confirm the selection is Create a Bid from Scratch 
5. Select Continue 

Completing the General Tab  

The New Bid screen opens to the General tab. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.  

Field Name	Action Needed
Type Code*	Choose NS - Non-Statewide Solicitation from the dropdown
Department*	Choose the desired Department from the dropdown
Location*	Choose the desired Location from the dropdown
Show on Web	No action needed
Available Date*	Choose the Available Date a Grantee may access the Bid
Bid Type	Choose the Open from the Bid Type dropdown. If the Grant is invite-only, choose Closed.
Estimated Cost	No action needed
Alternate ID:	Type additional information. This field is searchable.
Purchase Method*	Choose Blanket from the dropdown
Blanket Begin Date*	Type Blanket Begin Date
Blanket End Date*	Type Blanket End Date
Print Format*	No action needed
Solicitation Enabled	No action needed
Item Single Award Only	Select to award Items to one Grantee
Allow Vendors to Submit Multiple/Alternate Quotes	No action needed
Info Contact	Type the contact information for the Bid
Pre-Bid Conference	Type details of pre-bid conferences
Bulletin Description	Type additional information for the Vendor notification email
Quote Notification	Select for the purchaser to receive an email notification of the Bid
SBPP (Small Business Purchasing Program) Eligible?*	Choose Yes for Bids under $250k annually, or choose No for Bids over $250k annually from the dropdown
Procurement Type	Choose Grant Opportunity from the dropdown
Estimated Award Date	Select the expected Award Date
CLM RFX ID	No action needed
Date Last Updated	No action needed
Description*	Type “Grant” Title and Description. “Grant” is required in the Title.
Purchaser*	Choose Purchaser from the dropdown
Fiscal Year*	Choose Fiscal Year from the dropdown
Organization	No action needed
Allow Electronic Response	Select to allow Vendors to submit electronic quotes for the Bid
Bid Opening Date*	Select the deadline for responses
Informal Bid	No action needed
Disable Alternate Description for Quotes	No action needed
Enable Rolling Enrollment	Select to allow Vendors to respond on an on-going basis
Enable Open Enrollment	Select to allow new Vendors to respond on an on-going basis

Completing the Items Tab 

1. Select the Items tab 
2. Select Add Item 

Adding Items 

The Items tab allows you to add an Item or Narrative Item to the Grant Posting. Fields with an asterisk are required.  

1. Complete the following: 

Field Name	Action Needed
Print Sequence*	No action needed unless changing the print sequence
Description*	Type the description of the Grant, Eligibility or Notice of Intent to Award
Disable Pricing on Quote	Select the checkbox for Grantees to respond to the Grant in an attachment
Quantity	Type “1”
Unit Cost	Type “1.00”
UOM	No action needed
UNSPSC Segment-Family*	Choose 00-00 Grant Opportunity from the ‘UNSPSC Segment-Family’ field dropdown
UNSPSC Class*	Choose 00-00 Grant Opportunity from the ‘UNSPSC Class’ field dropdown

2. Select Save and Exit 
   1. Select Add Item and repeat the process to add more items
      1. Select Save and Exit 

Completing the Addresses Tab 

1. Select the Address tab 
2. Select the Magnifying Glass to make changes if needed 
3. Select Save and Continue 

Completing the Attachments Tab 

1. Select the Attachments tab 
2. Select Add File  
3. Select Choose File 
4. Navigate to find your file  
5. Select Open to upload  
6. Select Save and Add New to upload additional files 
7. Select Save and Exit when you are done uploading files 

Completing the Notes Tab

1. Select the Notes tab to add a note 
   1. Notes are viewable only by Commonwealth users 
   2. Notes are subject to Massachusetts Public Records Law 
2. Type your note information in the ‘Notes’ field 
3. Select Save and Continue to save your entry  
4. Select Save and Exit when finished  

Modifying the Bidder Tab 

1. Select the Bidders tab 
2. Select Lookup and Add Vendors  
   1. Type the search criteria, if needed 
3. Select Find Vendors for All Commodities on the Bid 
4. Select Find It 
5. Select the checkbox of the Vendor you wish to include in the notification 
6. Select Save and Exit to return to the Bidders tab 

Adding and Deleting Vendors 

The Bidders tab displays selected Vendors matching the same UNSPSC as the Grant. 

1. Choose one of the following:  
   1. Unrestricted Bid: All Vendors may view the bid and respond 
   2. Restricted Bid: Only selected Vendors may view and respond  
2. Select Lookup and Add Vendors to manually add Vendors 
3. Select the checkbox in the Delete column to remove Vendors  
   1. By deleting Vendors, the Bid is restricted  
4. Select Save and Continue  

Completing the Questions Tab 

To use the Questions tab, Allow Electronic Response must be enabled on the General tab. 

1. Select the Questions tab 
2. Select the Required checkbox if the question must be answered  
3. Choose a value from the Response Type dropdown  
4. Type your question in the ‘Question’ field 
5. Select Save and Continue 

Completing the Q&A Tab 

1. Select the Q&A tab 
2. Select Allow Vendor to Submit Questions checkbox  
3. Select Send Notification when Vendor Submitting Question checkbox to be notified when a question is posted 
4. Select Close Q&A for Vendor Date 
5. Type question details into the ‘Question Subject’ and ‘Question’ fields  
6. Select the Show All on Web checkbox to make viewable to all Vendors 
7. Deselect Show Original Vendor Only to make the question or answer viewable to the original Vendor 
8. Select Save and Continue 

Completing the Reminders Tab 

1. Select the Reminders tab  
2. Select the calendar icon in the ‘Due Date’field to choose the date of the reminder 
3. Type the reminder text in the ‘Comment’ field 
4. Choose yourself or another internal recipient in the 'Remind Whom' dropdown  
5. Type the number of days in the ‘Days Prior to Remind’field for an advanced reminder  
6. Select the Send Email checkbox  
7. Select Save and Continue 

Reviewing the Summary Tab 

1. Select the Summary tab to review entries 
2. Select Submit for Approval 
3. Review the Approval Path 
4. Select Save and Continue  
   1. COMMBUYS will send an email notification when approved 

Sending the Bid  

1. The Bid status changes to Ready to Send 
2. Find the bid on the COMMBUYS home page in the Recent Documents section or in the Bid Solicitation(s) Ready to Send section 
3. Select the Bid  
4. Select the Summary tab  
5. Select either the Change Bid Status to Sent and Notify Vendors or Change Bid Status to Sent Only 
6. Select Send Bid  
   1. The bid will be posted to COMMBUYS