Contract File

Overview

Contract Files are either solicitations (till awarded) or awards. Contract Files are similar to file folders that contain acquisition information in a single place. In CLM, a Contract File is a view that enables you to see the information related to an acquisition from a single location. The view contains the links to all the transaction documents associated with the acquisition and the transaction documents are placed in a logically ordered outline. You can click a solicitation or award number, for example, to drill down to and view the document details. Thus the entire procurement flow from Planning to Payments for an acquisition is captured as a view in the Contract File.

Contract Files may be award based or solicitation based. If a solicitation has been created, and not awarded yet, the Contract File is solicitation based. If the solicitation has been awarded, the Contract File is award based. The Contract File number (ID) is taken from the solicitation number or award number, depending on whether the Contract File is solicitation based or award based.

Searching for Contract Files

Using the appropriate Purchasing responsibility, navigate to Buyer Work Center > Contract File. The Contract File Search page displays, with a list of fields that you can use as search criteria for retrieving Contract Files. To add some more search criteria fields (such as Award Administrator, Contracting Officer, Issuing Office, Purchase Request Number, and so on), select the field(s) from the Add Another LOV and click Add. The new search criteria field will be added to the list of fields already on the page. Enter a value for the search criteria field and then click Go. The contract files are displayed in the search results region below the search criteria fields.

Note: You can save your most frequently used searches as Views that you can use multiple times. Click Save Search to open the Create View page and specify your view related fields.

Some predefined views that are available in the Contract File Search page are:

Click a Contract File Number link to open a contract file in outline view. The View Contract File page displays. The left pane of the page displays the outline of the contract file. The right pane of the page displays the actual document information that you have clicked on. For example, if you clicked an award in the left pane, the award information displays in the right pane. In the right pane, click the Document Number link to drill down to see the document details, or click the View PDF link to view the document's pdf file.

The Checklist PDF and Contract Completion PDF are displayed if the relevant check boxes are checked in the Closeout window. These PDFs are displayed regardless of status (Approved, Physically Complete, Administratively Complete, In Closeout and Closed Out).

Accessing Contract Files from CLM documents

Using the appropriate Purchasing responsibility, navigate to open a CLM document (award, IDV, and so on) in any status. From the Actions LOV, select View Contract File to open the View Contract File page. If you select a modification document to open, the associated award / IDV is displayed as the Contract File. You can also select the View Contract File action from the Views page that lists all the awards or IDVs with various statuses. The left pane of the page displays all the related milestones and documents of that particular acquisition cycle. The right pane displays the award or IDV information along with the document number link. Click the document number link to drill down to the award details or click the Return to CLM document link at the bottom left of the page to return to the CLM document.

Structure of a Contract File

The default structure of a contract file is outlined below. The contract file structure encompasses the entire procure to pay document set for a particular acquisition:

If you click a top-level entity (such as Award / IDV), and if there are associated documents, the document number appears as a link in a folder. Click the document number link and the right pane of the page changes according to the document type you have selected. For example, if you select an Award / IDV document number link, the right pane displays some regions. The first region displays the Award / IDV details along with a View PDF link. Click the link to view the entire document as a pdf. The next region, CAR Details, displays only for awards / IDVs / modifications and not for solicitations.

The Small Business Coordination Record region displays the control number of the DD-2579 and the status of the Small Business Coordination Record. Click the control number link to open the Small Business Coordination Record page in view mode. This region is displayed when a Small Business Coordination Record is associated to an award modification, an IDV with Lines modification, an IDV without Lines modification, a solicitation. Click any of the above document number links and the Small Business Coordination Record region appears in the right pane, provided there is a CLM document and DD-2579 association.

Managing Attachments

The Attachments region is available for all CLM documents and it displays the attached file(s) information. Only header level attachments are displayed in the contract file and other attachments (such as line level attachments) are not displayed.

The title of the attached file is a link that you can click to open the attachment. Click the Update icon to make changes to the attachment. You can open, update or delete the attachment provided you have the appropriate security privileges.