Free bid suitability check
Before you spend hours writing a tender response, check whether the opportunity is worth chasing.
Upload your tender and your business details. BidShortlist checks your evidence gaps, assesses bid suitability, builds a bid strategy — and then drafts your first bid free.
First bid free • No credit card • Works with federal, state and local tenders
Your tender and business documents stay private
They're used only to run your bid checks and drafts — never published, sold or shared with other users. Everything is private to your account and encrypted, and you can delete your documents or your whole account at any time.
Three checks before you write a word
Most losing bids were lost before drafting started — chasing the wrong tender, or the right one without the evidence to back it. Check first.
Evidence gap check
Find out what proof the tender needs — documents, policies, case studies, licences, certifications, insurances — and exactly where your evidence is strong, thin or missing.
Bid suitability
An honest go/no-go call: how well the opportunity fits your capability, experience, evidence and risk profile, with an overall fit score and the reasons for and against bidding.
Bid strategy
Win themes tied to your real proof, buyer priorities, weaknesses to manage, and a recommended response angle for every criterion — before you start writing.
See a real sample check
A sample tender, a sample supplier, and the actual analysis BidShortlist produced — step through it below.
A fictional supplier — Coastal Commercial Cleaning Pty Ltd — checks this tender before writing a word. 4 weighted criteria, 3 mandatory pass/fail requirements. Everything below is real BidShortlist output for this sample, not a mock-up.
Before anything is written, BidShortlist checks the supplier's evidence against every requirement — what's proven, what's thin, and what would sink the bid.
Evidence strength per requirement
- Strong
Public liability insurance. The supplier must hold public liability insurance of at least $20 million. Confirm…
Meets the $20M mandatory threshold exactly; certificate available on request.
- Strong
Workers compensation. The supplier must hold current workers compensation insurance as required by law. Are yo…
Current statutory cover confirmed.
- Strong
Relevant experience (40%). Describe your experience delivering commercial cleaning services to comparable gove…40%
Comparable government sites within last three years with scale, contract value and outcomes, plus a verifying referee.
- Strong
Methodology and quality (30%). Outline your approach to delivering and maintaining a consistently high standar…30%
Clear QA, scheduling and issue-response evidence.
- Moderate
Workforce and capability (20%). Describe how you recruit, train and retain suitably qualified cleaning staff, …20%
Training, retention and coverage well evidenced; recruitment approach is less explicitly described.
- Needs your input
Value for money (10%). Explain how your pricing represents value for money for the Department.10%
No pricing or value-for-money detail supplied; this requires the supplier's pricing at submission to score well.
No disqualifying evidence gaps for this supplier — anything thin or needing the supplier's input is flagged above, so it gets managed honestly instead of papered over.
This is the sample. To run the same check on your tender with your own evidence, create a free account — first bid free, no card required, and your documents stay private to your account.
Check a tender for freeNo capability statement? No problem.
BidShortlist can build a professional capability statement for you from a few questions about your business, then generate starter evidence from it — past projects, certifications, insurances — so your suitability check and drafts are grounded in your real strengths from day one.
Start free — we'll help you set upWhat happens after you create your free account?
Three steps, no credit card. Set up once, and every future bid reuses your evidence.
1. Add your business once
About 10 minutes. Paste your capability statement (or build one with AI) and BidShortlist structures it into a reusable evidence library.
2. Upload your tender
PDF or pasted text — we use it only to extract the selection criteria, mandatory requirements, weightings and word limits into a compliance matrix.
3. Check, then draft — free
Run the gap check, suitability call and strategy. If it’s worth chasing, your first full bid draft, review and Word export are free.
Frequently asked questions
Is the bid suitability check really free?
Yes. Your first bid on BidShortlist is free and includes the full pre-draft analysis — evidence gap check, bid suitability, bid strategy — plus AI-drafted responses to every criterion, panel-style review, compliance checks and Word export. No credit card required.
What do I need before I can run a check on my own tender?
The tender document (upload the PDF or paste the text) and your business details. If you have a capability statement, paste it in and BidShortlist structures it into a reusable evidence library automatically. If you don’t have one, BidShortlist can build one for you from a few questions about your business, then generate starter evidence from it.
Does it work for any Australian government tender?
Yes — federal (AusTender), state and territory (e.g. NSW eTendering, Buying for Victoria) and local government tenders. BidShortlist extracts the selection criteria, mandatory requirements, weightings and word limits directly from your uploaded document.
What does the suitability check actually assess?
Three things before you write a word: an evidence gap check (what proof, policies, insurances, case studies and certifications the tender needs vs what you have), a bid/no-bid suitability call with an overall fit score and honest reasons for and against, and a bid strategy — win themes tied to your real proof, buyer priorities, weaknesses to manage and a recommended angle per criterion.
Are my tender and business documents kept private?
Yes. Your uploaded tender, capability statement and evidence are private to your account, encrypted in transit and at rest, and used only to run your bid checks and drafts. They are never published, sold or shared with other users, and you can delete a bid and its uploaded documents — or your whole account — at any time.
What happens after my free first bid?
Pay as you go at $149 per bid, or subscribe — Professional at $199/month (up to 15 bids) or Teams at $499/month (up to 30 bids). You only pay when you want to run more bids.
Check the tender before you commit the hours
Evidence gaps, suitability, strategy — then your first bid draft free.
Check a tender for freeFirst bid free • No credit card • Your documents stay private