USC Bid Management

Step-by-Step Guide

University of Southern California Business Services

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Accessing a Bid Event ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Completing a Bid Request ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Navigating Back to the Bid ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Asking a Question on a Bid .................................................................................................................................. 10

Introduction
Welcome to the USC Business Services Supplier Portal! In addition to supporting
supplier onboarding and profile management, the supplier portal also supports bid
management for the University of Southern California.
The purpose of this guide is to familiarize suppliers with how to use this tool in
order to respond to bid events to which the supplier has been invited. It is
important to note that this guide only provides assistance for site navigation. Any
business questions related to the content of the bid should be directed toward the
USC Procurement contact that issued the bid request. This information can be
found on the summary page of the bid, under the Contacts section.
Suppliers are strongly encouraged to take a proactive approach and respond to bid
events in a timely manner, with sufficient time well in advance of the Event Close
Date and Time (as indicated for each event). The University of Southern California
is not responsible for third party network or internet provider issues that prohibit a
supplier from responding before the Event Close Date and Time.
If at any time a supplier has forgotten the password, click the Trouble logging in?
link on the portals login page and follow the prompts to retrieve/reset the
password. The email address entered must match the email address on file.
To access the Help feature, click the question mark (?) on any section to display
the help topics for that section. For technical questions about login or site
navigation, please send an email to supplier@usc.edu or call 213-821-2212.
Like most online applications, the USC Supplier Portal may go through periodic
updates. Suppliers who discover any discrepancies between the information
contained in this guide and the actual portal experience are requested to send them
via email to supplier@usc.edu so that the guide can be updated/corrected.
Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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Accessing a Bid Event

1. Suppliers invited to
participate in a bid event will
receive an email from USC
Procurement Services via
SciQuest (USCsuppliers@sciquest.com)
with the tile of the event.
2. In this email, a brief
description of the bid will be
provided:
i. Event Number
ii. Event Title
iii. Event Open date
iv. Event Close Date
3. Click on the blue button that reads Please click the link to view the sourcing event
in order to access the details of and respond to the bid.
4. A browser window will open to the USC Business Services Supplier Portal.
i. If you are a recurring user simply enter your username and password to login. If
you dont remember your password, click on the Trouble logging in? link and
enter your email address to request a password reset.
ii. If you are a first-time user you will be prompted to create a username and
password for future access. Please follow the prompts on the screen.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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5. Once logged in, the bid event summary is visible. On the summary page, you
will find the following information:
Event Title
Event Type
Event Number
Event Open Date
Event Close Date
Question Submission Close Date
Contact
Description of Bid

6. The bid can also be accessed, independent of the email, via the USC Supplier Portal
link on the USC Business Services website footer. This is accessible to recurring users
only. First-time users unable to use the email link should contact USC Supplier Data
Management Services at 213-821-2212 for support.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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Completing a Bid Request

1.

Review the bid

summary. Please
indicate your
intention to bid by
selecting the pen
icon next to Intent to
Bid located in the
left navigation
column. The pop-up
window allows you
to select I intend to
bid on this event or
No Bid.
Note: If you select No Bid, you will be asked to provide a reason and returned to the home
page of the site. You may also proceed with reviewing the prerequisites prior to indicating
intent to bid. A subsequent screen will prompt you to indicate intent after reviewing and
accepting the prerequisites.

2. To view the
Prerequisites, click
on the Proceed to
Prerequisites button.

3. Click on the title in blue

text to review the detail of
each prerequisite. Some
prerequisites are
informational while others
require agreement with the
stated terms. After review,
please indicate your
agreement, as appropriate.
Non-acceptance of
required terms
immediately disqualifies
your company from
responding to the event.
Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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4. Click Save Progress once you have

finished reviewing the prerequisites
and indicated agreement, as required.
The navigation column on the left is
now unlocked and available for your
use. The lock formerly on each section
is now replaced by a check mark. All
check marks must be green before you
are able to submit your bid. Use the
navigation column or the Next button
at the bottom of the page to continue
through each section. At any point in
time you may click Save Progress and
then exit the response process to return
at another time prior to the Event
Close Date.
NOTE: Some sections do not explicitly require your action; therefore, some will
automatically be marked green. The section is still accessible for your review and may
allow you to add optional information.
5. Buyer Attachments contains
documents and links provided by the
the Procurement contact. Please
review this section in order to fully
comprehend the scope and terms of the
request.
6. Supplier Attachments provides the
ability to upload documents and links
(i.e. website pages) to support your bid
response. Click Add New Attachment
in order to initiate the file/link
selection and upload process.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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7. The Questions section contains specific information solicited in your response.

Questions may be posed via Yes/No, multiple choice, or free from text
response. Depending on the type of bid, response to each question may or may
not be required. Required fields are indicated by an asterisk. Once you have
completed your responses, click Next to continue.

8.

The Items section allows you to respond with pricing/quantity/delivery

information regarding the specific products and/or services solicited in
the bid. Please review both the Product Line Items and Service Line
Items tabs to ensure you are responding to all relevant items. The
number in parenthesis identifies the number of items in each tab. In this
section, there are three options for response.
i. Enter information into the relevant fields on the screen and click
Save Progress.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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ii. Click the Respond to Item

button on each line,
manually enter information
via a pop-up screen, and
click Save Changes.

iii. Export Items into a excel

file for response via a file
upload back into the bid
management system. Locate
the exported file in the My
Exports and Imports section
of the left navigation
column. This approach is
most appropriate for high
volume requests. Please
follow the system prompts
for Import Options when
loading your response file.

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Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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9. Once you have responded to the pertinent items, click Next and you will be

directed to the Review and Submit section of the bid. Before you can submit
your response you must certify that the statements and information in your
response are true and correct. When you are ready to formally submit your bid
response, checkmark the certification box and click Submit Response.

10. Your response has been submitted once you receive a confirmation screen stating

Response Submitted. Please make note of the Event Close Date as it marks the
date and time after which you can no longer withdraw or change your submitted
bid.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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Navigating Back to the Bid

1. If you did not complete your bid
response, you can return to the
USC Supplier Portal
(https://solutions.sciquest.com/apps/
Router/SupplierLogin?CustOrg=US
C) to login and continue.

2. Upon login, you will access the

home page of the portal.

3. Locate the section called Sourcing

Events. This section highlights the
open bid events in which you are
participating. Under the Actions
dropdown menu, you will be able to
begin or continue your response. For
a historical perspective of your bid
events, click on the Sourcing
icon in the left navigation bar and
click Search Events.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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Asking a Question on a Bid

1. The Q&A Board allows
you to post questions
regarding the bid event.
To ask a question, click
the Q & A Board
section located in the
navigation column.

2. On the Question & Answer

Board page, click the Ask a
Question button. The pop-up
window will allow you to enter
your question(s). Click the
Submit Question button to post
the question to the Procurement
contact.

3. Once question(s) have been

submitted, your posts will appear
under the My Questions tab. The
Procurement contact will respond to
your question(s) directly to you or
publish your question to the Public
Q&A tab, thereby allowing everyone
to view the response.
Note: Q&A sessions will end before the Event Close Date. The Q&A deadline will be
noted on the Summary page of each bid event.

Revised 8/31/2016

Helpdesk: 213-821-2212
Email: supplier@usc.edu

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