Prepare a tender submission without missing a returnable

The problem

A tender asks for a list of returnable schedules — form of tender, pricing, methodology, capability, referees, insurances, safety and quality documents — often with page limits, file naming rules and an upload size limit. A missing or non-conforming returnable can rule a response out before anyone reads it.

By hand: tick the returnables off a printed list, count pages in each document, merge the parts of each schedule, rename every file to the portal's convention and check sizes — at the end of a long writing effort, usually close to the deadline.

What PDFPUMA does

• Paste the returnable schedules from the tender documents, one per line. Page limits written like "(max 10 pages)" are picked up and checked.
• Add your response documents. Each one is matched to a returnable from its file name and first page — "certificate of currency" goes to insurances, "schedule of rates" to pricing — and you can change any match.
• The checklist shows every returnable as included, missing, or over its page limit before anything is built.
• Download one PDF per returnable, merged and named for upload ("Your Business - 03 Methodology.pdf"), a combined PDF with a cover, contents page, bookmarks and page numbers, and the checklist as a CSV. Files over the portal's size limit are flagged.

Example

How to start

1. Enter the tender and paste its returnable schedules.
2. Add your response documents and check each match.
3. Review the checklist, then build the upload files and combined PDF.

Tips

• Copy the returnables list straight from the tender's returnable schedules or submission checklist, so the order and wording match what the evaluators expect.
• Keep your standard documents — capability statement, insurances, licences, policies — as up-to-date PDFs so every tender starts from the same set.
• If the portal limits file sizes, enter the limit and compress any file that's flagged before you upload.

Good to know

• Matches come from file names and the first page's text; check each one. Scanned documents without text are matched by file name only.
• PDFPUMA checks your documents against the list you enter. It doesn't read the tender's conditions or judge whether a response is compliant or competitive.

Frequently asked questions