FreebodyCogent in conjunction with Cogent Business Solutions, are amongst the most active and experienced service providers in Australia. Our combined understanding and capacity to assist organisations extends across all aspects of the market testing process, from preparation of the Request For Tender through to contract negotiation and contract management.

Baseline costing

FreebodyCogent are experts in the baseline costing of activities to assess the costs versus benefits of internally reengineering against outsourcing an activity. Our consultants have designed and developed baseline costing models using activity based costing and traditional costing methodologies to support market testing processes, and in particular, the pricing, tender evaluation and contract negotiation aspects. FreebodyCogent readily employ strategic costing software tools where appropriate and value is added.

FreebodyCogent's methodology maps the relationship between baseline costing and contract pricing to allow meaningful comparison of baseline costs to the tendered prices of the services being market tested.

Preparing the request for tender (RFT)

FreebodyCogent provides expertise and assistance in the design and development of all financial aspects of the request for tender including:

• the basis of pricing - fixed, firm variable or a combination thereof;
• the pricing framework and price schedules; and
• preparation and review of the baseline costing of the activities being market tested.

This stage of the RFT process is critical to the underlying effectiveness of the financial evaluation of tendered prices. We seek innovative solutions to price schedules that minimise price and risk to the client and maximise quality.

Evaluation of tender responses

FreebodyCogent's  expertise and experience is clearly demonstrated in our approach to the evaluation of tender responses and prices. Our consultants are expert in the:

• design and development of a model to support financial evaluation, analysis and contract negotiation processes;
• evaluation of tendered prices including the identification and assessment of notional adjustments for items such as redundancies and ongoing contract management; and
• analysis and comparison of results.

Assessment of financial viability costing

FreebodyCogent has developed a methodology which provides a comprehensive and robust assessment of the financial viability of tenderers. Our methodology addresses all elements that may impact directly or indirectly on the ability of an organisation to support the financial management aspects of a contract.

Contract negotiation

The customer and contractor are exposed to significant financial risks as well as opportunities during the contract negotiation stage. Changes to the structure and content of prices is common at this stage of the process and can have a significant impact on the long term success or sustainability of the contract. In recognition of this, FreebodyCogent offers direct assistance and support to organisations during this critical stage of the process. Our key strengths are our detailed understanding and experience with respect to:

• the financial evaluation structure and process;
• the price schedule structure and the composition of quoted elements;
• rate of effort data, including an understanding of content, accuracy, volatility and risk;
• interrelationship of all components of the contract enabling assessment of the impact of proposed changes to the contract overall;
• direct contract negotiation processes; and
• financial modelling tools developed by FreebodyCogent to facilitate immediate assessment of the impact of changes to the price structure and content.

Contract management

Contract management is significant to successful service delivery and must be assigned the highest priority by organisations. The establishment and maintenance of a contract management capability often requires the introduction of a new skills set, business processes and systems. FreebodyCogent, in conjunction with Cogent Business Solutions, provides hands on assistance and support across all aspects of contract management including:

• development of a contract management strategy;
• ongoing contract administration and design and establishment of processes and systems; and
• performance measurement, monitoring and reporting against performance based contracts and Service Level Agreements.

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