How do I create, edit, & manage Bid File Maintenance?
This article is for administrators or users with access to maintain bid files.
Overview
Before you begin Bid File Maintenance, we recommend reading Bid File Multipliers to become familiar with the terminology used in this article and common use cases for defining multipliers. One of the most important functions in setting up new items (or modifying existing ones) is setting up correct multipliers for your item. Most reporting tools in DL – including COGS, IvA, TvA, etc. – are affected by what your multipliers are.
The multipliers you set also affect how you count your items during an inventory, use them in recipes, order and receive them, etc. Given how many facets of Decision Logic these multipliers impact, it’s easy to see the importance of correct multipliers for accurate, reliable data.
Alterations to multipliers require a COGS update.
There can be items with the same name in the Description. The DC Item # will not change if an item is updated to have the same name as an already existing item. This is a good indicator that those items are different even if they have the same description name.
Under Configured items will have a toggle and an item count displayed, and will be the default filter when accessing the Bid File Maintenance page. Admins will want to configure these items for accurate reporting.
Admins can:
Create bid files
View bid files
Edit bid files
Archive bid files (Archiving a bid file removes the item from all order guides associated with the selected distributor and moves it to the Archive Status by default.)
Unarchive bid files (must be reattached to order guides)
Update items across a Distributor Group for electronic bid files
Download bid files from a distributor
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
Types of Bid Files
Two types of Bid File items exist based on the Distributors Maintenance Type.
Electronic: used for electronically integrated Distributors. These will be displayed in black text. Item Number, Pack Size, and Price are controlled by the Distributor via the integration. The description is a free text field that can be edited in Decision Logic and will be displayed in your Order Guide.
Manual: used for non-electronic Distributors. These will be displayed in red text. All fields can be edited. Price updates are a manual requirement.
View Bid Files
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Users can view all associated information on the distributor’s landing page.
Filter information by Searching, changing the Status, selecting a Category, or updating the Configuration filter.
“Under Configured” will be the default configuration view unless there are not any under configured bid files. This means crucial information is missing to accurate report to COGS.
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
Click on a Bid File from the Description column to populate the detail panel.
Users can View the bid file’s information and have the ability to Edit or Archive from this panel.
Add Bid Files
For Electronic Distributors: You may need to add bid file items manually to electronic distributors to account for unassigned items when using Exception Based Receiving.
For Manual Distributors: You will add a new bid file item when you get a new product. It is a best practice to map new products to existing ingredients. You do not need a new ingredient each time a new item number is added to a bid file or if a pack size changes. Instead, map the new DC Item # to an existing ingredient. This will ensure the new DC item # is tracked and depleted from ingredients tied to existing recipes.
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Click + New Bid File Item.
Enter all required and relevant details.
General
Measurement
Catch Weight, if applicable.
Order Method.
Click Save.
General:
Description: Enter Description from the Order Guide or Invoice.
DC Item #: This is a required field and should be filled out with the distribution center’s unique item identifier number
DC Item numbers that inventoried items must be mapped to an Ingredient with Inventory Multiplier (IMX) and Price greater than zero. Add the item # to the Order Guide. DC Item numbers that are non-inventoried purchases do not need to be mapped to an ingredient. Instead, map those to an Acct Category and put them on the Order Guide.
When creating a manual bid file entry, ensure that the item number:
does not have leading or trailing whitespace or tabs, and
matches the upper or lower case provided by the distributor
Brand: Optional.
Ingredient:
Map Item # to Ingredient.
Category:
This is your accounting category and is required.
Measurement:
Recipe and Inventory Measure will appear once an ingredient is selected. This will help define what Multipliers should be applied.
Pack Size (Pk/Sz): Indicate the package quantity and size the item is shipped in. This will display on the Order Guide and is helpful for defining Multipliers.
Shrink: Applying shrink to bid file item in decimal format will shrink raw product immediately when received. We recommend not applying shrink to bid file items but instead visualize the product level of shrink in IvA and COGS reporting build-out Prepped Items indicating different levels of yield to reflect the stages of shrink.
Recipe Multiplier (RMX): The total number of recipe units it takes to equal one inventory unit of measure.
Inventory Multiplier (IMX): The total number of inventoried units based on price.
Is this item catch weight? Select yes or no. Yes will populate more fields to configure, allowing for catch weight actual and received by options.
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
Order Method:
Is this item broken case? Select yes or no. Yes will populate more fields to configure, allowing for each and case price, order by method, and case break multiplier. You will input the price for Each and Case.
Price: Can be entered as Case Price or Each Price depending on your Pack Size (Pk/SZ) and Inventory Measure.
Catch Weight Items
Some items, such as meats, can be sold by average weight or “catchweight.” The item costs more if it weighs more. If you decide to make this item a catchweight, you must enter the average weight here and change the price field to the per-pound price. The total price field will then display the per pound price multiplied by the average weight.
Electronic Bid Files catch weight settings are controlled by your distributor.
For Inventory by the LB, set Catch Weight to 1 and Inventory Multiplier (IMX) to 1.
The price will update to the LB price on Electronic Bid Files when Catch Weight is changed to 1 or manually changed to the per lb price for manual bids.
Catch Weight Items Receive by LB or Case
For catch weight items, you may choose to define a Receive By method either by LB or Case.
Setting a Catch Weight item to Receive Method: Case will set the quantity (QTY) on the E-Invoice to blank.
When using How do I receive electronically placed orders with ‘Exceptions’ & what does that mean?, users will need to enter the correct Case Quantity (QTY) for catch weight items set to receive my case.
Splits or Broken Cases
This is only needed if you are ordering this item electronically from Decision Logic or creating fake Orders for manual distributors via Enter Order. If you are not placing orders from Decision Logic for this item, you can skip this setting. If the Distributor is US Foods, please scroll down.
When “Yes” is selected, broken case items will have CASE, EACH or BOTH as the Order By options. Electronic Distributors control this setting; therefore, it may not be available on all items. Contact your distributor to request they enable this setting in the Electronic Bid File they send Decision Logic if needed.
If this option is not selected, then the default is a case price.
US Foods Broken Case Bid Files
If you are ordering from US Foods, they require that Broken Case bid files be set up to order by the Both so that it will clear the broken case flag on their end.
If they are only set to order by each or only set to order by the case, then US Foods does not fulfill the order for that item.
If set to Each and the ordered quantity is >= the number of each (EA) in 1 Case, then the item will be dropped by USF.
When you set the case to order by Both, then you will also need to set the case break multiplier. See below for those instructions.
Edit Electronic Bid Files
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Users can view all associated information on the distributor’s landing page.
Filter information by Searching, changing the Status, selecting a Category, or Configuration filter.
Click on a Bid File from the Description column to populate the detail panel, or click Edit from the Actions column.
Filter information by Searching, changing the Status, selecting a Category, or updating the Configuration filter.
“Under Configured” will be the default configuration view unless there are not any under configured bid files. This means crucial information is missing to accurate report to COGS.
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
From the Details Panel, Click Edit.
From the Actions column, hover your cursor and click Edit.
Make the Edits.
Click Save & Update Group or Save.
Save & Update Group will appear if that item is part of a distributor that is in a Distributor Group. Unless you receive an error, this will update the item for the entire group.
Save will save that update for that individual item for that individual distributor and not an entire group if one is created.
Items with grayed-out fields indicate the item was entered through the electronic integration, and the user cannot edit those fields. Changes would need to be requested through the distributor.
Distributor Group Update Excluded Reasons
When the user updates an item for a distributor group and the item is excluded from one or more distributors, a reason for the exclusion will appear. This means the user will need to take action.
Edit Manual Bid Files
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Click on a Bid File from the Description column to populate the detail panel, or click Edit from the Actions column.
Filter information by Searching, changing the Status, selecting a Category, or updating the Configuration filter.
“Under Configured” will be the default configuration view unless there are not any under configured bid files. This means crucial information is missing to accurate report to COGS.
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
From the Details Panel, click Edit.
From the Actions column, hover your cursor and click Edit.
Make the edits and click Save.
Archive Bid Files
Admins can archive bid files. Archiving a bid file removes the item from all order guides associated with the selected distributor and moves it to the Archive Status by default.
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
From the Actions column, click Archive for an item.
Filter information by Searching, changing the Status, selecting a Category, or updating the Configuration filter.
“Under Configured” will be the default configuration view unless there are not any under configured bid files. This means crucial information is missing to accurate report to COGS.
Rec MX = Recipe Multiplier
Inv MX = Inventory Multiplier
Click Archive to confirm.
Unarchive Bid Files
Bid files can be unarchived. When unarchiving a bid file, admins must re-attach it to all relevant order guides. This action is not automatically completed when clicking the Unarchive button.
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Filter the Status by selecting Archive.
Untoggle Under Configured.
Click Unarchive next to the item.
Click Order Guides to take you to Order Guide Maintenance to reassign the item to order guides.
Download Bid Files
Users can download all bid files from a distributor. All historical data will be downloaded as a CSV file and users can filter through the spreadsheet.
Begin by navigating to:
Maintenance > Product > Bid File Maintenance
Select a Distributor from the list.
Click Download.
Download example file.
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