DOING BUSINESS WITH THE CITY

COMING SOON - eProcurement Transition, EFT Payments, and Centralized Invoice Processing

• Beginning May 15, 2023, the City will be transitioning to a new eProcurement solution (OpenGov) for publishing solicitations and receiving vendor responses. 
• Ongoing solicitations in the current system (PlanetBids) will not be affected and shall be completed by June 30, 2023. 
• To continue to receive bid notifications, you will want to check our new e-Procurement Portal located here:

OPENGOV - BIDS AND PROPOSALS

• Vendors and suppliers will be able to sign up to receive payments via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) instead of checks. Begin the sign-up process here. 

• The City will be centralizing the receipt of invoices for more efficient processing. All invoices should be sent to invoices@lakeforestca.gov beginning July 1, 2023.

Vendor Registration - Required Documentation and Helpful Tips

Thank you for your interest in doing business with the City of Lake Forest.

We welcome new vendors and are committed to providing opportunities for all qualified businesses to submit bids and proposals.

Registration is free of charge; however, only vendors who are registered will be eligible to do business with the City.

PlanetBids - Active Solicitations through June 30, 2023

We currently use an online vendor registration system through PlanetBids to send automated email notices of bid and proposal opportunities to vendors who have registered with the City of Lake Forest.  

You may register your firm for current active opportunities posted on PlanetBids here:

PLANETBIDS Vendor Portal

Additional information and tips for registering are located within the vendor registration portal. Once you have registered, please be sure to keep your contact information current in our system. If the email address you provide becomes invalid, you will not receive our bid and proposal notifications or correspondences. If you have any technical difficulties please contact PlanetBids customer support directly at 818-992-1771.

OpenGov - eProcurement Solution Transition - Beginning May 15, 2023

Beginning May 15, 2023, the City will begin posting any new solicitations on the City's new eProcurement site, OpenGov.

The City has partnered with OpenGov and is excited to announce our transition to a fully automated web-based electronic bidding and vendor management system. To continue to receive bid notifications, you will want to check our new e-Procurement Portal located there:

OPENGOV - BIDS AND PROPOSALS

Our new e-Procurement Portal will allow prospective Vendors and Suppliers the ability to:

• Register to receive notifications of future opportunities by signing up for our new e-Procurement Portal and selecting the “Subscribe” button to create an account.
• Follow along with updates to existing opportunities by finding the opportunity and clicking the “Follow” button. This will allow all interested bidders to receive amendments and addenda automatically.
• Submit questions and receive answers online regarding open bid opportunities.
• Use a guided process of responding electronically to bids to ensure your bids have been accurately completed.
• Receive timely support for bid questions.
• Have one location for all bid opportunities issued by the City of Lake Forest.

There is no cost for vendors to register in OpenGov.

Vendor Registration Instructions

You may subscribe to our bids by navigating to OpenGov and clicking the  “Subscribe” button.  

For more information about how to register, please see our help file.

City of Lake Forest will be using NAICS Codes. Please review this article on setting up category codes and notification preferences.

OpenGov has provided additional resources to help with your registration:

CLICK HERE for INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS FOR VENDORS

Required Documentation

You will need to have the following information available to complete your registration:

• Name and email address of the primary contact person who should receive our bid and proposals notification*
• Company Name and Physical Address*
• Any applicable license numbers such a State Contractor’s License or DIR Registration.
• Category Codes. We use NAICS codes to identify our supplier’s type of business and direct our bid and proposal notifications to the appropriate companies. If you do not know your company’s applicable NAICS code(s) you will be able to look it up within the category code section of our system. We encourage you to choose all codes that fully reflect your services and/or merchandise for sale.
• Your Company’s Tax Identification or your Social Security Number
• A signed Form W-9 Document*

*These items are required

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Payment Sign-up

Please complete the Interest Form to begin the process to enable payments via electronic funds transfer (EFT).

New Invoice Processing Procedures

Please begin sending all invoices for processing to invoices@lakeforestca.gov beginning July 1, 2023.

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