Proposal Evaluation & Source Selection
What it does:
Builds evaluation criteria, scoring matrices, and automates proposal scoring. Generates structured evaluation summaries and award recommendations.
Use Cases:
- Score proposals and bids with weighted factors
- Document strengths, weaknesses, and risk assessments
- Create Source Selection Decision Documents (SSDD)
- Support best value and LPTA decisions
Proposal Evaluation & Source Selection
Defensible, Consistent, and Audit-Ready Evaluation Support
Proposal evaluation and source selection are among the most scrutinized stages of the acquisition lifecycle. Inconsistent scoring, unclear documentation, or poorly supported award decisions can lead to protests, delays, and audit findings.
ACE’s Proposal Evaluation & Source Selection capability helps acquisition teams design compliant evaluation criteria, score proposals objectively, and produce clear, defensible, and well-documented award decisions—while keeping human judgment firmly in control.
What This Feature Does
ACE supports the full evaluation lifecycle by helping you:
- Build evaluation factors, subfactors, and weights
- Create scoring matrices aligned to best-value or LPTA approaches
- Analyze proposals consistently across offerors
- Document strengths, weaknesses, deficiencies, and risks
- Generate structured Source Selection Decision Documents (SSDD) and award recommendations
All outputs are designed to support compliance with federal, state, and local acquisition standards.
Build Clear Evaluation Criteria From the Start
Structured Evaluation Factors & Weights
ACE helps you define evaluation factors such as:
- Technical approach
- Management and staffing
- Past performance
- Price or cost
It ensures:
- Weights total correctly
- Factors are distinct and non-overlapping
- Criteria align with the stated basis for award
This reduces ambiguity and prevents double-counting during evaluation.
Support for Best Value and LPTA Decisions
ACE adapts to your chosen evaluation method:
- Best Value Tradeoff:
Supports qualitative and quantitative comparisons, documenting why higher-rated proposals may justify higher prices. - Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA):
Helps define minimum acceptability standards and ensures price evaluation is applied consistently only after technical acceptability is confirmed.
Automated, Consistent Proposal Scoring
ACE assists evaluators by:
- Applying scoring matrices uniformly across proposals
- Highlighting areas where evaluator narratives lack support
- Flagging inconsistencies between scores and written findings
This promotes fairness, repeatability, and defensibility in evaluation results.
Document Strengths, Weaknesses, and Risk
ACE structures evaluation narratives to clearly identify:
- Strengths that exceed requirements
- Weaknesses that increase performance risk
- Deficiencies that fail to meet requirements
- Overall risk assessments
This level of clarity is critical for protest defense and internal reviews.
Generate Source Selection Decision Documents (SSDD)
ACE produces SSDD-style narratives that:
- Summarize evaluation results by factor
- Compare offerors in plain, defensible language
- Explain the rationale for award decisions
- Highlight tradeoffs and decision drivers
Each document emphasizes transparency and traceability from solicitation to award.
Use Cases
Score Proposals and Bids With Weighted Factors
Apply consistent scoring across all offerors using clearly defined weights and evaluation standards.
Document Evaluation Findings
Create professional narratives that clearly support scores, findings, and risk assessments.
Create SSDDs and Award Recommendations
Generate structured, audit-ready decision documents that explain why the selected offeror represents the best value.
Support Best Value and LPTA Decisions
Ensure your evaluation approach aligns with the solicitation and is documented correctly for review and approval.
Built for Oversight, Review, and Audit
ACE is designed to support—not replace—professional judgment.
- Human evaluators remain in control
- CO and legal review checkpoints are clearly supported
- Outputs are ready for audits, protests, and peer reviews
Disclaimer: Outputs require human expert validation and do not constitute legal advice.
Who Benefits From This Feature
- Contracting Officers and Specialists
- Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB) members
- Program Managers and Technical Evaluators
- Legal and Procurement Review Teams
- State and Local Acquisition Officials
Make Every Award Decision Defensible
With ACE’s Proposal Evaluation & Source Selection capability, acquisition teams gain consistency, clarity, and confidence—ensuring award decisions are fair, well-documented, and built to withstand scrutiny.