Proposals User Guide

Introduction

Use the Proposal object in the Pre-award application to pursue proposals submitted to the government or private firms. Track high-level information about the proposed cost, the approach to meet the government's contract requirements, and any applicable TINA Exemptions.

This document provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the Pre-award feature for managing proposals.

Audience 

• Microsoft Dynamics Administrators

• TechnoMile Contracts Users

Prerequisites

Ensure that the Microsoft Dynamics Contracts application has already been installed and configured. The version of this package must be 2025.2 or higher.

Creating a Proposal from Solicitations

You can create a proposal from an existing Solicitation. This section guides you through two methods for creating a proposal from a solicitation.

• Auto-generating a Proposal: The system automatically creates a proposal if you select a future date in the Return By field while creating the solicitation.

• Manually Creating a Proposal: Using the Convert to Proposal button, you can manually create a proposal from the solicitation record.

Auto-generating a Proposal

To create an Auto-generated Proposal from an existing Solicitation record:

1. Log in to your Microsoft Dynamics instance.

2. Go to Solicitation and open the solicitation record. 

3. In the General tab, click Return By and select a future date using the calendar. 

   NOTE

   You must select a future date. The system does not create a proposal if you select a past or present date.

4. Click Save.

5. Go to the Related tab and select Proposals from the drop-down list. A new proposal is created. 

   NOTE

   You can create a proposal only once using this method.

Manually Creating a Proposal

To manually create a Proposal from an existing Solicitation record:

1. Go to Solicitation and open the solicitation record.

2. Click Convert to Proposal. 

3. In the Quick Create: Proposal window, enter all the required details. 

4. Click Save and Close.
   A proposal is created.

Creating a new Proposal

To create a new proposal:

1. Log in to your Microsoft Dynamics instance.

2. Go to Proposals and click New. 

3. In the Proposal Details tab, enter all the required details. 

4. Click Save & Close.
   A new proposal is created.

Updating a Proposal

Before shredding the proposal (breaking down the RFP into manageable bits of information), you must update important fields in the proposal record.

To update a proposal:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. In the Proposal Details tab, enter all the required details if missing. 

3. Scroll to the Cost & Fee section and update one or more cost fields based on the available information at this stage of the proposal workflow. 

NOTE

• If the Total Orig Proposed Cost field is blank, the system calculates its value automatically using other pricing fields. However, if you enter a value, the system uses your input instead.

• The Orig Proposed Fee/Profit value is not included in the automatic calculation of the Total Orig Proposed Cost. This value serves as an additional incentive and is handled separately.

4. Go to the Proposal Team tab, scroll to the External POCs section, and click New External POCs. 

5. On the Quick Create: External POCs window, select Role and Contact from the drop-down list. 

   NOTE

   If no Contacts appear in the Contact field, you must add the contacts in the Contacts page.

   

6. Click Save & Close.

Details of important fields in the proposal record are listed below:

Adding a Proposal Team

To add a proposal team:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. Go to the Proposal Team tab and click New Team Members. 

3. In the Quick Create: Team Member window, choose the Team Role from the drop-down list. 

4. In the Role field, select Reviewer from the drop-down list. 

5. In the Employee field, enter the employee's name. 

6. Click Save and Close.

7. Perform Steps 2 and 3. In the Role field, select Approver from the drop-down list. 

8. In the Employee field, enter the employee's name and click Save and Close.
   The team members that you have added and assigned team roles receive an email confirming their team roles.

   NOTE

   • You cannot add the same team member more than once with the same team or approval role.

   • To assign multiple team roles to the same user, create separate team member records for each role.

Proposal Validation Criteria

The following validations apply to a proposal:

1. If the solicitation status is Closed Won, Closed Lost, or No Bid, you must fill in the Closed Reason field. 

2. The solicitation Opportunity must match the proposal opportunity. If you change or update the opportunity in the solicitation, the proposal opportunity updates automatically. 

3. The proposal Validity Date must be later than the proposal Due Date. 

Viewing the Proposal List

To view the list of proposals:

1. Go to Proposals and click the default filter view.

2. Choose your preferred proposal view from the drop-down list. 

Creating a Proposal Site

To create a proposal site:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. Under the Proposal Details tab and in the Customer field, select an account from the list. 

3. On the Account page, click the Related tab, and select Sites from the drop-down list. 

4. Under the Site tab, click New Site. 

5. On the New Site page, enter all the relevant details and click Save & Close.
   A new site is created.

Adding a Proposal Site

You can track customer locations for the proposal on the Proposal Site tab. Use sites that you have created earlier. For more information, see Creating Proposal Site.

To add a proposal site:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. On the proposal record page, select Proposal Site from the ellipses icon. The Proposal Site section appears.

   NOTE

   Make sure you have added the customer details in the Proposal entity. For more information, see Creating Proposal Site.

3. Under the Site field, click and choose the site from the list. 

4. To add more sites, click the plus icon under Actions. 

5. Click Save & Close.

TINA Exemptions

By default, the TINA Exemption field is set to NONE, which indicates that the proposal is not TINA-exempt. The system automatically generates TINA certifications when the proposal is approved.

NOTE

You can select a reason for exempting TINA certifications generation during proposal submission using the TINA Exemption field.

You can also provide more information on CAS by filling in the following fields:

For more information, see Pre-award on Microsoft Dynamics- Truth in Negotiation Act (TINA) Certification .

Clauses

Clauses added to the proposal record become part of the contract if the contractor wins the bid. 
This section explains how to create two types of clauses:

• Proposal Clauses: These are standardized clauses available in the Clause Library that are commonly included in solicitations and proposals.

• Proposal Specific Clauses: The custom clauses that are tailored to a specific solicitation or proposal.

Proposal Clause

To add a proposal clause:

1. Open the proposal record and go to the Proposal Clauses tab.

2. Click Search Clauses. 

3. Select the clauses to add to the proposal and click Quick Save.
   

   The clauses are added to the proposal.
   

Proposal-Specific Clause

To add a Proposal-Specific clause:

1. Open the proposal record, go to the Proposal Clauses tab, and click New Proposal Clause. 

2. On the New Proposal Clause page, enter the Name, Clause Type, Title, Number, Text, and Revision Date. 

3. Click Save & Close.
   The clause is added to the proposal.

Submitting the Proposal for Review

To submit a proposal for review:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. Click Actions and select Send for Review from the drop-down list. 

   NOTE

   Make sure you add a reviewer before sending the proposal for review. For more information, see Adding a Proposal Team.

3. Click OK to send an email to the Reviewer. The proposal is submitted for review. 

Reviewing the Proposal

To review the proposal:

1. Open the email from Microsoft Power Automate.

2. In the email, select Proposal Acceptable to approve the proposal or Proposal Needs Revision to reject it. 

3. Specify the comments and click Submit.
   The proposal is reviewed. 

Submitting the Proposal for Approval

To submit a proposal for approval:

1. Go to Proposals and open the proposal record.

2. Go to the Proposal Team tab and click New Team Members.

   

   NOTE

   Make sure you add an Approver before sending the proposal for Approval. For more information, see Adding a Proposal Team.

3. Click Actions, and select Send for Approval from the drop-down list. 

4. Click OK to send an email to the Approver.
   The proposal is submitted for approval. 

Approving the Proposal

To approve a proposal:

1. Open the email from Microsoft Power Automate.

2. In the email, select Approve, specify the comments, and click Submit. The proposal is approved.

Negotiations

Once you have submitted the bid, you may receive negotiations and red lines on your proposal from the client. For more information, see Pre-award on Microsoft Dynamics- Negotiations User Guide.

Handling a Proposal Win

Once the status of the Solicitation is changed to Closed Won, the owner of the proposal receives an email notification of the win.

The owner of the proposal updates the Closed Reason in the proposal record and generates the Contract.

NOTE

You can attach multiple proposals to a Solicitation record, and each proposal can have a different outcome in the bid process. So, it is important to manually update the Closed Reason field for each proposal based on its bid status.

Creating the Contract

To create a contract:

1. Go to the approved proposal record with the linked solicitation either in Negotiate or Closed Won status.

2. Click the ellipsis icon and select Create Contract from the drop-down list. 

3. On the Quick Create: Contract window, specify all the details, and click Save and Close. A contract is created for the proposal. The contract includes the following information:

• Clauses: All clauses copied from the Proposals, including values for key clauses.  

• Fields: The following applicable fields or values are copied from the Solicitation and Proposal records:

  Source Field Name in Solicitation / Proposal	Field Name in Contract
  Proposal Title	Contract Name
  Customer	Primary Organization Name
  Contract Type	Contract Type
  Description	Description
  Opportunity	Opportunity
  Solicitation Number	Solicitation Number
  -	Contract Status: Draft
  Parent Contract	Parent Contract (Master Contract)
  TINA Exemption	TINA Exemption

• Files: Files attached from the Solicitation and Proposal records - the original Solicitation request and the final Proposal document.

• Proposal Team Members: Roles in the Solicitation and Proposal teams, the internal POC (Point of Contact) lists - Contract Administrator, Contract Manager, and Program Manager - are copied to the created Contract.

• Execution Date: The field value is copied from the TINA Certificate record.

• Contract document: The Proposal document is copied into the Contract.
  

Video: Pre-Award on Microsoft Dynamics - Proposals Workflow

Learn how to manage proposals efficiently using the Pre-Award module. This video covers the complete workflow from creation to submission, approval, and tracking.