Financial FAQs

How do I determine whether to provide a personal or business credit score/report?

You must upload a copy of your business’ credit report showing a numerical credit score or rating, your company’s name, and the date that the credit report was prepared – no earlier than 90 calendar days prior to the opening of the bid window. If the numerical credit score or rating is generated separately from your credit report, your company’s name and the date it was prepared must be shown on the credit report and included with the numerical credit score or rating. Your business credit report must be from one of the four approved credit reporting agencies and include one of the acceptable numerical credit scores or ratings listed in the Request for Bids (RFB) Instructions.

If your business’ credit report is not available, a personal credit report for the primary business owner is acceptable. However, a personal credit report with a numerical credit score or rating is not acceptable from bidders filing a regular ‘C’ corporation tax return (Form 1120), except in cases of newly formed corporations. Please see the Required Financial Documents fact sheet for more information. 

I am a start-up with no previous tax returns. What financial documents should I upload?

If you started your business on January 1, 2019, and submit a tax return on a calendar year basis, you will not yet have been required to submit a tax return prior to the opening of the bid window in July 2019. In this scenario to satisfy the exact twelve-month requirement, the bidder (i.e., new supplier) should upload actual financial statements for the five months ending May 31, 2019, and pro forma financial statements for the seven month period from June 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Please review the financial requirements included in the Request for Bids (RFB) Instructions for additional guidance.

In past rounds, bidders were asked to include their bidder number on each page of their financial documents. Is this still requested?

Although not required, we recommend including your bidder number on each required document. It is helpful when reviewing your financial documents. As a reminder, bidders must upload the required financial documents specified in the Request for Bids (RFB) Instructions in Connexion, the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program’s secure portal, by the close of the bid window. 

My company is the bidding entity and we are a subsidiary of a larger corporation. Do I upload my company's credit report and score or should I upload my parent company's credit report and score?

Financial statements should be at the same organization level as the tax return extract. For example, a subsidiary that files its own tax return must upload its own financial statements (i.e., they must be at the subsidiary level) to correspond with its tax return extract. However, if a parent organization files the tax return on its subsidiary’s behalf, the financial statements and tax return extract provided by the subsidiary must be at the parent organization level. Business division or line of business financial statements that do not correspond to the tax return extract will not be accepted. If the parent organization files the tax return on their subsidiary’s behalf, then Form 851 should also be uploaded.

You must upload a copy of your business’ credit report showing a numerical credit score or rating, your company’s name, and the date that the credit report was prepared – no earlier than 90 calendar days prior to the opening of the bid window. If the numerical credit score or rating is generated separately from your credit report, your company’s name and the date it was prepared must be shown on the credit report and included with the numerical credit score or rating. Your business credit report must be from one of the four approved credit reporting agencies and include one of the acceptable numerical credit scores or ratings. If the bidder is included on the parent’s tax return, then we will accept either the parent or the subsidiary’s credit report. Please see the Required Financial Documents fact sheet for more information.

Our tax returns are done on a cash basis; however, our financial statements (i.e., income statement, statement of cash flows, and balance sheet) are done on an accrual basis. Is this acceptable?

The required financial statements (e.g., income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows) must be prepared on the same accounting basis: accrual, cash, or tax. However, the required financial documents can be prepared on a mix of accrual, cash, and/or tax basis (e.g., tax return extract prepared on a cash basis and the financial statements prepared on an accrual basis is acceptable).

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Updated: 07/09/2019