biddable

User guide

The submission pack

Getting the finished bid into the shape the tender asks for, signing what needs a signature, and submitting it yourself.

The submission pack is the finished bid arranged exactly as the tender's instructions say: the right files, named and ordered the buyer's way, as Word, PDF or a zip. Biddable prepares it; you lodge it.

What it is

  • Prepare the submission pack is a card on the bid's Documents page (and step 4 · Prepare the submission pack on Overview). It reads the tender's submission instructions and your own house format from your set-up, and the tender's instructions always win.
  • The pack is a set of copies of your submission documents, renamed and placed in the folders the tender asks for, with a PDF beside each source where the buyer wants one, zipped when the tender says so.
  • The checklist shows what the tender asks for and whether it is present, missing, needs a signature, or could not be verified from the documents supplied. Differences between the tender's instructions and your house format are listed, with what was applied.

How to use it

  1. Finish the build and the audit first. Open must-fix findings are shown on the pack as warnings.
  2. On Documents, press Prepare the submission pack. When it is done the card shows the status: Ready, Ready with gaps or Not ready, with the checklist and the differences.
  3. Sign what needs a signature. Open the document, press Sign and place the signature you keep under Account, Signature; a document listed as needing a signature is left for you, never signed for you.
  4. Press Download the pack. In a browser the zip is saved to your downloads; the button reads Downloading… until it is. In the phone and tablet app it opens or shares the zip. An Earlier version of the pack is kept once, so a re-run never loses the last one.
  5. Lodge the bid yourself: on the buyer's portal, by email, or however the tender says. Then set the stage to submitted: Overview, Edit, Stage, Save.

Good to know

  • Biddable never submits a bid. Every document leaves your space only when one of your people sends it.
  • Only documents from the submission set and the CVs go into the pack. A file marked draft, internal or for review is never included.
  • A buyer's own form that the build completed is placed under the buyer's own file name, so the pack can match the tender's checklist.
  • Prepare the pack again after any change: the new pack replaces the current one and the previous one moves to Earlier version.
  • Marking the bid submitted offers its best pieces to your library for you to review (see The library).

Common questions

The pack says Not ready. What is missing?

The checklist names each item: a document the tender wants that is not in the submission set, a signature still to be put on, or an instruction the documents did not let it verify. Deal with each, then prepare the pack again.

Can the pack follow our own naming instead of the tender's?

Your house format from set-up applies wherever the tender is silent. Where the tender gives an instruction, the tender wins and the difference is listed.

Where is the download in the phone app?

The same Download the pack button: the app opens the zip or offers to share it.

Prepare the submission pack

Arranges the finished submission documents exactly as the tender's instructions ask: named, ordered, in the right formats and folders, zipped where wanted.

Who can use it
Owners and writers.
Where it is
A bid's Documents page: the Submission pack card, Prepare the submission pack (Prepare the pack again once there is one); or Overview, under Run.: 4 · Prepare the submission pack
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The submission pack reads the tender's submission instructions and your own house format from set-up, then makes copies of your submission documents laid out the buyer's way: renamed, placed in the folders or envelopes the tender asks for, with a PDF where the buyer wants one, and zipped when the tender says so. Where the tender gives an instruction, the tender wins; where it is silent, your house format applies. It never changes what a document says, and never fills in or signs a form.

Step by step

  1. Finish the build, and run the audit, first.
  2. Open the bid's Documents page. The Submission pack. card is at the top once the bid has documents.
  3. Press Prepare the submission pack. The same run starts from 4 · Prepare the submission pack under Run. on the bid's Overview page.
  4. Wait while it works. You can leave the page; it carries on.
  5. When it is done, the card shows the pack's status, its gaps and its files (see Read the pack).

What you see

  • While it works, the run shows at the top of the page as working, then its result.
  • The card then has a badge, Ready, Ready with gaps or Not ready, a headline such as "Ready with gaps: 6 files, 2 gaps to close", and "Prepared" with the time.
  • Once there is a pack, the button reads Prepare the pack again.

Good to know

  • Only documents from the submission set and the CVs go into the pack. A file whose name marks it DRAFT, INTERNAL or REVIEW is never included, and the bid's working files, internal costing and the tender's own documents never are.
  • A buyer's form that the build has completed goes in under the form's own name, marked to be signed where it has signature lines.
  • Missing forms, declarations and signatures are listed as gaps, never made up.
  • The latest audit's must-fix items still open are shown on the pack as warnings: not the ones marked Fixed, and none once the audit is marked as dealt with. They never stop a pack being made.
  • Preparing the pack again makes a new one; the previous pack is kept as the earlier version, one only.
  • It never counts as a bid against your plan.
  • Biddable never lodges a bid. Submitting it to the buyer is always your own step.
  • Biddie can start it for you: "prepare the submission pack on the port bid".

Common questions

Can the pack follow our own naming instead of the tender's?

Your house format applies wherever the tender is silent. Where the tender gives an instruction, the tender wins and the difference is listed on the card.

I changed a document after preparing the pack. Is the pack updated?

No. The pack holds copies made when it was prepared. Press Prepare the pack again.

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Read the pack: status, gaps and differences

What the Submission pack card tells you: the status, the gaps, where the tender overrode your house format, and the files.

Who can use it
Everyone in the space, reviewers included.
Where it is
A bid's Documents page: the Submission pack card
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Once a pack has been prepared, the Submission pack card says whether it is ready to lodge, what still needs doing, where the tender's instructions overrode your house format, how and when the tender wants the bid delivered, and which files are in the pack.

Step by step

  1. Open the bid's Documents page.
  2. Read the badge and the headline at the top of the Submission pack. card.
  3. Read Gaps to close, then Where the tender overrides your house format.
  4. Read Deadline and delivery.
  5. Press Show the N files in the pack to see each file's name and folder.

What you see

  • The status: Ready (nothing to close), Ready with gaps (something still to close, or the audit still lists must-fix items), or Not ready (nothing could be packed yet).
  • The headline, for example "Ready with gaps: 6 files, 2 gaps to close, the audit still lists 1 must-fix item", then "Prepared" and the time, and a short summary.
  • Gaps to close, in red. A gap reads like "Missing:" and the item with its tender reference, "Needs a signature:" and the item, a file that "needs signing before it goes in", an item followed by "Unable to verify from supplied documents", a file or the whole pack over the tender's size limit, a PDF that could not be made, or a conflict in the tender documents that needs your confirmation, with the working assumption.
  • Where the tender overrides your house format: for each difference, what the tender asks for and where it says so, and what your house format would have done.
  • "The audit of" the date "still lists these must-fix items", in amber.
  • Deadline and delivery: the deadline and how the tender says the bid is delivered.
  • The file list, each file with its folder and name, and " — to be signed" where it needs a signature.

Good to know

  • The must-fix warning lists the latest audit's must-fix items that are still open. Mark each one Fixed on the audit card (or the whole audit as dealt with), or run the audit again, then prepare the pack again, to clear it.
  • Each gap is something to do yourself or with the bid's agent: add the missing document to the submission set, sign the form, or confirm the conflict. Then press Prepare the pack again.
  • Where the tender is silent on something, the card says nothing about it and your house format applies.

Common questions

The pack says Not ready. What is missing?

Nothing could be packed: usually the submission set is empty or none of its documents could be used. Check the bid's Documents page and build the bid first.

What does "Unable to verify from supplied documents" mean?

The tender documents in the bid do not settle that instruction. Check the tender yourself, or add the missing tender document and prepare the pack again.

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Your signature

Keep the space's signature, with the name and title it signs under, so a buyer's Word form can be signed in the app.

Who can use it
Owners only. The card does not show for writers or reviewers.
Where it is
Account: Signature
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The Signature card on Account keeps the signature image used when a buyer's Word form is signed in the app, with the name, title and company it signs under. It is kept in your space alone, never shown on a page, never sent anywhere, and never put on a document unless someone presses Sign on that document.

Step by step

  1. Open Account and find Signature.
  2. Fill in Name it signs under, Title or capacity (for example Director) and, if you like, Company (optional).
  3. Press Upload a signature and choose the image: a PNG with a transparent background.
  4. To change the name or title later without a new image, edit the fields and press Save the name and title.
  5. To change the image, press Replace the signature. To take it off, press Remove.

What you see

  • On file: "Yes — signs as" the name and title, or "No signature yet".
  • "Signature saved.", "Saved." or "Signature removed." under the buttons.
  • A line in red when the signature cannot be used yet, for example "A signature needs the name it signs under."
  • The image itself is never shown back, here or anywhere else.

Good to know

  • PNG only, 512 KB at most. A JPEG or a photograph is refused: it puts a white box on the page.
  • There is one signature for the space, not one per person. Once it is on file, an owner can put it on a Word form with Sign, and each signing is recorded with the owner who pressed it and when. Writers and reviewers cannot sign with it.
  • Remove takes effect at once, with no question first. It also works while the space is paused.
  • Signing needs both the image and the name it signs under: until both are on file the card says so and Sign offers no button.

Common questions

Why can I not see the card?

Only an owner sets or removes the signature. Ask an owner in your team.

Can I use a scan of my signature?

Yes, as long as it is a PNG, ideally with the background made transparent, and no larger than 512 KB.

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Sign a document

Put the space's signature, name and date on the signature line of a buyer's Word form, as a signed copy beside the original.

Who can use it
Owners only, once an owner has put a signature and the name it signs under on file under Account, Signature. Sign does not show for writers or reviewers.
Where it is
A Word document in the document viewer: Sign (in the phone, tablet and desktop app, the pen button, "Sign this form")
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

Signing is the one thing no agent in Biddable can do: the bid's agent can fill in a buyer's form, but only a person pressing Sign puts a signature on it. The signature, the name and title it signs under, and the date go on the line you pick, in a signed copy saved beside the original with a PDF of it. The original is left as it is.

Step by step

  1. On the bid's Documents page, open the form with Word.
  2. Press Sign in the viewer's header. A panel, Sign this form, opens above the pages.
  3. Check the line "Signing as" and the name, then pick the line the signature goes on.
  4. Press Sign this document.
  5. Read the question, "Put your signature on this document?", and confirm.
  6. Press Close when you are done. Then prepare the submission pack again, so it is made from the documents as they now stand.

What you see

  • "Reading the form…" while the panel looks for the form's blanks and signature lines.
  • The signature lines, each with its label and the party it is for, the one picked marked ◉.
  • The question explains: "Your signature, name and the date go on the line you picked. A signed copy and a PDF are saved beside the original, which is left as it is."
  • "Signing…", then "Signed by" the name and address of the owner who pressed Sign "on" the date, the signed copy's name and its PDF's name, and "The original is untouched."
  • Instead of the lines, one of these: "No signature is on file for this account yet. An owner adds one under Account, Signature, and then documents can be signed here."; "A signature needs the name it signs under. Add it under Account, Signature."; "No signature line found in this form."; or "This document still has N blanks to fill in, so it cannot be signed yet:" with the blanks listed.

Good to know

  • Sign shows on Word (.docx) documents only.
  • The signed copy has "(signed)" at the end of its name. Signing a signed copy again signs it in place, so there is never a stale signed copy beside it.
  • A form with blanks cannot be signed. Ask the bid's agent in the Build chat to fill them in (it asks you for anything the records do not hold), or open the copy that is already filled in.
  • Nothing is signed where the form did not ask for a signature.
  • The date is the day you sign.
  • Only owners sign: the space's signature is the firm's, and the record names the owner who pressed Sign. A writer or reviewer asks an owner.

Common questions

Whose signature goes on the form?

The space's signature, kept by an owner under Account, Signature, with the name and title saved there.

The pack still says the form needs a signature.

The pack is made when you press the button. After signing, press Prepare the pack again.

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Download the pack

Download the prepared pack as one zip, ready to lodge, or the earlier version kept from the time before.

Who can use it
Everyone in the space, reviewers included.
Where it is
A bid's Documents page: the Submission pack card, Download the pack (or Download and the zip's name), Earlier version
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

The pack downloads as one zip: the zip the tender asked for, under the name it asked for, or, where the tender wants separate files, the pack's folders zipped so you can unpack them and upload each file. Earlier version downloads the pack made the time before.

Step by step

  1. Open the bid's Documents page.
  2. On the Submission pack. card, press Download the pack. Where the tender asked for a zip, the button carries its name, for example "Download Lot 2 Response.zip".
  3. In the web app, the button reads "Downloading…" and the browser saves the zip to your downloads, in the same tab. In the phone, tablet and desktop app, it says "Fetching" and the name, then opens it on a desktop, or offers to share or save it on a phone or tablet.
  4. Unpack it if the tender wants separate uploads, check the files, and lodge the bid as the tender says.
  5. For the previous pack, press Earlier version.

What you see

  • The buttons appear once the pack has files.
  • Under them, "Earlier version:" with the earlier pack's headline and when it was prepared, when there is one.
  • If the file cannot be fetched in the app: "Could not open the file" and the reason. In the web app, a line under the buttons says why, for example "The pack could not be downloaded just now. Try again in a minute."

Good to know

  • One earlier version is kept. Preparing the pack again moves the current pack to the earlier version and replaces the one before it.
  • Downloading is recorded on the bid. Once any of a bid's documents have been downloaded, the bid can no longer be deleted at your request and given back to the month's allowance.
  • Downloading never sends the bid anywhere. Lodging it with the buyer is your own step.

Common questions

Can I download a single file instead?

Yes. Open the document from the Documents page and press ↗ in the viewer's header.

Which version should I lodge?

The current one, after checking its gaps are closed. The earlier version is there in case a re-run went wrong.

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Mark the bid submitted

Once you have lodged the bid with the buyer, set its stage to submitted so your records, Biddie and the library follow.

Who can use it
Owners and writers.
Where it is
A bid's Overview page: Edit, Stage: submitted, Save
In
The web app, and the phone, tablet and desktop app

What it does

A bid's stage says where it stands. Setting it to submitted records that you have lodged it; Biddable never lodges a bid or changes its stage for you. Marking a bid submitted (or won) also reads its final documents once and proposes their strongest pieces to your library, for you to review.

Step by step

  1. Lodge the bid with the buyer, on their portal, by email or however the tender says.
  2. Open the bid's Overview page and press Edit on the top card.
  3. Under Stage, choose submitted. In the phone, tablet and desktop app, Stage is a list to pick from.
  4. Press Save.
  5. When you hear back, do the same with won or lost. A bid you decide not to pursue is no-bid.

What you see

  • Stage on the card reads "submitted".
  • The Library page shows "Working…" with "Reading your documents for the library." while it reads the bid, then the proposals under To review.
  • For lost or no-bid, the form asks "Why lost?" (or "Why no-bid?") with a list of reasons and In a line or two. Save stays greyed out, with "Choose a reason to save: a bid that ends without one counts against the win rate in the books and explains nothing.", until you choose one.

Good to know

  • The stages, in order: draft, triaged, built, audited, finalised, submitted, demo, won, lost, no-bid, archived.
  • The library reads a bid once, the first time it is marked submitted or won. Reading it never counts as a bid.
  • Biddie never changes a bid's stage, and starts no work on a bid that is won, lost, a no-bid or archived.
  • A submitted bid drops out of Biddie's list of bids closing soon.
  • A reviewer can see the stage but cannot change it.

Common questions

I marked it submitted by mistake. Can I change it back?

Yes. Press Edit, choose the right stage and Save. Library proposals already made stay in To review for you to approve or reject.

Does marking it submitted send anything to the buyer?

No. It only records what you have done.

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This page is the same help that sits behind the ? on every page of the app. Something it does not answer? Email hello@biddable.ae.