You click Submit: portals, timing and receipts

Victavio helps you find, judge and prepare bids. You submit them. Victavio never submits a bid, signs a form, registers an account or contacts a buyer for you. The decision and the click are yours.

Where you submit

Each buyer names one channel in its solicitation. Common ones:

• Email to a named contracting officer or specialist.
• A federal system or agency portal named in the solicitation.
• A state or local bid portal, such as the buyer's own e-procurement site.
• Paper, by mail or hand delivery. It is rare, but still used.

SAM.gov lists opportunities, but most federal offers are not submitted through SAM.gov. In Texas, the ESBD lists state bids, and you do not submit through the ESBD either. Follow the solicitation's instructions exactly.

Set up early

• Create any portal account several days ahead. Some need approval or a second sign-in step.
• Confirm your SAM.gov registration is active. Federal offers require it at the time you submit. SAM.gov registration is free, but it takes at least 10 business days to become active.
• Never share your portal or SAM.gov passwords with anyone. Victavio never asks for them.

Before you click

Check that:

• Every item in your compliance matrix is answered.
• Every amendment is acknowledged.
• Every required form is complete, signed and attached.
• Page limits, file types, file sizes and file names follow the instructions.
• Your price matches everywhere it appears.
• The email subject line is exactly what the solicitation asks for.
• You are sending the final versions, not drafts.

Timing

• Submit early. Aim for at least one working day before the deadline. Early earns no points, but it leaves time to fix a portal error or a rejected file.
• Read the time zone. The deadline is in the buyer's local time unless the solicitation says otherwise. If a commercial federal solicitation gives no time, offers are generally due at 4:30 p.m. local time for the office named in it.
• Late is late. Federal rules accept late offers only in narrow cases. Do not count on an exception.

Keep proof

After you submit:

1. Save the receipt: the portal confirmation, the time stamp or the sent email.
2. Save the exact files you sent, in a folder named for the solicitation and the date.
3. Ask for confirmation if you submitted by email and none arrives within a day or two.
4. Record it in your pipeline: move the pursuit to "Submitted" and note the date and the channel.

A courier label shows that you sent something. It does not prove the buyer received it on time. For paper delivery, get a signed receipt.

After the deadline

Keep watching the notice. Buyers sometimes ask for clarifications, extend deadlines or cancel. See After you submit: follow-up and award notices.