Start with the basics. These inputs establish the profile of the opportunity and shape the challenge and confidence assessment that follows. Enter what you know; use ranges where precision isn't available.
The name you'll use to identify this pursuit internally.
The organisation issuing the requirement.
Shapes weighting in the decision dashboard.
Low £
High £
Enter a range if uncertain. This is your best estimate, not a commitment.
Drives the timeline view in the dashboard.
Simple: limited evidence burden. Highly complex: major strategic bid, high governance burden.
Approximate number. Used to calibrate the effort estimate.
Low %
High %
Be honest; this affects the strategic lens analysis and investment posture recommendation.
Prior bid content, case studies, CVs, or other reusable material.
Carried forward into the challenge review.
Section 02
Rate and Role Setup
All cost calculations in this module are driven by the rate card you configure here. The rate card is shared across Modules 1, 2, and 3; set it up once and it carries forward. Enter annual salaries for the role tiers relevant to your organisation; hourly rates calculate automatically. Deactivate any tier that doesn't apply.
Role Tiers
Role LabelDescriptorAnnual Salary (£)Hourly RateActive
Hourly rate is calculated as annual salary multiplied by 0.00119. To adjust for a different annualisation basis, update the salary figure accordingly.
Additional Categories
Add partner, sub-contractor, or specialist categories not covered by the standard tiers. Map each to the closest standard tier or enter a direct hourly rate.
Record who approved these rates or where they came from. Included in the assumptions log.
Section 03
Sunk Cost Estimation
Sunk cost captures the direct effort committed to pursuing this opportunity: the meetings, reviews, solution development, writing, and governance activity that won't be recovered if the bid is unsuccessful. Enter each activity as a separate row. For each role tier involved, enter the hours and the number of people independently. Cost calculates automatically from your rate card.
The goal isn't to record every minute. It's to build a credible estimate of where the effort is going and who is carrying it.
Note: Your entries will be reviewed and flagged where activities appear to be missing, where effort distribution seems inconsistent with the stated submission complexity, or where role absences are unexpected for a bid of this type and size. This analysis runs when you reach the output stage.
Section 04
Opportunity Cost
Every hour a colleague spends on this bid is an hour not spent on something else. Opportunity cost captures that displacement: not just the direct effort, but what was set aside to make it happen, and whether cover was needed as a result.
It's one of the most consistently underreported costs in bid management. Naming it doesn't change the decision to pursue; it changes the honesty of the investment case.
Enter each diversion as a separate row. The assumptions field is mandatory; it's where the most valuable challenge in this module happens.
Note: The assumptions entered here receive the most active challenge in Module 1. The tool will flag thin reasoning, circular justifications, and inconsistencies with earlier inputs. Each challenge is a prompt for your consideration, not a verdict. You decide how to respond.
Section 05
Strategic Lens
Most bids aren't pursued on financial return alone. This section asks you to name the strategic logic behind pursuing this opportunity, and to test whether that logic holds when set against the cost picture you've just built.
Select the primary lens that best describes why your organisation is pursuing this opportunity. Add a secondary lens only if the rationale is genuinely mixed.
Select only if there is a genuine secondary rationale. Don't use this to hedge.
Vague thresholds undermine the strategic case.
Comparison Scenarios
Add alternative strategic framings to test against your primary choice. Useful where the bid investment decision is genuinely contested.
Note: The tool will assess alignment between your selected lens, the opportunity profile, and the cost estimate. Where the strategic rationale appears weak relative to the financial exposure, or inconsistent with earlier inputs, a specific challenge will be surfaced.
Section 06
Challenge and Confidence
This section surfaces the governance and risk items that require human attention before further effort is committed. Toggle on any area where a concern exists or where you're not yet certain. The tool will generate draft risk register entries for each flagged item.
The tool prompts; you decide.
Challenge Flags
Confidence Assessment
Rate your confidence in each major assumption area. Confidence ratings affect the scenario bands and the decision dashboard.
Effort and hours estimate
Rate card accuracy
Probability of win
Strategic rationale
Opportunity cost recording
Challenge flag completeness
Note: Where high confidence is claimed against inputs that suggest uncertainty, the tool will flag the inconsistency when the analysis runs.
Analysis Output
Bid Investment Analysis
Running analysis...
Analysis will appear here when you click Run Analysis.
Ask about this estimate
Ask any question about the figures, assumptions, or flags in this estimate. Both the bid manager and Finance Director can use this to explore the numbers.
Thinking...
Press Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line.
Save Scenario
Save the current inputs as a named scenario for comparison. Up to 6 scenarios can be saved.
or overwrite an existing scenario
This will replace the selected scenario with your current inputs. The original inputs won't be recoverable once replaced.