In this tutorial, we show you how to use SpendLogic to conduct an analysis of rates and factors (services) proposals. The results are FAR-Compliant and will pass audit or CPSR review.

Transcript:

Hi. I’m Patrick Mathern, the founder of SpendLogic. In this short tutorial, I’m going to show you how to do a price analysis of services that is rates and factors within SpendLogic. Let’s get started. ♪ [music] ♪ To start a new price analysis from any screen in SpendLogic, click the New Report button at the top of the screen and choose Price Analysis.

You’ll see that you have two tabs on this screen. You’re not going to be able to advance to Parts until the Procurement tab has been completed. Work through each of the elements on this screen, making sure to answer each question, and when you’ve reached the bottom, click Next. You’ve now arrived at the Parts screen. If you’re continuing an existing analysis, this screen may already show a list of parts. In this case, our screen is blank.

Since we want to create a services price analysis, click the Add Service button. Read the popup, and then click Add. You’ll notice two things. First, a line with the description Services shows up. We’ll come back to that in a minute, but second, you’ll notice that the Add Service button is grayed out. Multiple services may be analyzed in a single report, but the method for doing so is by editing this single line.

Let me show you what I mean. Click the edit pencil on the services line. You’ve now moved to the Rate Analysis tab. In the left-hand navigation, you’ll see that you’re on the Supplier Details step. Labor rates are localized by BLS Metropolitan Service Area or MSA, which relies on Zip Codes. The Zip Code you see has been brought forward from the first tab when the supplier was added.

If your supplier resides in one location while using workers in another, you can use the Override button to change the Zip Code. I’m going to leave it alone for right now. Choose the appropriate NAICS Category for this purchase order and enter your analyzed profit rate. If you need to run a weighted guidelines, you can use the SpendLogic weighted guidelines calculator by clicking the link to the right.

After entering details of your profit analysis, upload any supporting documentation and click Next. This moves you to the Rate Analysis step in the left-hand navigation. As noted previously, SpendLogic can analyze multiple labor rates at once, and this is the screen where that happens. You’ll be entering a row of data for each labor category that you wish to analyze. Click the first box in the services column and start typing the labor description as proposed by the supplier.

Matching service categories may show up. By choosing one of the matching categories, you accept that experience and education shown. If you wish to enter a new category, click Create a New Service. SpendLogic matches data gathered on this screen to data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the IRS, and the U.S. Census. Fill in each of the data elements based on the supplier’s proposal.

Since titles vary greatly across companies, it’s important that you understand the experience and education levels attained. This is the quickest path to an analysis report that’s going to pass audit. Job category and occupation titles are fed into SpendLogic from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and correlate with the Zip Code entered on the previous screen.

If BLS doesn’t have any data for a job category that’s localized to your supplier’s Zip Code, that job title will not show up in this list. Click Save when you’re done. Now, work across the row and fill in the required data in each of the green columns. Year refers to when the majority of the work will occur. You can analyze separate years by simply creating a new line for each different year.

Proposed and Analysis Hours are numerical inputs. In this example, I’m using one hour as a way to analyze hourly rates. However, if you have an analysis of labor hours to go with this, you’ll have a chance to upload a copy of that work at the bottom of this screen. Proposed dollars per hour is the rate proposed by the supplier in their proposal. Seniority Level is assigned by SpendLogic based on education and experience.

If this box is red, it means that further action is required. However, in our case, we’ve already completed this. Choose the Escalation Index that you wish to apply. Now, choose the location where the majority of the work will be completed. Choosing Customer site will make an assumption that a portion of the overheads will not be incurred.

In the gray columns to the right, you’ll find the results of the analysis calculations. The first analysis rate represents direct cost plus escalation. The second also includes markup, which adds in overheads and then adds profit. Overheads have been estimated by SpendLogic using BLS, census records, and the data from the IRS. Profit was input on a previous screen.

Below the table, you’ll see a button to upload your hour’s analysis. It’s recommended that you upload supporting documentation if you did do an hour’s analysis. Now, click Continue. You’re on the Report tab now. Analysis and proposed values have been updated in the upper left part of the screen. From here, you can either finalize or download your report.

It’s important to finalize as soon as you can because BLS indices are updated monthly and until your report is finalized, it may be updated as escalation values change. This concludes our video. Thanks for watching. If you have questions on this or any other feature in SpendLogic, just visit spendlogic.com/help, or email us at [email protected].

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