Guidance

Contracting, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) tool

Updated 26 September 2018

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mod-contracting-purchasing-and-finance-e-procurement-system/contracting-purchasing-and-finance-cpf-tool

Latest news on CP&F

CP&F functionality at R3 allows for Contract Deliverables to be set up against the contract. These are used to define obligations and commitments that need to be fulfilled by parties entering into the contract, and are typically referred to as ‘Obligations’. This functionality will be used to set out, track and monitor performance obligations for the supplier, as well as internally to contribute towards the management of the contract.

The Deliverable type can be Contractual:

Contractual Deliverables become part of the signed contract and represent a binding commitment from one party to the other. Examples include reporting obligations, sub-contractor updates, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) reporting (Supplier to MOD), provision of government furnished afssets (GFA), availability of access to sites, and timely review of documentation (MOD to Supplier).

Each Deliverable will require a MOD Internal Contact and Requestor to be assigned to it. The Internal Contact will be, in most cases, the Commercial Officer, with the Requestor normally being the Project Manager. By assigning a Deliverable to individuals they can then access and update these in CP&F. This is where the management of Deliverables will take place, allowing the Requestor of Deliverables to update the status of the Deliverable & escalate performance if required. External Contacts can also be added to Contractual Deliverables where the Supplier is the responsible party.

Where Obligations are setup with completion dates, Notifications can be used to inform the contacts about the progress of Deliverables. Supplier contacts who have been setup in CP&F as the External responsible party will receive notifications when the following occurs:

  • prior to the Deliverable been due. (This is an optional notification set up by the Commercial team and they can choose the number days prior to the Deliverable been due they wish to use to generate the notification reminder)
  • the Deliverable is Overdue

The notification is for information only and the supplier will be responsible for Contacting the Commercial officer to report progress or to request further information. The notification will continue to be received until either the MOD Commercial officer of Project Officer takes the necessary action on CP&F to update the status.

Note: The receipt/non receipt of a CP&F deliverable email does not change the obligation for the Contractor to manage all obligations under the Contract.

Please see Annex A: supplier notification diagram attached for more detail of the items explained above

Contract Numbering

The new online functionality for drafting ITTs will mean that a system generated contract number will be generated when the Commercial Officer begins the tendering process. This means that ‘traditional’ MOD contract numbers, typically beginning with an abbreviation of the commercial team managing the contract followed by 4-5 digits, for example AMBU/1234, will be phased out as teams transition to Release 3 functionality, bringing a uniformed approach to contract numbering.

The new format will be nine digits long, commencing with 7, for example 700000673. As per current processes, the automatically generated will be used when tendering and will ultimately become the contract number. If the contract is awarded in Lots, the resultant contract number will be denoted by a hyphen after the contract number, for example 700000673-1, 700000673-2, etc.

Launch of the new Electronic Contracting, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) procurement system

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched release 2 of its new electronic Contracting, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) procurement system in December 2016. Since CP&F was launched MOD has been working together with suppliers and customers to make continuous improvement to the live system. As a result we are about to reach business as usual, as the finance and purchasing systems are fully operational alongside a powerful management information reporting tool within CP&F.

As of July 2017, 127,000 purchase orders have been processed and £8 billion has been paid through CP&F since release 2 went live.

MOD created the DBSCS F&PS enquiry centre team to support the commercial, supplier and finance communities by addressing enquiries. The CP&F helpdesk have handled 70,000 enquiries since CP&F went live and are constantly working hard to support the CP&F technical solution.

Despite the collaborative effort a number of contractors are suffering some payment delays for a variety of reasons. Many are due to anomalies being found when cleansing the contract data and a number of technical issues that surface during daily use of the system.

The MOD is striving to rectify these urgently through a series of focused activity to ensure swift transaction processing. Your support and patience through this significant change is very much appreciated.

If you are experiencing any issues relating to your contracts in the first instance please contact your commercial manager. The Defence Business Services (DBS) enquiry centre can be contacted from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday, on +44 (0)151 242 2000 or via email on dbscs-ecfinanceteam@mod.uk.

The programme team is also providing direct support to suppliers and can be contacted on defcomrclcpf-btt@mod.gov.uk

Why is MOD undertaking this work?

By streamlining the contracting processes, the MOD and its suppliers will benefit from a more effective and efficient way of doing business and with the following additional results:

  • a uniformed way of working for all staff involved in procurement
  • a single data input system, providing consistent and improved management information
  • a guided processes which ensure the right actions are taken first time
  • a sourcing capability which drives common behaviours and a consistent approach for the department
  • improved supplier performance management processes across the whole of the department
  • a single point of contact for support issues

CP&F from a supplier’s perspective

Below is a summary of the main points for suppliers to be aware of once CP&F has been fully implemented:

  • notices and adverts will continue to be issued through Defence Contracts Online (DCO). Pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ’s) will continue to be processed using the dynamic PQQ via the DCO website
  • all new contracts will be developed and managed electronically
  • suppliers will have a single point of contact for CP&F system support from Defence Business Services (DBS) by email at dbscs-ecfinanceteam@mod.uk or via the the CP&F helpdesk on +44 (0)151 242 2000, option 2

The next stage

Now that release 1 and 2 have been implemented the focus is on the technical delivery of release 3.The scope is:

  • to incorporate demand management, contract authoring and contract amendments in CP&F
  • to identify training requirements
  • to provide end to end process support for our customers and MOD commercial staff prior and beyond release 3 go-live date in 2018

Further Information

The following websites will be updated regularly with the latest information about the CP&F programme and system availability:

Should you have any questions about managing your contract please engage with your MOD commercial officer directly.

Defence Business Services (DBS) enquiry centre for CP&F system support can be contacted between 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday on +44 (0)151 242 2000 option 2, or via email on dbscs-ecfinanceteam@mod.uk.

Useful contacts / links

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