Top 10 Requirements to Qualify For Any Invitation To Tender in Kenya

Requirements to qualify for a tender invitation in Kenya is adding up every year. This is based on the qualification of the suppliers applying to be pre-qualified.

Also, the number of applications submitted by suppliers whenever a Tender advertisement is published on a newspaper or via the online Tender platforms in very huge.

Its important to mention that Tendering and Freelancing go hand in hand. 7 years ago when I started responding to Invitation to tender, the number of requirements was not much. These were the registration certificate, KRA Pin, company profile and Tax compliance certificate.

In this blogpost, I will share with you top mandatory requirements you need in order to qualify for a Tender evaluation in Kenya. Note that you can acquire most of these documents for FREE or at a fee on the ecitizen portal.

Copy of certificate of Registration/Incorporation

The certificate of registration can be for a business name or a limited company. Registration certificate for a business name is different from the one of a limited company.

You can tell this by how much it will cost you to get one. A business name registration certificate costs Ksh. 850 on e-citizen portal while for a limited, it will vary depending on how you choose to do it.

The range for registering a limited company is Ksh.10,000-35,000. The time it takes to get registration certificate is 5 days while a limited company takes 7-30 days depending on number of directors in the company and who you engage to register the business for you.

To apply for a business name registration visit https://www.ecitizen.go.ke

Copy of PIN Certificate

PIN which stands for Personal Indetification Number is issued by Kenya Revenue Authority. You can learn more about PIN registration by Visiting www.itax.kra.go.ke.

For small registered businesses, you are only required to submit your tender application using your personal PIN. On the other hand, when submitting your application for a limited company, you are required to have Company PIN Number.

This can be obtained again online on Itax portal for free.

Copy of VAT Registration Certificate

While PIN number can act as VAT certificate for most companies offering services, its important to note that you are required to issue a VAT receipt to validate the 14% tax you are charging on goods and services you are offering to your clients.

The VAT receipt has your company PIN and VAT number. The VAT reciept can ONLY be generated by the ETR machine. When you purchase an ETR gadget, you are issued with an ETR number.

The number is very useful when verifying your tax returns.

Copy of Valid Tax Compliance Certificate/Exemption Certificate

Any company or person who files his/her returns regularly is eligible for a tax compliance certificate. This is a confirmation that you are faithfully paying your taxes.

The compliance certificate is valid for 1 year. The tendering company can check the validity of the tax compliance on iTax portal using KRA TCC Checker.

Exemption certificate if for people dealing with tax excempt goods.

Registration Certificate With Relevant Regulatory Bodies

These are certificates issued by accredited industry bodies like KEBS, IATA, ministry of health and National Construction Authority . Please check with the company you are pre-qualifying for if they require any certification in the category of supplies you are applying for.

Original Bank Statement/Bank Reference

This requirement vary from one organisation to another. Some require a 3 months statement while others require 1 year statement. The statement must stamped by your bank.

Business/Company Profile

Company profile structure is dependent on what you are selling. It must however contain your company name, contacts, services your offering, names of your employees and qualifications, past tenders completed and the value and referees.

CR12/Partnership Deed

This is mandatory and it contains shareholding positions for limited company, business locations and more. It also contains names and contacts of the directors.

AGPO Certificate For the Youth and People With Disabilities

With the knowledge that the Government of Kenya is allocating 30% of all tenders to youth, women and people with disabilities, its therefore necessary to register and obtain a certificate from AGPO website if you fall on this category of people.

This way, you will have an upper hand in qualifying for tenders set aside for the youth and people with disability.

National IDs/ Passports for all directors, partners and sole proprietors

All directors of the company applying must submit copies of their IDs or passport.

This is for confirmation that indeed they are the owners of the company. It also, shows if they are Kenyan citizens or foreigners.

Firm’s audited accounts or Bank Statements for previous one year

I had earlier mentioned bank statement on this post which is key for new companies, those ones owned by youth, women and people with disabilities.

However, it’s important to note that audited accounts for limited companies which have been in operation more than 1 year will be needed.

Names Of At Least Three Clients That The Firm Has Done Business With In The Last Two Years

This is only mandatory for businesses which have been in operation for 2 years or more. New business are exempted from this.

These are few among many other requirements to qualify for a tender.

In order to know the requirements your company needs in order to to qualify for a tender application, regularly purchase local daily newspaper and check look for tender advertisements.

During the Covid season, most government agencies will refer you to a website link where you can download the tender document and apply.

If you have any questions regarding to this post, feel free to contact me here or e-mail me on connect@cheptiony.com

You can follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

Until next time, take care.

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