Change Summary
Release Date | Release Version | Change Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Feb 6th, 2025 | 2025.1 | Self-evaluation workflow and notifications for CPARS. | |
Feb 6th, 2025 | 2025.1 | Response workflow and notifications for CPARS. |
Overview
A Contractor Performance Assessment Report or CPAR, represents the federal government's routine evaluation of prime contractor performance. These evaluations are conducted within a web-based platform known as the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS), utilized by both federal agencies and contractors for storing and exchanging CPAR-related information.
The TechnoMile Contracts Suite enables contractors to establish a comprehensive database of CPAR and offers a standardized review and approval workflow for assessing them. A CPAR is typically prepared annually, before option exercise, after Contract completion, following Contract Closeout, or at other times as determined by the government.
Government evaluations cover mandatory areas such as quality/technical, schedule, management/business, and regulatory compliance, along with optional areas including small business subcontracting, cost control, and compliance with terms and conditions. Assessment ratings range from Exceptional and Very Good to Satisfactory, Marginal, and Unsatisfactory
Tracking your company's performance on a Contract can be a complex task. The TechnoMile Contracts Suite simplifies this process by providing a standardized method to create and manage performance records using the following CPARS features:
Self-evaluation Workflow: Government agencies may require your organization to conduct a self-evaluation before the expiry date for a POP (Period of Performance). The CPARS feature facilitates this process by enabling you to gather input and feedback from various departments in your organization. After internal review and approval by authorized stakeholders, you can generate a comprehensive Self-evaluation form to capture all the information in a single document. This self-evaluation data can then serve as a crucial foundation for the CPARS report subsequently issued by the government agency.
Capture CPARS report inputs: After the CPARS report is issued by the government agency, data from this report can be captured in the Contracts application in the following ways:
Upload PDF file: Upload and extract all the information from a CPARS PDF file into a CPAR record (available only for users who have the Transform Copilot feature configured and enabled).
Manual data input: Manually enter the field values from a CPARS PDF file into a CPAR record.
Review and Approval Process: The CPARS feature supports workflows for reviews and approvals of CPAR records.
CPARS Response Workflow: The application facilitates timely reminders by way of email notifications for major response milestones after the CPARS report is issued.
This guide is specific to the standard TechnoMile Contracts Suite on Microsoft Dynamics. Your company may have customized page layouts, modified field names, added approval processes, or removed certain components described in this document. If you have any questions, reach out to your Administrator or contact us directly at support@technomile.com.
This document is a step-by-step guide on how you can use the CPARS feature in your organization.
Audience
Contracts Suite Users
Prerequisites
Ensure that the TechnoMile Contracts Suite is already installed and configured. The version of this package must be 2025.1 or higher.
CPARS Self-evaluation Workflow
IMPORTANT
The workflow explained in this section is optional and applicable only to CPAR records that have Workflow Type set to Self-Evaluation.
A CPARS evaluation can be of type Interim (for a given Performance Period), Final (when the Contract is delivered), or Addendum (after Closeout). This is defined in the Evaluation Type field of the CPAR record.
IMPORTANT
Email notifications for the self-evaluation process are controlled by your administrator and will only be sent if they have enabled this setting.
Notifications regarding a CPAR record are sent to the user with Contract Manager role for that record.
Before the end date for a POP (Period of Performance), an email notification to create a self-evaluation process is sent to the Contract Manager. The default timeframe is 60 days, but it can be changed by your administrator. The workflow then proceeds as follows:
Click the link highlighted in the email notification below to open the CPAR list page of the Contract record.
Click New CPAR to create a CPAR record for Self-evaluation. An email notifying the same is sent to the Contract Manager.
Follow steps detailed in the Sending a CPAR Record for Review and Approval section, to complete the review process for the CPAR.
Once the review is completed, click Generate Self-Evaluation Form.
The Self-evaluation document is generated and becomes available in the Documents section of the CPAR record.Click the Related dropdown and then click Documents.
The Documents tab opens to display the generated Self-evaluation form. 
If SharePoint is enabled, documents associated with the CPAR record are automatically organized and stored in a dedicated CPAR folder. Click Open Location and then click the CPAR-named link to go to the SharePoint location.
The SharePoint page where the document is stored is displayed. 
Verify the contents of the Self-evaluation Form and send the CPAR record for approval as per the workflow highlighted in the Submitting for Approval section.
CPARS Response Workflow
After the CPARS report is issued by the government agency (as a PDF file), contractors can utilize the CPARS feature for creating and managing CPAR records within the Contracts application and then file their concerns/responses to the government agencies. You can input CPARS data either by uploading the CPARS PDF file or through manual data entry.
Manually Adding a CPAR Record
Login to your Microsoft Dynamics instance.
Go to Contracts and open a contract record.
Go to the CPARs tab and click New CPAR.
Specify values in the fields and click Save and Close.
The CPAR record is added. 
Uploading a CPARs PDF File
If you have Intelligent Contract Ingestion (ICI) enabled, you can upload a CPARs PDF file to extract all the CPARs contained within it.
Click Import CPAR.
Click Choose File.
Choose a CPARs PDF file, and then click Open.
Click Submit.
Click OK.
You will receive an email once the CPARs PDF file is submitted for extraction. You can then click the link in the email to check the status of the extraction. 
You will also receive another email once the CPAR extraction process is completed.Click Next.
NOTE
You can also click the link received in the completion email to go to the next step.
The Contractor Performance Assessment Report (CPAR) window opens in a new tab.Here, you can make changes to any of the fields based on your requirements and click Confirm & Ingest. You can also click Cancel to skip ingesting the CPARs PDF file.
The General tab of the CPAR record page opens.
Adding Internal Team Members
In addition to storing the information from CPARs, TechnoMile's Contracts Suite functions as part of a workflow process for assessing CPARs. A CPAR record undergoes two assessment stages: review and approval. The first stage involves the internal quality review, while the second stage entails determining whether and how to respond to the government's comments.
Go to the Internal Team tab and click New Team Member.
Select Role as Approver, enter other details such as Employee and Sequence, and click Save and Close.
NOTE
The review/approval process can be either sequential or parallel, depending on the settings defined by your Administrator. The Sequence field appears only if the review/approval process is set to sequential and it determines the order of the flow in case there are multiple Reviewers/Approvers.
The Approver is added.Similarly, you can add a Reviewer by selecting the Role as Reviewer. You can also add multiple Reviewers and Approvers, if necessary.
Sending a CPAR Record for Review and Approval
Click Send For Review.
Click OK.
Note that the Business Process Flow (BPF) stage changes to Submitted For Review. 
Emails are sent to the Reviewers, along with the link to the CPAR record page.Open the email, specify comments, if any, and click Submit.
The CPAR record is reviewed by the Reviewer. 
Post approval from all the Reviewers, the BPF stage changes to Review Completed. 
Click the CPAR Process drop-down menu and then click Send for Approval.
Click OK.
Note that the BPF stage changes to Submitted For Approval. 
Emails are sent to the Approvers, along with the link to the CPAR record page.Open the email and click Approve.
Specify comments, if any, and click Submit.
The CPAR record is approved by the Approver. 
Post approval from all the Approvers, the BPF stage changes to Approved. 
NOTE
The Approval History tab displays the approval status and comments by the Approvers.
Once the review and approval processes are completed, click the CPAR Process drop-down menu and then click Complete.
NOTE
This step is performed by the CPAR Owner/Administrator to complete the approval process.
Note that the BPF stage changes to Completed. 
CPARS Response Notifications
The CPARS feature of Contracts facilitates timely email reminders to Contractors for all required CPARS milestones after the CPARS report was issued. These notifications help clients in avoiding missing deadlines for all CPARS-related actions.
IMPORTANT
The workflow explained in this section is applicable only to CPAR records that have Workflow Type set to Response and is based on the CPAR Issue Date.
The date and frequency of notifications is based on your administrator settings.
After the CPARS is issued, the following actions are triggered:
In-person meeting check: An email notification is sent to the CPAR Manager checking if an in-person meeting with the CO/COR is required, within 7 days of the CPAR Issue Date. Separate reminder emails are sent 2 days and 1 day before the 7-day deadline (configurable by your administrator).
Non-concur feedback check: An email notification is sent to the CPAR Manager (and Reviewers who have not responded) asking for comments/responses regarding non-concur of CPARS within 14 days of the CPAR Issue Date. Separate reminder emails are sent 7 days, 2 days, and 1 day before the 30-day deadline (configurable by your administrator).
NOTE
If the CPAR Manager has closed the review process manually, other Reviewers do not receive any notifications for submission of response/comments regarding non-concur of CPARS.
Response/Comments check: An email notification is sent to the CPAR Manager (and Reviewers who have not responded) for submission of responses/comments within 60 days of the CPAR Issue Date. Separate reminder emails are sent 30 days, 7 days, 2 days, and 1 day before the 60-day deadline (configurable by your administrator).
NOTE
If the CPAR Manager has closed the review process manually, other Reviewers do not receive any notifications for submission of responses.