Business transaction processing requirements

C.1 Vendor Portal (VP) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Requirements

The government will allow contractors to choose either VP or EDI for conducting business transactions with GSA. VP requires retrieval of orders and significant manual entries of transactional data via a GSA provided portal. EDI is better suited for higher volume contractors. GSA prefers EDI, and suggests contractors expecting to receive greater than 50 orders per month to choose EDI. Additional information and points of contact for business transaction processing requirements can be found at http://www.gsa.gov/supplyedivp.

C.1.1 Transactional Business Requirements

Regardless of whether orders are received via VP or EDI, the contractor is required to work with GSA to understand and adhere to GSA business rules and requirements.

All transactions will be submitted to and received by the “prime” contractor ONLY. Any additional electronic transaction communication that is required to fulfill Customer Order(s) between the contractors and its suppliers shall be the responsibility of the “prime” contractor ONLY. No subcontractor submissions accepted, and contractor teaming arrangements must designate a lead contractor.

Each contract may contain specific information regarding information below. The contractor is required to work with their GSA Contracting Officer to understand and adhere to GSA business rules and requirements as they relate to:

• Processing of backorders; 
• Purchase order acknowledgements; 
• Shipment information;
• Delivery information;
• Delivery documentation;
• Accuracy of data provided to GSA;
• Contractor cancellations;
• Customer cancellations;
• Interpretation of GSA data in order to meet GSA shipping documentation guidelines; and 
• Processing of emergency purchase orders

C.1.1.1 Universal requirements required of all contractors supporting GSA Global Supply orders:

• Acknowledge receipt of a purchase order within one business day 
• Acknowledge receipt of a purchase order change within one business day
• Process purchase order cancellation requests within one business day
• Provide Requests for*:
  • Backorders
    • Back Orders MUST have an Estimated Delivery Date included
  • Changes in delivery dates
  • Substitutions
    *Requests should be communicated to your GSA Contracting Officer prior to execution via the system.
• Provide shipment information
  • Shipment Status within one business day following shipment
  • Valid carrier tracking numbers
• Provide delivery confirmation information including, but not limited to, date of delivery (when requested for specific shipments)
• Invoice for orders only after you have provided shipment information
  • Correct erroneous information provided to GSA on the disposition of a purchase order;
  • Full line accountability is required

C.1.2 Vendor Portal (VP) Transactional Data Requirements

Contractors choosing VP shall be provided with an internet portal address and logon to perform commodity transaction processing with GSA. The contractor is required to retrieve orders and provide the information outlined from C.1.1.1 via VP.

VP training guides are available at http://www.gsa.gov/supplyedivp.

Invoicing cannot be done through the Vendor Portal. All contractors are able to submit invoices via EDI 810 (even if not receiving POs via EDI) or may utilize the FedPay portal at https://apps.ocfo.gsa.gov.

Note: FedPay portal cannot be used for invoicing if your contract allows for charging convenience fees.

C.1.3 EDI Transactional Data Requirements

Contractors shall be able to reliably perform commodity transaction processing with GSA by utilizing a standardized electronic method of communication, compatible with GSA transactional systems.

GSA utilizes the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X-12 family of transaction sets to electronically communicate both “Inbound” and “Outbound” transaction sets.

The contractor is required to retrieve orders and provide the information outlined from C.1.1.1 via EDI. Additionally, EDI contractors are required to work with GSA to understand and adhere to GSA business rules and requirements as they relate to section C.1.3.2.

All electronic communications between GSA and its contractors shall be transmitted through the designated GSA EDI gateway.

C.1.3.1 Initiating EDI Communications with GSA

GSA reserves the right to test and validate the contractor’s EDI capabilities for all required transaction sets before on-boarding is authorized.

GSA will coordinate the process to on-board awarded contractors to the designated GSA EDI gateway using the ANSI X-12 EDI standards detailed in the sections below and identified in Table 1 of this document.

To initiate the onboard process, GSA will provide contractors with a list of EDI questions which are used to determine specific contractor EDI capabilities. The questions shall be completed by the contractor and returned to GSA within five (5) business days.

Upon completing the EDI-Survey, GSA will coordinate end-to-end process testing with the contractor to assure compliance with EDI specifications. The end-to-end testing is estimated to be completed within 90 days after contract award/modification, excluding any protest periods.

C.1.3.2 EDI Transaction Implementation Conventions

The table below, shows the EDI Implementation Specification for a given transaction set. The most current transaction sets used to support GSA Global Supply orders can be obtained by emailing gsaedi@gsa.gov . A copy of the most recent specifications and versions can also be found on http://www.gsa.gov/supplyedivp.

Table 1: EDI Transaction Implementation Conventions as of March 30, 2021

Note: GSA reserves the right to implement additional ANSI X-12 transaction sets and/or update transaction versions as its business operations deem appropriate. Additional EDI changes may be necessary in cases when changes in order data are required by the program. GSA will work with the contractor to establish an agreed upon time frame for implementation of any future transaction updates/upgrades or additional transaction sets needed in support of this requirement.

C.1.3.3 Validation Testing of EDI Transaction Sets

GSA personnel will validate the contractor’s EDI Transaction Set communication following contract award or modification. GSA will coordinate end-to-end testing with GSA systems and the contractor’s systems. At a minimum, the following transactions will be validated:

• EDI 850 Purchase Order
• EDI 997 Functional Acknowledgement
• EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgement
• EDI 856 Advance Ship Notice/Manifest
• EDI 860 Purchase Order Cancellation / Customer Initiated Change
• EDI 810 Invoice

GSA may select up to 20 items from the contractor’s catalog for end-to-end testing and conduct testing with live production orders. These items will be tested under a number of different scenarios (cancellation, backorder, multiple shipments, etc.)

C.1.3.4 EDI Business Communications to and from the Government

GSA utilizes the ANSI X-12 family of EDI specifications to electronically communicate both “Inbound” (transactions provided by the vendor to GSA) and “Outbound” (transactions sent by GSA to the vendor) transaction sets for its business operations. The following Inbound and Outbound EDI transaction sets shall be required for EDI contractors:

• Inbound EDI types (Transactions sent to GSA from Contractors)
  • 855: Purchase Order Acknowledgement with three possible types of status:
    • Accept, Backorder or Cancel (Note: Any backorder must be accompanied by an expected ship date)
  • 856: Advance Ship Notice/Manifest with three possible types of status: o
    • Ship, Backorder or Cancel (Note: Any backorder must be accompanied by an expected delivery date) 
  • 810: Invoice
  • 997: Functional Acknowledgement
     
• Outbound EDI types (Transactions sent from GSA to Contractors)
  • 850: Purchase Order (PO)
  • 860: Purchase Order Cancellation / Customer Initiated Change
  • 997: Functional Acknowledgement

C.2 Customer Order Fulfillment Exceptions

All Purchase Order line item(s) are expected to be shipped or delivered by the due date printed on the purchase order. Any exceptions must be communicated to the GSA Contracting Officer, or a duly authorized GSA representative.

C.3 Contractor Performance

On-time performance will be included in contractor performance evaluations. GSA will review and communicate contractor performance by sharing purchase order detail information, listing all purchase order due dates, and identifying those which are past due and require immediate action. This information will be driven by how accurately the contractor is able to update information via VP or EDI.

Each contract may contain specific information regarding contractor performance, including charging offsets for past due orders. Work with your GSA Contracting Officer to understand and adhere to your contract requirements.