Skip to content
AwardBeam

About

Procurement software for small cities.

AwardBeam publishes solicitations, keeps bids sealed until opening, and posts the award summary a resident should be able to read.
Request a pilotDemoOpen the live demo (opens in a new tab)
The Crossbeam A. Its crossbar is a beam of light that leaves the frame: the award, carried out into the open.

Why it exists

One spreadsheet, three jobs.

A small city still has to invite bids, keep them sealed until the opening, and show the public who won. Often one clerk and one spreadsheet carry all three. AwardBeam gives each job its own record.
  1. A shared spreadsheet does three jobs. Rows 1 and 2 invite bids for UTIL-26-086 Water Treatment Pump Replacement, due Sep 24, 2:00 PM ET.
  2. Rows 3 to 5 list bids with names and amounts, which anyone with the file can read: Clearwater Pump & Well $3,642,800, BlueLine Utilities $3,715,500, Copperfield Plumbing $3,890,200.
  3. Rows 6 and 7 record the award of FAC-26-104 to Horizon Mechanical for $1,382,450.
  4. In AwardBeam, the public portal lists UTIL-26-086 as Open with bids due Sep 24, 2:00 PM ET.
  5. The staff console shows 5 bids received as sealed receipts with times only, no names and no amounts.
  6. The public award summary shows FAC-26-104 awarded to Horizon Mechanical, winning bid $1,382,450, 6 bids received.

Demonstration data. The City of Westbridge is a fictional municipality.

Our limits

What we will not do.

Government buyers check what a vendor says, and this site is part of the record. These are the lines we hold on it.

  • No customer logos or named jurisdictions

    We name an agency only once it agrees to be named. Until then, the only city on this site is the fictional City of Westbridge.

  • No certification marks

    We show a certification only once we hold it. The security page lists each one with its status and date, including the ones we do not hold yet.

  • No usage or performance statistics

    No counts of users, bids or savings. Every figure on this site belongs to the demonstration city and is labelled that way.

  • No specifications for solicitations we bid on

    Federal rules at 2 CFR 200.319(b), and many local rules, bar a vendor who drafts specifications from competing. We answer questions in writing through your procurement officer.

How we build

The rules live in the database.

The rules a protest would test are enforced below the screens, and anything not finished yet is stated as not finished.

  • Sealed bids

    Sealed until the opening

    Before the deadline, staff see a count and receipt times. No names and no amounts, for every staff account, administrators included.

    1. Bid Submissions for PW-26-118, Downtown Street Resurfacing Program. Status Open.
    2. Receipts arrive one at a time while the solicitation is open: 1, then 2, then 3 bids received. Only receipt timestamps are available.
    3. Sealed bid 1, received Sep 23, 2026, 4:18 PM EDT, Submitted. No bidder name and no amount.
    4. Sealed bid 2, received Sep 24, 2026, 8:57 AM EDT, Submitted. No bidder name and no amount.
    5. Sealed bid 3, received Sep 24, 2026, 10:42 AM EDT, Submitted. No bidder name and no amount.
    6. The Open bids button is disabled and shows a lock. Its explanation reads: Sealed. Contents cannot be read by anyone until the deadline passes and an authorized officer records the opening.

  • Accessibility

    Accessibility as a requirement

    Residents use the public portal, so it falls under the ADA Title II web rule. This site targets WCAG 2.2 AA and every animation can be paused. The product's conformance report (VPAT 2.5) is not yet published.

    1. Keyboard focus moves across three controls with a visible ring: Skip to content, Pause animations, View as table.
    2. ADA Title II web rule compliance dates: April 26, 2027 for governments serving 50,000 people or more; April 26, 2028 for smaller governments and special districts.

  • Audit trail

    An audit trail that refuses edits

    The database refuses to change or delete an audit entry for every application account, including administrators and the service key.

    1. Audit log, newest first. Alert: These records cannot be edited or deleted. The audit trail is append only.
    2. Sep 23, 4:18 PM, System: Bid WB-PW-26-118-BID-0001 received for PW-26-118.
    3. Sep 23, 4:40 PM, Diane Foster: Addendum #1 issued for PW-26-118.
    4. Sep 24, 2:01 PM, Sarah Chen: Sealed bids opened for UTIL-26-086: 5 received.
    5. Sep 24, 3:12 PM, Sarah Chen: Award published: FAC-26-104 to Horizon Mechanical.
    6. Sep 24, 4:05 PM, Diane Foster: Change Order #2 recorded on C-26-0041 ($42,500).
    7. An edit is attempted on the event "Sealed bids opened for UTIL-26-086: 5 received", changing 5 received to 4 received.
    8. The database refuses the save: audit events cannot be modified or deleted.
    9. The event stays exactly as it was recorded, marked with a lock.

Demonstration data. The City of Westbridge is a fictional municipality.

The demonstration city

Westbridge is invented. The software is not.

Every screen on this site shows the City of Westbridge, Ohio, a fictional municipality. We use it so we can show real screens without naming a real agency or publishing anyone's records.
See the demo pageDemoOpen the live demo (opens in a new tab)

City of Westbridge, Ohio

Fictional municipality

Fictional

  • The City of Westbridge, Ohio
  • Its staff, such as Sarah Chen, Procurement Director
  • Its vendors, bids and contract amounts
  • The dates and times on every record

The working product

  • The screens and their wording
  • The rules: sealed bids, recorded openings, an append-only audit trail
  • Public award pages, charts with table versions, records packets
  • The live demo you can open without an account

The company

AwardBeam is made by AwardBeam LLC.

When your office sets us up as a vendor, these are the details to record. The name matches our W-9 exactly.

Legal name
AwardBeam LLCThe name on our quotes, invoices and W-9.
Paperwork for your vendor file
W-9 on requestAsk through the contact form and we send it with the quote.Ask for a W-9
How to reach us
The contact formThere is no public mailbox. Every message reaches the team.Open the contact form

Next step

See a full procurement cycle in 30 minutes.

We walk your team through a request, a sealed bid opening, an evaluation and a published award, using the demonstration City of Westbridge.

Request a pilotDemoOpen the live demo (opens in a new tab)

If your agency has an open solicitation that includes AwardBeam, please send questions through your procurement officer.