Navigating the Post-Award Phase

De-obligation is the process of identifying and releasing unused funds that were previously committed to procurement documents, such as Purchase Requisitions or Purchase Orders, but are no longer needed. In public sector environments, uncommitted funds must be systematically identified and returned to the budget so they can be reallocated to other priorities or returned at fiscal year-end.

The Process De-obligations app identifies open items and obligations that can be safely released and grouping them - specifically, obligations from closed Purchase Requisition items, and from delivered or invoiced Purchase Order items where an open commitment still remains. Items can be selected individually using filter criteria or processed in batches for efficiency, and all changes are versioned and tracked for audit and external reporting purposes automatically.

The following graphic shows the Process De-obligations app filtered to show items with a De-obligation Status of Relevant. The list covers both Purchase Orders and Purchase Requisitions, displaying the open quantity and open amounts for each item, giving the procurement team a clear view of where uncommitted funds can be recovered.

Closeout is the formal process of finalizing a procurement document once all activities associated with it are complete. The Process Closeouts app identifies purchase orders and contracts that are eligible for closure, grouping them for efficient processing. Once a document is closed, it is locked against further changes. That means no new call-offs, revisions, or updates can be made, and the retention period begins.

This ensures that procurement records are complete, compliant, and protected from unauthorized changes after the fact. Where OpenText xECM Business Workspaces are linked to a document, the workspace is automatically locked at the time of closeout, ensuring the full document record, including all attachments and correspondence, is preserved as a complete archive.

The following graphic shows the Process Closeouts app with the Purchase Contracts tab selected. Two contracts have been identified as ready for closeout, filtered by a Closeout Status of Relevant. The buyer can select items, group them, and initiate the closeout process from this central view.

Supplier Novation is the legally compliant process of transferring an existing supplier's obligations on open procurement documents to a new supplier, typically because of a business restructure, merger, acquisition, or insolvency. Rather than manually copying individual documents one by one, the Manage Novation Requests app allows procurement teams to create a single Novation Request that identifies all affected Purchase Orders and Contracts and manages the substitution as a controlled, auditable process.

A Novation Request captures the original supplier, the incoming supplier, the novation type, and the effective date. It is subject to an approval workflow before execution, ensuring the change is reviewed and authorized at the appropriate level. Once approved, all affected Purchase Contracts and Purchase Orders are updated and versioned automatically, to reflect the new supplier, while the original supplier relationship is retained in the document history for traceability.

The following graphic shows the Manage Novation Requests app with a list of novation requests at various stages of the process. Each request shows the original and new supplier, the novation type, and the current status - from Pending Initial Approval through to Ready to Novate and Completed.

Opening a request from the list displays the full detail of the novation, including the original and incoming supplier, the effective date, and the current status. The approval history, supporting documents, and notes are all accessible from the same screen.