Cost to Procure Calculator

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Cost to Procure Calculator

Make data-driven sourcing decisions with the Cost to Procure Calculator from Pavilion and National Cooperative Procurement Partners (NCPP).

This calculator helps you quickly estimate the cost of running a solicitation vs. a piggyback purchase. Use NCPP's cost data or enter your numbers for personalized results.

Your purchase

What are you purchasing?

What category is this purchase?Construction and commodities with installation are typically more complex.

How much will this purchase cost?Purchases over $1,000,000 are typically more complex.

Will you need approval from senior management or elected officials?Purchases requiring approval from leadership are typically more complex.

Yes

Based on your responses, this looks like a more complex purchase.

Complex purchases often require more procurement work and involve senior staff. We account for this with a higher time estimate. You can adjust time required below.

Staff time required - optional

Staff time is a key cost driver for a procurement. You can set expected hours manually or skip this section to use NCPP's estimates from research with 39 public entities. NCPP factors in time from procurement, legal, management, finance, and end users. NCPP adds time for complex purchases.

Expected staff time for solicitation across all teams:Includes all phases of a procurement including initial stages and publication, open solicitation, and award.

hours

Expected staff time for piggyback across all teams:Includes negotiation and award phases of a procurement.

hours

Discounts and markups - optional

What discount vs. list price do you expect from running a solicitation, if any?Discount from list price that you expect from running a solicitation.

What discount or markup vs. list price do you expect from piggybacking, if any?Euna’s 2024 State of Public Procurement report found a 7.5% average discount on piggyback purchases.

Discount

Markup

Staff salary rates - optional

Staff salaries are another key cost factor. Public sector salaries vary by region and entity. You can skip this section to use NCPP's national salary estimates based on industry averages, or enter data for your role and we'll scale all of NCPP's salary estimates accordingly.

What's your role?

What’s the average salary (excluding benefits) for someone in your role where you work?

Estimated solicitation cost:

$0

Item/service cost:

Cost of staff time:

Estimated piggyback cost:

$0

Item/service cost:

Cost of staff time:

Estimated staff time cost savings:

$0 (0%)

Entities should evaluate procurement methodologies to find the most appropriate path for their needs. Pavilion and NCPP encourage strong due diligence to determine if a cooperative purchase is right for you.

Ready to take the next step?

Search on Pavilion to find suppliers with contracts you can use to make this purchase.

Want to track cost savings over time?

Reach out to partnerships@withpavilion.com to set up long-term tracking.

Decided to go out to bid?

Join the NCPP RFP Tracking project. Use this spreadsheet to track your costs of running the solicitation and get more detailed savings estimates in the future.

Many thanks to the NIGP Business Council, along with procurement leaders Eric Dickey (University of North Florida) and Maria Agrusa (Orange County, CA), for starting the conversation about measuring the cost to procure, and to Tammy Rimes and the NCPP team for picking up the baton by collecting data from dozens of public entities across the country to make this project possible.

You can view the full NCPP RFP Tracking Report to understand more about the data that guides this calculator here. Join the effort by tracking your own solicitation costs with this spreadsheet.