A wizard that fills out the procurement forms

Buying things with public money comes with paperwork, and it should. The trouble is that the right form depends on the dollar amount, and each form has checks that are easy to miss when you only do one every few months.

You can try a demo of the wizard. It produces a simplified sample form, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

What it does

The tool is one HTML file. You open it, answer questions in plain language and get a finished form to print.

For our purchases it covers two levels.

• Micro-purchases, up to $15,000. It produces our Form B-1, which documents that the price is fair and reasonable.
• Small purchases, up to $60,000. It produces our Form B-2, which needs three quotes and a record of who was asked and what they offered.

At every level it prompts for the SAM.gov check, which confirms a vendor isn't barred from federal work. It also records the DBE status of each offeror, which we track for disadvantaged business participation.

Those thresholds and form names are ours. Yours will differ, so treat this as a description of a tool and not as procurement advice.

Why a wizard and not a template

A blank template assumes you remember the rules. A wizard asks. If the amount crosses a threshold, the questions change. If you list two quotes where three are needed, it tells you before you print, not after an audit.

What I left out on purpose

There are more forms for larger and more unusual purchases. I started with the two we use most. The rest can wait until the first two have proved themselves.

What I'd tell another agency

Pick the form people dread most and start there. One form that gets done right the first time is a better argument than any presentation.