A tender exception needs a reason you can review later
Every unusual job gets a special reason
Imagine your business usually requires a certain margin and a manageable payment cycle. A tender falls outside those limits, but the customer is important. Another does too, because the crew needs work. Before long, most accepted jobs are exceptions.
Record each deliberate departure from the normal approach. An exception may have a sound commercial reason, but that reason should be specific enough to test after the job is delivered.
Name the condition being changed
Identify whether the decision concerns price, credit, unfamiliar scope, timing or another risk. Show the normal working assumption and the proposed alternative. Avoid a broad approval that leaves several unstated concessions hidden inside one signature.
Keep the decision tied to the particular tender. A special approval for one project should not automatically become authority to use the same terms for every later enquiry from that customer.
Explain the commercial purpose
business.gov.au recommends choosing pricing strategies that fit the business's goals and resources. State what this exception is intended to achieve and why the business believes it can carry the cost or risk.
Do not treat an unawarded future project as guaranteed compensation for a weak current one. If future work is part of the rationale, label it as uncertain and assess whether the present job remains manageable without it.
Check the resources behind the decision
Test the required crew, equipment and cash against existing commitments. Record any extra control needed, such as a clarified scope or a supported procurement arrangement. Assign the person responsible for it.
If the exception depends on a change the customer has not accepted, keep it as a proposal. Do not enter the desired terms into the estimate while signing a contract that contains something different.
Set a review that uses actual results
After a meaningful stage or completion, compare the stated purpose with actual margin, cash timing and management effort. Explain why the result differed rather than judging the decision solely by whether the tender was won.
Look at the exceptions together. A repeated pattern may mean the normal pricing assumptions need revision, or that staff are routinely bypassing a rule the business still needs.
Turn the review into a decision rule
Keep exceptions that can be justified and change those that repeatedly create pressure. Explain the revised authority and information required to the people preparing tenders.
If the existing exception portfolio has left the business unable to manage its debts, discuss the actual job results with your adviser or CRP. A record of the original reasoning makes that assessment more useful than a collection of accepted tenders with no explanation of the concessions behind them.