Tender and bid timestamping: show what you submitted, and when

How tender and bid timestamping works with a procurement portal

Most tenders are lodged through an online portal that records when your response arrived. That receipt is important, but it sits on the buyer’s system, and it may not show exactly which version of each document you prepared, or when you had it ready. A TimeBind adds a record of the files themselves that doesn’t depend on the portal or on your own servers.

1. Finalise the response. Export the exact files you will upload, in the format the portal asks for.
2. Group them. One TimeBind holds up to 10 files. For a larger response, zip the set and keep that exact zip.
3. Create the TimeBind before lodging. Files are hashed in your browser and only the fingerprints are recorded.
4. Lodge through the portal and save its receipt.
5. File everything together: the certificate, the exact files or zip, and the lodgement receipt.

Renaming a file doesn’t change its fingerprint, but converting or re-saving it does. If you change anything after timestamping, timestamp the new version too.

What to TimeBind for each bid

• Methodology and approach, often the part most worth protecting.
• Technical proposal and any innovation or alternative offers.
• Pricing schedule, in the exact file you lodge.
• Drawings, models and design reports, as the issued set.
• Capability statements, CVs and case studies included with the response.
• Responses to clarifications and addenda, on the day you send them.
• Earlier drafts, if you want a dated trail of how the bid developed.

For design-led bids, see design file timestamping and architectural design timestamping. For engineering and construction work, see engineering document records and timestamping construction contracts once a bid becomes a contract.

Confidentiality: nothing about your bid is published

Bids contain pricing, methods and staff details you’d never want a competitor to see. TimeBinder never receives them. Each file is hashed locally on your own computer, and only its SHA-256 fingerprint is recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain. A fingerprint can’t be turned back into the document, so nothing about the content of your bid is published.

Certificates can be checked publicly by QR code, or restricted to email addresses you choose. If you ever need to show the record, you share the original file and the certificate with the people who need them, and they can confirm the file still matches its fingerprint.

Check the tender conditions too. Some buyers set rules about how bid material is handled or disclosed. A TimeBind doesn’t change those rules, because it doesn’t share your documents with anyone.

Limits: a timestamp isn’t a lodgement receipt

• It doesn’t show you lodged on time. Only the portal’s receipt does that. A TimeBind can’t make a late bid on time.
• It doesn’t show who wrote the bid, or that the content is correct or original.
• It doesn’t show someone copied you. Similar proposals can be written independently. It gives you evidence of timing, and how that is used depends on your contract, the tender conditions and the law where you are.
• The recorded time may come after lodgement. A Pooled TimeBind is usually recorded within 24 to 48 hours, and often sooner, depending on Bitcoin network activity. It still shows the files existed no later than that time. For key bids, an ASAP TimeBind is sent as its own Bitcoin transaction straight away and can be checked independently from the certificate and the Bitcoin blockchain.

Which plan suits a bid team

A Pooled TimeBind uses 1 Token and an ASAP TimeBind uses 3. The Free plan includes 1 Token every month, enough for an occasional bid. Essential is USD $20 a month for 5 Tokens and Expert is USD $50 a month for 15. Firms that bid every week, or want one company account and a monthly invoice, usually look at Business, USD $149 a month for 60 Tokens. A paid plan replaces the Free plan’s Token. See which plan do I need and TimeBinder business plans.