What is a public bid go/no-go calculator?

It is a vendor triage worksheet for deciding whether a public RFP, RFQ, or bid opportunity is worth proposal time after considering fit, pursuit cost, deadline risk, and likely gross profit.

Does this tool submit bids or fetch solicitations?

No. It runs in the browser from user-entered values and does not submit bids, scrape portals, fetch solicitation files, or upload opportunity data.

Is this procurement or legal advice?

No. It is an informational planning tool. Vendors should verify solicitation requirements, registration rules, addenda, deadlines, and legal obligations with the official buyer portal and their advisors.

Trust Leak Toolkit

Free public-bid triage

Public Bid No-Bid Calculator

Estimate whether an RFP, RFQ, grant-adjacent contract, or public bid is worth pursuing before spending proposal hours. Score fit, deadline pressure, margin, win probability, mandatory steps, and pursuit cost in one browser-only memo.

Score an opportunity Review the framework Sources

Disclosure: This tool is an informational planning worksheet for vendors. It is not procurement advice, legal advice, a buyer portal, or a bid submission service. Verify official solicitation documents, addenda, portal registration, site-visit rules, bonding, and deadlines before acting.

Use Case

Quickly triage public bid links from SAM.gov, state portals, county procurement pages, school districts, utilities, or local agency sites.

Decision Basis

Compare expected gross profit against proposal cost, then penalize for short deadlines, mandatory site visits, bonding, registration friction, and weak fit.

Output

Copy a go/no-go memo or CSV row for a pipeline sheet so public opportunities do not get pursued only because they look large.

Browser-only calculator

Score The Bid Fit

Opportunity Buyer name, solicitation title, or tracking label. 1

Source URL Official solicitation, portal, or notice page. 2

Due date Proposal or bid submission deadline. 3

Q&A deadline Optional last date for questions or clarifications. 4

Estimated contract value Total expected revenue if awarded. $

Gross margin Expected gross margin after delivery costs. %

Win probability Conservative probability after fit and competition. %

Fit score 1 weak, 5 strong match to capabilities and proof. 1-5

Proposal hours Staff hours needed before submission. hrs

Internal hourly cost Loaded cost for people preparing the response. $/hr

Outside costs Printing, travel, consultants, bonds, samples, or required fees. $

Mandatory friction Count required site visit, portal registration, bonding, special certification, samples, or incumbent-heavy proof. 0-6

Next step Source-backed action before a final decision. 13

Bid fit actions: 0

How To Interpret The Score

Go

Positive expected value, strong fit, enough time to ask questions, and no overlooked mandatory requirement. Assign an owner and confirm the official portal deadline.

Watch

Potentially worth pursuing, but only after clarifying scope, addenda, buyer questions, registration, bonding, site visit, or the real proposal workload.

No-Go

Short deadline, weak capability match, low win probability, high pursuit cost, or mandatory friction makes the bid unlikely to justify proposal time.

Public Bid Source Links

Source	Why It Matters
SAM.gov Contract Opportunities	Federal opportunity notices and solicitation links for vendors researching public contract work.
SBA Contracting Basic Requirements	Plain-language reminder that registration, eligibility, and capability requirements matter before pursuing federal contracts.
State, county, city, utility, school, and special-district procurement portals	Most non-federal opportunities have their own deadlines, addenda, site-visit rules, and submission formats.