QuickTenders
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QuickTenders Resource

Platform Terms

What QuickTenders means by the words you see inside the product. For South African procurement terminology — CIDB, CSD, B-BBEE, SBD — see the Tender Dictionary.

Tender Matching
Tender Matching is how QuickTenders finds the open tenders that fit your business: every live tender is scored against your Company Profile — the categories you work in, your province, your CIDB grade and B-BBEE level — and the ones that score well appear on your Matches page and in your Tender Alerts.
Matching is a ranking, not a verdict: it decides which tenders you see first, and each match shows why it scored as it did. A tender you were not matched to can still be found under Tender Discovery and applied for. Matching improves as your Company Profile is completed — it can only score against what you have told it.
Where you meet it: DashboardGuide: How to improve your tender matchingGuide: Understanding Match ScoreRead: How to improve your tender matchingRead: From Submission to Success: Your Post-Tender Review ChecklistRead: From Occasional Bidder to Tender Winner: 7 Practical Steps to Improve Your Success Rate
Match Score
A Match Score is the number QuickTenders gives a tender to say how closely it fits your Company Profile. It is calculated from the factors the tender actually specifies — category, province, CIDB grade, B-BBEE — so a tender that says nothing about a factor is not scored on it.
The score orders your matches; it does not decide eligibility. A high Match Score with a poor Tender Fit is possible: matching says the work is your kind of work, fit says whether this particular tender's requirements are ones you can currently meet.
Where you meet it: DashboardGuide: Understanding Match ScoreRead: Understanding Match ScoreRead: How to improve your tender matching
Tender Discovery
Tender Discovery is the searchable list of every live public-sector tender QuickTenders has collected — national, provincial, municipal and state-owned — with filters for category, province, buyer, closing date and CIDB grade.
Anyone can browse it, signed in or not. Signed in, you can save a tender, set alerts and apply; the tender pages also show whether your profile matches. QuickTenders collects and refreshes the listings daily but is not the buyer: the tender's own documents and closing details govern.
Where you meet it: tendersGuide: How to read a tender before you applyRead: How Government Procurement Works: A Complete Guide for South African BusinessesRead: What Is a Government Tender? A Beginner's Guide for South African BusinessesRead: How QuickTenders works
Tender Alerts
Tender Alerts are the emails QuickTenders sends you about tenders: new matches to your Company Profile, new tenders matching a Saved Search, and reminders as a tender you are working on approaches its closing date.
Match alerts are driven by Tender Matching, so improving your profile changes what you are alerted to. A Saved Search — filters you saved on Browse tenders — is emailed every morning with anything new that matches it, and can be paused or deleted. The Notifications plan is alerts only; other plans include them.
Where you meet it: tenders/saved-searchesGuide: How to improve your tender matchingRead: How to improve your tender matching
Company Profile
Your Company Profile is what QuickTenders knows about your business: identity (legal name, registration number, legal form), the categories and provinces you work in, your services, directors, the authorised signatory who signs your bids, key personnel and your Business Documents.
It drives three things at once: Tender Matching scores tenders against it, the Readiness Score measures how complete it is, and Build My Submission fills your bid forms and company profile section from it. Facts you type are recorded as your own declarations; facts read from a document you uploaded are recorded against that document — the two are kept distinct in every bid.
Where you meet it: profileGuide: How your Company Profile worksRead: How your Company Profile worksRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to improve your tender matching
Directors
Directors, in your Company Profile, are the people you declare as the directors or members of your business — full legal name, and appointment date and identity number where a form asks for them.
Bid forms such as SBD 4 and WCBD 4 ask for directors and their identity numbers; QuickTenders fills those from what you declared and from nowhere else. Where your CIPC certificate lists different directors, QuickTenders tells you the two disagree and asks you to resolve it — it never silently picks one.
Where you meet it: profileGuide: How your Company Profile works
Authorised Signatory
The Authorised Signatory is the person you declare as the one who signs bids on behalf of your business, in a stated capacity (for example, Director), together with the basis of their authority — a directorship or a company resolution.
The declared signatory is printed on the cover letter and every form that asks who signs. A signatory who is not a director needs a resolution or letter of authority on file; without it, Final Review lists the gap.
Where you meet it: profileGuide: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to review your submissionRead: How your Company Profile worksRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTenders
Business Documents
Business Documents — the Documents and All Files pages under Biz Enablement — are the files you keep on QuickTenders — CIPC registration, tax compliance status (TCS) PIN, B-BBEE certificate or affidavit, CSD report, bank letter, company profile, CVs and reference letters — that QuickTenders reads, tracks for expiry, and attaches to your submissions.
When you upload a document, QuickTenders reads it and records what it says (registration number, B-BBEE level, expiry date). Uploading a newer version of the same document replaces the old one and re-reads it. Expiry dates are tracked; an expired document is flagged in your Readiness Score and blocks a bid in Final Review until it is renewed.
Where you meet it: compliance/documentsGuide: How to upload company documents for Biz EnablementGuide: How QuickTenders reads your company documentsRead: How QuickTenders worksRead: How to upload company documents for Biz EnablementRead: How your Company Profile works
Biz Enablement
Biz Enablement (Business Enablement) is the part of QuickTenders that gets your business tender-ready: it tracks which registrations and documents you hold, tells you what is missing or expiring, and turns what you have into a reusable company profile that your bids are built from.
It has six pages: Readiness (your score and what is missing), Documents, CV Bank (key personnel), References (past projects), Financials and Joint Ventures. The goal is that when a tender comes up, the work of proving who you are is already done.
Where you meet it: complianceGuide: How to upload company documents for Biz EnablementRead: How QuickTenders worksRead: How to upload company documents for Biz EnablementRead: How your Company Profile works
Readiness Score
Your Readiness Score is QuickTenders' measure of how prepared your business is to bid — a percentage of the checks that apply to your business (registration, tax status, B-BBEE, CSD, company profile, key personnel, references, financial documents) that you have satisfied.
It is scored out of what APPLIES to you: a check that cannot apply (a CIDB grade for a non-construction business, for example) is left out of both the numerator and the denominator, and the score says which were excluded and why. Reaching 50% earns your first free application credit. The score moves as soon as a document is read, so a renewed certificate shows immediately.
Where you meet it: complianceGuide: Understanding your Readiness ScoreRead: Understanding your Readiness ScoreRead: How QuickTenders worksRead: From Submission to Success: Your Post-Tender Review Checklist
Tender Fit
Tender Fit is QuickTenders' assessment of whether a specific tender's requirements are ones your business can currently meet — a verdict (good fit, borderline, poor fit) with a score out of 100 and the reasons.
It runs when you open a tender's workspace. A poor-fit verdict does not stop you: you decide whether to continue, and your decision is recorded. It is a warning about the requirements, not about the quality of your business.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to read a tender before you applyRead: Understanding Match ScoreRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to read a tender before you apply
Applications
An Application is a tender you have chosen to apply for on QuickTenders. Applying opens a Tender Workspace for it and, on the free plan or beyond your plan's monthly allowance, uses a credit or a pay-as-you-go charge.
My tenders lists every tender you have applied to, with its status and closing date, alongside tenders you found elsewhere and uploaded yourself.
Where you meet it: tenders/myGuide: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How QuickTenders works
My Uploads
My Uploads are tenders you found elsewhere — a tender document a buyer emailed you, or one from a portal QuickTenders does not collect — that you uploaded as a PDF so QuickTenders can read its requirements and open a Tender Workspace for it.
An uploaded tender is private to your organisation. It is read the same way a public tender is: requirements, forms, evaluation criteria and closing details come from the document you uploaded.
Where you meet it: tenders/myGuide: How to read a tender before you apply
Tender Workspace
A Tender Workspace is the working area QuickTenders opens for one tender you are applying for. It holds the tender's requirements, your Bid Questions, the written sections of your bid, the buyer's forms, your pricing and the Supporting Documents that will go into the Submission Pack.
The workspace is built from the tender's own document and your Company Profile: sections are drafted from your documents and this tender's requirements, forms are pre-filled from your declared identity, and anything QuickTenders cannot fill is listed for you to complete. Nothing leaves the workspace until you download the pack.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to use the Tender WorkspaceGuide: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: The Complete Tender Dictionary: Your A–Z Guide to South African Procurement TermsRead: From Submission to Success: Your Post-Tender Review Checklist
Tender Requirements
Tender Requirements are what QuickTenders read from the tender document: the compulsory (mandatory) requirements, the documents and forms the buyer asks for, the evaluation criteria and their points, the closing date and the submission method.
They are shown on the tender page and drive the workspace: which forms are carried in, which Bid Questions are asked, and what the Technical Proposal answers. They are read from the buyer's document and are not a substitute for it.
Where you meet it: tendersGuide: How to read a tender before you applyRead: The Complete Tender Dictionary: Your A–Z Guide to South African Procurement TermsRead: 7 Deadly Tender Sins: Why Most Bids Fail Before They're Even ReadRead: How to read a tender before you apply
Evaluation Criteria
In QuickTenders, Evaluation Criteria are the scored criteria read from the tender — each criterion with its points — used to structure your Technical Proposal so that the evaluator can score it criterion by criterion.
Where a tender publishes a scoring rubric, the Technical Proposal is written one subsection per criterion, in the buyer's order, and the Submission Pack carries a cross-reference table from each criterion to the section that answers it.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to read a tender before you applyRead: How to read a tender before you applyRead: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: The Complete Tender Dictionary: Your A–Z Guide to South African Procurement Terms
Bid Questions
Bid Questions are the questions QuickTenders asks you about this specific tender that it cannot answer from your documents — your pricing basis, whether you attended the briefing, the contract-specific commitments you are making.
Each answer has a state: unanswered, provisional (a placeholder QuickTenders suggested that you have not confirmed) or confirmed. Provisional answers are listed in Final Review until you confirm them; a required question that is unanswered blocks the sections that depend on it.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to complete Bid QuestionsRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: How to complete Bid Questions
Pricing Decision
The Pricing Decision is your recorded commercial offer for a tender — the basis (lump sum, rate, commission, priced schedule) and the figure — which QuickTenders never proposes for you.
QuickTenders shows comparable awarded contracts as market context where it holds them, labelled as context. The pricing narrative in your bid is written only once your decision is recorded, and a bid without one is listed in Final Review as needing your decision.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: How QuickTenders reads your company documentsRead: 7 Deadly Tender Sins: Why Most Bids Fail Before They're Even Read
Build My Submission
Build My Submission is the action in a Tender Workspace that drafts the written sections of your bid — cover letter, company profile, key personnel, experience, methodology, technical proposal and the rest — from your Business Documents, your Company Profile and this tender's requirements.
Each section is written for you to review: you can edit it, accept it, or regenerate it. A section that needs an answer you have not given (a Bid Question, your Pricing Decision) waits for it. QuickTenders writes only what your documents support and omits what they do not — the gaps are listed in the workspace, never written into the bid.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: How to use the Tender WorkspaceRead: From Submission to Success: Your Post-Tender Review ChecklistRead: From Occasional Bidder to Tender Winner: 7 Practical Steps to Improve Your Success Rate
Forms
Forms are the buyer's official bid forms carried into your Submission Pack: the national SBD series where the tender uses it, or the buyer's own series (for example the Western Cape's WCBD forms) where the tender prescribes one.
Where QuickTenders holds a template for a form it pre-fills the fields it can source from your Company Profile and this tender; the buyer's own forms are carried as the tender supplies them. Declarations, signatures and commercial figures are always yours. A form in the pack is not a completed form: Final Review says, per form, whether it is included, populated, awaiting your action, completed and signed.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: The Complete Tender Dictionary: Your A–Z Guide to South African Procurement TermsRead: 7 Deadly Tender Sins: Why Most Bids Fail Before They're Even Read
Supporting Documents
Supporting Documents are the Business Documents QuickTenders selects for a specific bid — the standard compliance set, plus CVs, references and financials where the tender asks for them — and attaches, unchanged, at the back of the Submission Pack with an index.
The workspace shows exactly which files will be attached and why, so the screen and the pack cannot disagree.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to review your submissionRead: What Is a Government Tender? A Beginner's Guide for South African BusinessesRead: How to submit your bid after QuickTenders
Submission Pack
The Submission Pack is the single PDF QuickTenders assembles for a tender: a cover and contents, your written response, the buyer's forms, and your Supporting Documents with an index and absolute page numbers.
You download it and submit it yourself, by the method the tender allows. QuickTenders never sends a bid to a buyer. The pack carries no QuickTenders workflow status; what still needs your attention is shown in Final Review.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to review your submissionGuide: How to submit your bid after QuickTendersRead: How to review your submissionRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How QuickTenders works
Final Review
Final Review is the check QuickTenders runs before you download a Submission Pack. It lists what QuickTenders completed, what it recommends, what only you can decide, what you must still provide, and anything that would stop the bid.
A pack with no open items is Submission Ready. A pack with open items is Review Required — you can still download it after acknowledging the list, and the acknowledgement is recorded. A tender that has closed is Blocked. Per form, Final Review shows whether it is physically included, populated, awaiting your action, completed and signed — five separate facts.
Where you meet it: workspaceGuide: How to review your submissionRead: How to apply for a tender with QuickTendersRead: How to review your submissionRead: How to use the Tender Workspace
Plan
Your Plan is the QuickTenders subscription you are on — Free, Notifications, Starter, Standard or Pro — which sets how many applications, AI runs, stored documents and active workspaces you have each month.
Prices and limits are shown on the Pricing page and in Billing; they are read live from QuickTenders, not printed here. The Free plan applies pay-as-you-go per tender.
Where you meet it: billingGuide: How QuickTenders works
Billing
Billing is where you manage your Plan, see invoices and pay — by card through a one-time checkout for each purchase; there is no automatic recurring debit.
Every payment is confirmed to QuickTenders by the payment provider before access changes.
Where you meet it: billing
Usage
Usage, on the Billing page, shows how many applications you have used this period against your Plan's allowance, or that your plan is unlimited.
Plans also set how many AI-written sections, stored documents and active workspaces you have; those limits are read live from your plan.
Where you meet it: billing
Account
Your Account is your login and the organisation it belongs to. One organisation can have several users; the organisation owns the Company Profile, documents and applications.
Where you meet it: team
Secretariat
The Secretariat is QuickTenders' menu of paid, human-delivered services — such as document preparation and bid administration — ordered per service from inside the dashboard.
Services and prices are read live from QuickTenders; nothing here states a price.
Where you meet it: secretariatRead: From Occasional Bidder to Tender Winner: 7 Practical Steps to Improve Your Success Rate