RFP response guide

1. Start with the brief

Create a blank proposal, paste RFP notes or load a UTF-8 text file. In the notes builder, each non-empty line becomes one mandatory requirement. Review the full request and edit the matrix before writing answers. The parser does not discover requirements omitted from your input.

For a PDF or Word document, choose “Read PDF / DOCX.” Enter a proposal title, choose your file and extract its text. Select passages in the preview, add them to the requirement notes and edit them into one requirement per line. The app does not invent responses or infer whether a requirement is optional.

The extracted text is preserved separately as source notes, including passages you did not select. Source labels retain the page or document section; long passages are split without dropping text. The original file is not stored. A SHA-256 fingerprint identifies the imported file bytes, but it is not an authenticated signature or proof of a claim.

Document reader coverage

Files may be up to 8 MB, with up to 100,000 extracted characters. A PDF may contain up to 500 pages; select at most 20 at a time. Use ranges such as “1-3, 5.” Only selectable text is read. Blank or scanned pages are identified; OCR and password-protected PDFs are not supported.

DOCX intake reads main body paragraphs and table text. Headers, footers, comments, images, automatic numbering and layout need checking in the original. Tracked changes and embedded alternate content must be resolved first. DOC, DOCM, encrypted packages, ZIP64 and unsupported archive layouts are rejected.

Reading order can differ from the visual document, especially in columns and tables. Compare every selected requirement with the original. No upload, model request, link fetch, macro or document script is used. Local readers have file, expansion, text and time limits; cancel extraction to discard its pending result.

2. Write source-backed responses

Set the organization, client, summary and optional date-only deadline. Add your evidence as source text with a label and reference. Source references remain plain text and are not fetched.

Write each response and assign an owner if useful. Attach exact excerpts from the supporting sources. An excerpt must literally occur in its source; this verifies a text match, not factual truth, relevance or whether your organization can deliver a commitment.

Mandatory requirements need a response. An optional requirement may be excluded with a written rationale. Check the request before changing that designation.

3. Reuse answers without losing their evidence

Save a response to the answer library to retain independent copies of its evidence. When reused, the answer and sources are copied into the target proposal and its review is reset. Editing the original proposal does not silently alter the saved answer or another proposal.

Check reused wording against the current opportunity. Dates, scope and service commitments may have changed.

Use “Update saved answer” on a response with citations to maintain a library entry, even when all 100 slots are in use. Choose the entry and compare the currently saved response with the replacement. Expand each source to read its exact excerpt, reference and full text. You can change the saved title before choosing “Replace saved answer,” or cancel without making changes.

The replacement keeps the library entry’s identity and copies the current response and evidence. Existing proposals, commercial schedules and reviewed versions keep their original copies. Future reuse still needs review for the new requirement. Export a workspace backup first to retain the old library entry; replacement has no separate undo history. Stale tabs must reload before editing. If device storage fails, export the in-memory recovery backup before leaving.

4. Review every requirement

Record a reviewer name and review note for each response or exclusion. Answered items need at least one matching source citation. Editing a requirement or response clears its review. Editing cited source material clears affected reviews and removes excerpts that no longer match.

Coverage counts always refer to the whole proposal, even when you filter the visible requirements. Reviewer names and device timestamps are supplied working records, not verified identities or tamper-proof approvals.

5. Freeze a version, then export

Save a reviewed version after all requirements have reviews and the required proposal/source fields are complete. The version freezes the response matrix, review records and source appendix. Restoring it to the draft clears reviews for a fresh check and preserves the saved version.

Export Markdown, a formula-safe CSV matrix or a printable proposal. Use your browser’s print dialog to save PDF. Draft exports are labeled as drafts. Document exports include source notes, including private notes and unselected extracted passages. Inspect the entire appendix before sharing. No document is submitted to a client by this app.

Save and recover your work

Drafts, versions and library answers autosave to this browser profile. A workspace backup includes everything. Export before changing devices or clearing site data. Failed storage writes preserve an in-memory copy for download; stale tabs must reload instead of overwriting newer saved work.

Limits: 10 proposals, 50 requirements and 30 sources per proposal, 10 versions per proposal, 100 library answers and 10 citations per response. A source segment supports 10,000 characters; each requirement supports 2,000, each response or summary 6,000. Backups may be at most 12 MB. See privacy, removal and recovery details.

Current service boundaries

The free preview provides local document intake, response organization, evidence reuse, review records and exports. Cloud accounts, Google sign-in, team approvals, customer submission, scheduled notifications, generated language, subscriptions, one-time purchases and an API are not enabled.

Build and review a pricing schedule

Open Pricing to add an optional one-time commercial schedule. Set one currency, enter up to 50 items, and optionally label phases or link each item to an answered-scope RFP requirement. A blank rate is incomplete; use 0 for a deliberate zero. Quantity supports three decimals and unit price two. Links are author-selected associations, not proof that every requirement is priced. Clear an item's link before deleting or excluding that requirement.

Line amounts round half-up to cents. The quote-wide discount rounds once and is allocated proportionally by largest remainder, with ties resolved in line order. One exclusive tax rate applies to discounted taxable items. For 2.5 units at $100 and 3 non-taxable units at $12.34, a 10% discount and 8% tax produce $287.02 subtotal, $28.70 discount, $18.00 tax and $276.32 total.

Changing currency requires confirmation and relabels amounts without converting rates. Enter your own verified tax rate and commercial terms. No recurring prices, deposits, tax lookup or automatic market pricing are supplied. The schedule is not an invoice or payment request.

Finish prices before reviewing responses: changing any price, phase, link or commercial term clears all response reviews. Changes to proposal content clear the pricing review. Record a named pricing review, then review every response before saving a final version. Names and timestamps are local author entries, not authenticated approval. Saved versions keep their exact schedule; restoring one clears both pricing and response reviews.

Markdown and printable proposals include the schedule and terms. Pricing CSV is a separate exact-decimal export; the response matrix CSV remains requirement-focused. Incomplete draft schedules have no invented total, and pricing CSV requires valid calculations. Backups include all commercial details. Version-2 workspaces retain prices and can also import legacy version-1 documents; older app versions cannot read version 2.