Associated Questions and Answers
Important Changes Effective October 2022 - New Administration Fee Payment Process and Revised Deadlines for Sales Reporting
Effective October 2022, Statewide Contract Vendors will use the VRM system to submit both their quarterly Sales Reports, as well as Administration Fee payments. This new process will affect FY23 Q1 (July 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022) Administration Fee payments.
Revised Deadlines for Sales Reporting
Note that Sales Reporting deadlines will be revised beginning with FY23 Q1 reporting to accommodate the new Administration Fee reporting process. Sales Reports will be due 30 days after the conclusion of the calendar quarter: January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31.
Administration Fee payment due dates will remain unchanged - 45 days after the conclusion of the calendar quarter: February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15.
If you have questions, contact the OSD Help Desk at 888-MA-State (627-8283).
VRM Questions and Answers
What is the Vendor Report Management (VRM) portal?
The Vendor Report Management (VRM) portal is a secure, cloud-based tool to streamline the collection of quarterly Sales Reports and Administration Fee payments from Statewide Contract Vendors.
How do I gain access to the VRM portal?
Statewide Contract Vendors may use the VRM portal to determine who within their organization currently is authorized to submit sales reports: select the Account Lookup link below the Log In Button, enter the business’ Tax Identification Number, and click Search. These individuals should log in to the portal and update their VRM password credentials. Additionally, they may set up dedicated accounts for additional staff requiring access to the portal.
How do I learn to use the VRM portal to report my sales?
All staff involved in sales reporting are strongly encouraged to view the pre-recorded VRM training video available on the VRM portal. Once logged in, select the Help & Support link from the left side menu, then select Video Library. On the Video Library page, under Core Training, select Sales Reporting. The pre-recorded webcast is approximately 35 minutes.
Additional Resources for VRM Reporting:
Will I be using the VRM portal for Administration Fee Reporting?
Beginning with FY23 Q1 (July 1, 2022 - September 30, 2022) reporting, Statewide Contract Vendors will use the VRM portal to submit Administration Fee payments. Find guidance for submitting Administration Fee payments and Administration Fee FAQs on mass.gov.
Who should I contact if I have questions?
Questions about logging into the VRM portal, portal navigation, and the process to submit sales reports should be directed to our VRM portal provider, B2Gnow, at massosd@gob2g.com. Send other questions to OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or contact your OSD Contract Manager.
Submitting Sales Reports
I don’t have sales to report this quarter. Do I still need to report?
Yes, although you may not have sales to report, a sales report needs to be submitted through the VRM portal every quarter. The process, however, should take 1-2 minutes when there are no sales to report. Simply locate your sales report; click Submit; verify $0 in sales; verify the report is accurate; “sign” the report; and click Submit once again.
Why doesn’t the portal recognize the buyer organization I provided? What’s my next step?
Purchasing Entities/Buyer Organization names submitted on your sales report pass through a validation process. If a buyer name is not on our list of eligible Purchasing Entities, vendors will get an error message when submitting their reports.
Vendors should note that Buyer Organizations that have not purchased from Statewide Contracts in the past may not be on our eligible buyer list. Error messages also may be prompted if OSD does not recognize the organization name you provided. In either case, OSD asks that you move forward with submitting your report by requesting an exception (see below). Be advised that OSD frequently updates our eligible Purchasing Entity list and will add organizations to the list, as appropriate.
I have records that indicate that they require review? Can I still submit my sales report?
Yes, in Step 4 of the submission process (Transfer Data) vendors may request an exception for records that require review by selecting the second radio button in the Exception Requests section. Provide a brief explanation why the exception is necessary and select the Transfer Data button to continue. Other types of errors will need to be corrected before the sales report can be submitted.
Why was the buyer name I entered modified?
As part of the VRM validation process, the portal will reformat Purchasing Entity (Buyer Organization) names to match those in our records.
How will I know if my sales report was successfully received?
Notifications go out from the VRM portal informing vendors of various report statuses: upcoming sales report due dates; sales reports that are returned to the vendor for updates; and sales reports that have been accepted by OSD. Use the VRM portal Dashboard to view report statuses.
The Reporting Dates for my contract indicate that I must submit sales reports after my contract end date. Is this correct?
In some cases, Statewide Contract Vendors are contractually required to submit sales reports after the contract ends. For these contracts, the Reporting Dates in the VRM portal will reflect the date through which vendors must submit sales reports.