White salary This is the only legal form of remuneration. Many job seekers, when looking for work, are also faced with illegal types of payment: black and gray wages. In order to figure out whether the salary from a given employer is legal, you need to pay attention to the following signs.
Signs of a white salary:
- The full salary amount is indicated in the documents upon hiring.
- Bonuses and other incentive allowances are calculated by order.
- Money is transferred to the card or issued through the cash register. Cash payment must be made according to one of the following documents: cash order, payroll or payroll. Documents must be signed by the manager, chief accountant or authorized person. Opposite the name of a specific employee should be the amount that is issued in person.
- No additional amounts will be issued in envelopes.
- The actual amount of income is reflected in the 2-NDFL certificate and in the pay slip.
- All deductions are made from the entire amount of the employee’s income.
What is official wages?
Many people don't even think about the fact that they are receiving illegal income. They work without registration or receive part of their payment in envelopes, but do not understand that part of their income is hidden. For most employees, it does not matter that the amount of their actual income according to documents is less than their real earnings. Employees pay attention to ensuring that money arrives on time, without delays.
The official salary is calculated either according to the report card or according to the standards met. An employee should not register for a salary less than the minimum wage established by the state.
Salary structure
- Salary. For the calculation of which, the actual time worked according to the time sheet, or the standards actually fulfilled, are taken into account.
- Bonus (for length of service, qualifications, length of service, rank or others).
- Additional payments for work on weekends, for night work, for replacing an absent employee and others.
- Incentive payments, including bonuses.
- The regional coefficient established in a specific region.
When an employee is on sick leave, he is paid temporary disability benefits. When on a business trip, business trips. And when you go on vacation, you are paid vacation pay.
Features of employment
When hiring an employee, a hiring order must be issued. An employment contract is another fundamental document that describes the position, working conditions, rest, and the amount of remuneration for the duties performed.
You need to familiarize yourself with the following internal documents of the organization:
- Collective agreement.
- Bonus provisions.
- Inner order rules.
- Job descriptions.
- Taxes and salaries.
You need to understand the difference between accrued and paid wages. The difference between them is the withheld personal income tax (personal income tax), trade union dues, alimony and other deductions under the writ of execution.
Additionally, the employer pays mandatory contributions to the following extra-budgetary funds from all accrued employee income:
- Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (PFR).
- Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (MHIF).
- Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation (FSS).
Illegal types of wages
On the territory of the Russian Federation there is only one type of remuneration - official wages in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. In common parlance, such earnings are called white wages. No other types of remuneration are legal; there are no legal concepts of black or gray wages.
Black salary
An employment contract is not concluded with the employee, no hiring order is made, and there is no documentation of the person in the organization. Such an employee receives his salary in cash in an envelope.
Obvious disadvantages of illegal sources of income:
- Lack of legal protection for employees.
- No tax transfers.
- Inability to officially go on vacation, sick leave or maternity leave.
The employee does not have any length of service and does not make any contributions to the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, the Pension Fund, or the Social Insurance Fund. In case of illness or dismissal, the employer often does not make the required payments. When the time comes to receive your pension, payments will be minimal.
The only advantage of such a source is the higher amount of illegal income. This option is convenient for business areas with a regular turnover of cash, which later goes to pay earnings.
This method is also convenient for real estate organizations. Only a few people register with such companies, and the rest receive only a percentage of sales.
Gray salary
Partially the official salary is called gray. At the same time, employees are registered on the minimum wage. It is from this amount that the employer pays all taxes. Sometimes an employee is assigned to a position with a lower salary. The remainder is paid in an envelope.
This scheme allows the employer to reduce tax costs and allows for an increase in wages. However, sick leave, maternity leave, and vacation leave are, as a rule, calculated according to the minimum wage and their size is minimal. There is a high probability that after maternity leave the employer will offer to resign, and if you disagree, he will leave only the white part of the salary.
Another disadvantage of partially illegal earnings is that the employer regulates the amount in the envelope independently and can establish various fines and illegal deductions.
Scheme of illegal salaries disguised as dividends
Another way to pay salaries is through a scheme that includes a minimum salary and dividends. Each employee is given the opportunity to purchase shares of the organization, which he must sell upon dismissal.
These conditions are specified in the employment contract. A smaller part of the salary is processed and paid on time. The employee periodically receives most of the income in the form of dividends, which in fact make up the majority of his earnings.
Taxes are transferred only from the minimum wage. The frequency of dividends is not monthly, but quarterly. In this scheme, dividends are a good cover for illegal income. To identify this scheme, all employment contracts, minutes and documents of shareholder meetings, employee shares and the amount of payments are reconciled.
What does the employer risk?
Often, the employer is calm and confident that employees will not complain, since they will not be able to prove anything without official documents. However, illegal schemes are detected quite easily. To do this, an unscheduled inspection is carried out and the number of employees in the workplace and in the staffing table is simply compared.
Employee complaints to inspection bodies and witness testimony can help identify this scheme. Illegal payment of labor and tax evasion threatens the employer with heavy fines and even criminal liability.
Advantages and disadvantages of official earnings for an employee
- The main advantage is the social security of the employee. If there is a violation of labor obligations, you can file a complaint with the regulatory authorities.
- Registration of employees and payment of white wages is a sign of a stable organization.
- Taxes are charged on all earnings. In the future, the amount of pension payments will be calculated from these taxes transferred to the Pension Fund.
- Temporary disability benefits and vacation pay are calculated based on total earnings.
- When you go on parental leave, it will be easier to return to your position while maintaining your salary, since the registration is official.
You can confirm your income with a certificate; this is sometimes necessary to obtain a mortgage or loan. - The salary is fixed; the employer does not have the right to reduce it at will.
- If an employee is dismissed, the employer must pay all due payments.
- You can return part of your personal income tax from the budget using tax deductions. This is beneficial if you buy an apartment or house with a mortgage.
The disadvantages are not so obvious, but they still exist.
- Official income is usually less than illegal income. Because the employer reduces part of its expenses by cutting salaries.
- Most vacancies in private business are offered with illegal earnings, so it is more difficult to find a job with an official salary.
- Alimony and debts under writs of execution are withheld from official earnings; illegal income is easier to hide. In this regard, when registering an employee, the full amount will be deducted from the salary.
Advantages and disadvantages of a white salary for an employer
- The obvious disadvantage is the cost of taxes.
- Complex accounting reporting.
- Inability to fire an unsuitable employee, since according to the Labor Code this is difficult to do.
There are much fewer advantages for the employer:
- No liability for illegal wages and tax evasion.
- Good reputation and stability of the organization.
- Accounting transparency.
How to check whether an employee’s payment is official?
If an employee has doubts about whether he has official income, this can be checked as follows. You need to register in your personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service and download the 2-NDFL certificate there. Organizations are required to submit these certificates annually by name. Having received a similar one in accounting, you can compare income by month.
Despite the obvious advantages of the white salary, most employers and employees settle on the gray version. When making such a choice, you need to weigh all the risks, since employees often lose more than they gain. It must be borne in mind that if the salary is illegal, the employer may delay its payment for an indefinite period, pay it not in full, or not pay it at all.
Participation in a tender seems to the average citizen to be something extremely complex and incomprehensible.
As the practice of the last decade shows, an increasing number of producers of goods and services prefer to participate in tenders.
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What is a tender?
Competitive bidding organized by the customer to find a profitable, effective and high-quality proposal is called a tender. The customer is the state, purchasing products for state, municipal needs or private companies. The object of trading is products, works or services.
It is carried out according to specific rules, violation of which entails problems with the law. The winner is the company that makes the best proposal. This includes high quality, low price, and minimal deadlines. To win a government order or a commercial tender, you need to develop a high-quality application taking into account all the wishes of the customer.
Definition of concept and types
Tender is a word of English origin that means bargaining, competition. According to current legislation, the word competition is used, although in the business world they use the following terms: “tender application”, “tender commission”, “tender documentation”.
Government auctions are carried out in accordance with the provisions of regulatory document 94-F3. They occur according to three procurement schemes using budget funds: requests for quotations, tenders and auctions. In commercial ones, the rules for holding auctions are established, conditions are set and they are sold using their own or borrowed funds.
Tender classification:
- Open. Any company can take part in it; it features healthy competition that promotes transparency in its conduct. Information about the upcoming tender is published by the customer in specific media sources and the Internet. Companies submit an application for participation to the commission. It is carried out to supply institutions with large, long-term supplies of products or to carry out construction work on a government facility;
- Closed. According to the rules, it limits the number of participants delivering specific goods or providing special services. For example, it is used in government procurement for defense needs. Sometimes this status arises when the customer wishes to work with companies that have a certain status or license.
- Two-stage. It is used when purchasing complex products, performing research, development and technological work, and is used in the construction industry. The method helps to evaluate existing methods and technologies, means and conditions of the supplier and formulate your wishes.
At the first stage, the customer accepts proposals without specifying a price. He studies proposals, makes amendments and additions to documents. At the second stage, participants submit revised documents. They take into account amendments and indicate the prices of products or services or works.
- Requests for price quotes. Used for small volumes of purchases worth up to 250 thousand rubles. Procurement is carried out without intermediaries, the number of suppliers must be at least three;
- Purchasing from a single source. Executed when only one supplier is able to fulfill the order, for example, a work of art or copyright.
Any legal entity can protect its own copyright. In this case, the procedure will be called
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Participants
Participation in the tender can be taken by any individual or legal entity who is an authorized representative of the company or simply a legal entity. They must confirm their desire to participate in the tender and submit an application to the tender commission. The application is drawn up in accordance with the terms of the tender documentation.
In rare cases, order executors avoid participating in tenders, since almost all types of products and services on the market are purchased on its basis.
Rules of the game
Free market orientation in their segment allows companies to submit a correct application, but each customer has their own rules of the game, so the question of how to participate in tenders to successfully promote proposals depends on them.
When participating in auctions, you must adhere to the following recommendations:
- Careful study of tender documents, the content of which indicates the level of bargaining. If they contain a number of shortcomings and technical errors, then the customer does not have special training. In addition to prices, the customer is interested in terms of delivery and payment, warranty obligations. Consequently, when considering proposals by the customer, the emphasis is on an interesting proposal on delivery terms.
- The price of the product must include the costs of preparation, costs of external companies involved, support, qualified specialists, and paperwork. Detailed information about the price is a guarantor that ensures decent payment, indicating to the customer the features of the proposal under consideration.
- Studying tender documents will reveal shortcomings and inaccuracies, missing information when preparing proposals. Therefore, the supplier company should clarify in advance how to develop them correctly.
- Compliance with the order and standards specified by the customer is one of the successful steps taken by the supplier company. Under no circumstances should you miss the application deadline. The customer’s instructions on the procedure for submitting applications must be strictly followed, and the documents must be drawn up strictly in accordance with the forms provided without clarification.
- The customer makes a note when accepting an application from the company, entering information about the company into the register. In the absence of a register, confirmation is issued by an acceptance certificate.
- The supplier clarifies from the customer the timing of consideration of the application, the procedure for making clarifications, the timing and procedure for announcing the results of the tender. If information is missing, submitting an application may be difficult or impossible to complete.
- It is worth checking the results periodically. If the customer makes a request for additional information, then send it to expand and supplement the information.
Compliance with the above rules increases your chance of winning.
Tender for beginners
The newly adopted law No. 44-FZ allows start-up companies to win the tender, as the procedure becomes more transparent. The customer forms a procurement commission before the day of official publication of information in the media and the Internet, identifying the supplier and contractor. The commission consists of specialists who have received professional retraining and have information about the subject of the purchase.
The commission team is formed separately for each type of trading.
Despite the law, many companies are puzzled by the question: how to start preparing to participate in a tender? In this situation, measures must be taken to:
- development of in-demand industries with social significance of products;
- studying tender laws;
- improving technical training for starting work in electronic trading and auctions;
- financial solvency to participate in government procurement;
- correct preparation of the package of tender documents.
In addition, the company must have all other documentation in order, and tax payments must be made on time.
The company must know about the activities of competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. It must be prepared for the powerful pressure that the bureaucrats will exert. Be firm, confident, calculate the possible development of the situation, and be ready for anything.
It is difficult for an individual to go all the way, but it is quite possible, because in a tender the main thing is profit, which simply does not come.
Preparation of documents
The customer prepares a package of tender documents, approves and provides them to bidders so that they prepare tender proposals for the procurement object or a separate part of it.
The package of documents for participation in the tender is filled out according to the established forms and consists of:
- applications;
- questionnaires containing information about the company;
- commercial offer;
- substantiation of the proposal by calculations, cost items and resource expenditures on the separation sheet. The absence of an explanatory note may result in refusal to consider proposals;
- a list of involved subcontractors with attached information about the subcontractors;
- additional documents provided by the customer.
Prerequisites
The tender commission determines the basic conditions, procedure, timing and location of the tender. The procedure for preparing documents by tender participants is published in the media and on the Internet a month in advance.
5 days before the implementation of the tender, the issuance of tender documents is completed.
Applications are registered in a special journal, numbered and laced by the commission, which it accepts. The tenderer pays for services for the production of a package of documents at the actual cost. Acceptance of tender proposals ends the day before the tender.
After reviewing applications, the Commission notifies companies in writing of the results it makes regarding the application. Tender proposals are drawn up in triplicate and sealed in an envelope. The commission opens the envelope and announces the proposals in the presence of the companies participating in the bidding. The results are published in the press.
Difference in procedure for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities
There is no fundamental importance for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities to take part in the tender. The form of ownership does not affect the results of the tender; the difference is the form of taxation.
When submitting documents, a legal entity submits an application, an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, certified by a notary, and an individual entrepreneur submits a notarized extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and a passport.
Watch a video about the benefits of bidding for small businesses
Successful trading can be learned
Bidding requires knowledge to be successful. Announcements about the organization of courses and seminars teaching the basics of participation in tenders can be found on the Internet and in the media. During the courses, training is carried out according to a program that explains the provisions of the current legislation in Russia, and covers the technique of working on electronic trading platforms.
What is needed for this?
The knowledge gained is not always a guarantee of successful competition in the market.
For participation in the auction to be effective, you must:
- study monitoring of bidding for products or services that exist in the company;
- find and set up auctions of interest to the company;
- be able to recognize the signs of negotiated bidding, master the procedure for submitting applications; learn how to competently draw up a package of tender documents;
- appoint a responsible person responsible for participation in tenders, train staff in courses, conduct seminars.
Selecting a site and topic
According to a special system of interaction, the customer and supplier carry out electronic trading using the global Internet. The Government of the Russian Federation has identified electronic trading platforms on the Internet, where wide functionality is displayed with placed orders, allowing for the effective selection of performers.
The applicant participating in the auction must choose one of the five trading platforms presented:
- OJSC "Unified Electronic Trading Platform";
- CJSC "Sberbank-AST";
- OJSC "RTS";
- CJSC Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange;
- State Unitary Enterprise “Government Order Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan”.
Any electronic document is assigned a legal status, which is based on an electronic digital signature within the selected site. The digital signature is issued within five working days by a certification center, the list of which can be found on the site’s website. Any company has the right to register as a customer or contractor.
Software
An electronic trading platform allows you to make purchases much faster, saving time and not spending money on advertising.
To carry out transactions on a website online, standard software is used that can secure digital certificates, digital signature private keys, and ciphers. Software users, using Russian identifiers, protect the database from unauthorized use of information.
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Earning money from tenders: is it profitable?
Participation in tenders has become an everyday reality, so many companies regularly participate in them and receive significant profits through tenders. But it is worth taking into account that not all tenders live up to expectations. The ability to distinguish an honest tender from a fraudulent one, a profitable state tender from a losing one that simply takes time and effort, ensures the success of the company in advance.
Tender (competitive bidding) is an effective and therefore widely used procurement method. The buyer announces a competition among suppliers describing the desired price, technical and other characteristics of goods (services, works). A supply contract is signed with the winning participant (in foreign economic activity this form is called procurement).
This method of offering your services makes it possible to get a new business partner (of course, if you can withstand the competition).
Sometimes this path may be not only the shortest, but also the only one possible for entering into cooperation with new foreign buyers.
How to participate in tenders correctly
There are three main roles in the tendering scheme, reflecting the connection of interests of the subjects of the transaction.
Subjects of the auction:
- Buyer (customer)- an enterprise whose purpose is to conclude a contract for the purchase of goods/services/works with the most favorable conditions.
- Participant (applicant, offeror)— a supplier who wishes to receive an order for the sale of goods/services/works
- Organizer- a legal entity that functionally prepares and conducts tenders. Usually - the customer himself or his specialized division.
Tender documentation is prepared according to the Customer's conditions.
The remaining participants (notaries, trading platforms, etc.) take part indirectly, performing intermediary and service functions.
Types of tenders
Tenders are distinguished according to a number of characteristics, classifying them as different types. Depending on the defining feature, there are several classifications of competitive bidding:
Whatever type of Tender your company takes part in, there are a number of rules that are the same for any tender:
- You can only take part by submitting an Application for Participation (with a package of documents) within the agreed time frame. After this period, applications and changes to them will not be accepted.
- By submitting an Application, you undertake to comply with the proposed terms of the Contract (if you win the auction).
- If the deadline for submitting documentation has not yet expired, the application may be withdrawn by the applicant.
- Documentation is prepared and submitted in the volumes and according to the rules determined by the Customer.
- When participating in an international tender, you will need to prepare a package of documents in the official language of the Customer’s country (unless otherwise specified by the conditions).
- Submitted tenders are not available to other bidders (to avoid unfair competition).
Where to start preparing for participation in the tender
There are several stages in preparing for a tender.
- Select a suitable tender.
To search for them, there are specialized systems with a trading database (for example, ru.dgmarket.com, synapsenet.ru, regionzakaz.ru, etc.). By the way, large platforms often allow you to participate in tenders for free. - Study the rules and conditions of participation.
This stage requires attention because, without noticing some seemingly insignificant conditions for concluding a contract, the Tenderer may lose the order even after winning the auction.
After making the decision to participate in the auction, they proceed to the main stage - preparing and submitting a package of documents.
- Prepare tender documentation.
The application (with all the documentation requested by the customer) can be submitted by applicants in two ways: in paper and in electronic form.- The first method is familiar and known for a long time, when documents are prepared on paper and certified by a “live” signature of an authorized person and the seal of the enterprise. The package of documents is packed in an envelope and sealed, and the tender documents are opened.
- The second method is more modern. It assumes that a package of documents is generated in electronic form: scanned and protected by appropriate encryption algorithms (including an electronic digital signature). Since most trades now take place electronically (especially at the international level), most likely you will have to use this particular route.
To do this, you need to be accredited on the Electronic Trading Platform (ETP). ETP is a website that hosts a database of electronic auctions. This is where participation in them takes place. There are 5 largest non-state platforms today. First of all, it is advisable to be accredited to them.
To perform legally significant actions on the ETP you will need an Electronic Digital Signature (EDS). Digital signature is a way to secure documents existing in electronic form. It has the same legal force as a document signed “live” with a seal. Considering that in international relations it is more convenient and reliable to conduct document flow in electronic form, obtaining an electronic signature is an important part of normal work with electronic trading.
- Submit an application (if necessary, provide it).
The digital signature operator may require the transfer of a certain “deposit” to its official special account, up to 5% of the contract price - for participation in the auction, and up to 30% - for signing the contract.
Sometimes bank guarantees serve as security for an application for participation in the Tender. They must be received in advance. In addition, the auction organizer can accept guarantees only from a certain list of banks (large and reliable international financial institutions).
In the modern era of high technology, industry is developing quite quickly. And in the construction field the level of quality of buildings and structures must constantly improve. Thus, competition develops, covering many different business entities that are in search of unusual solutions and original ideas. As for architects, for example, they can participate in a construction tender in order to demonstrate their own creation.
Important process
Enterprises decide for themselves how to participate in tenders. Thanks to such events, companies have the opportunity to reach a new level, which will benefit not only customers, but also those business entities that present their own ideas and projects. Companies participating in tenders must have some feature that will distinguish them from competitors.
What it is?
Based on modern practice, it becomes clear how to participate in tenders. This is not a very simple procedure, but it is already accessible to any business entity. So, a tender is an auction on a competitive basis, which is organized by the customer to find the most profitable, effective and high-quality offer. The customer is often the state, which is ready to purchase products for its own or municipal needs. A private company can also play the role of a customer.
The object of trading is various types of products, works or services. There are specific rules on how to participate in tenders, violation of which can lead to certain problems with the law. The business entity that makes the best offer, characterized by a low price, minimum execution time and, of course, good quality, can win these auctions.
How to start participating in tenders?
To win a government order, it is necessary to develop an appropriate high-quality application that takes into account the wishes of the customer.
The auctions are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the current Russian legislation (No. 94-FZ). They can take place according to three main procurement schemes using budget financing: quotation, auctions and competitions.
When opening commercial tenders, how to participate in tenders is established by the regulations for their conduct with the implementation of the procedure using both own and borrowed funds.
Classification
There are the following types of tender procedures: open, closed, two-stage and requests for price quotations. Thus, any interested business entity can take part in open tenders. This procedure is characterized by healthy competition and transparency. Where to participate in tenders of this type? You can find out about this in specialized media. Companies wishing to participate submit applications to the commission.
Basically, the tender is used to supply organizations with long-term and large supplies of various products or when carrying out construction work at a specific government facility.
In closed bidding, the number of participants who want to deliver goods or provide services is limited. In this case, we can talk about government procurement, for example, for the defense needs of the state.
How can individual entrepreneurs participate in tenders of this type? Quite simple. This type of procurement is used for small volumes (up to 250 thousand rubles). The process is carried out without intermediaries, and the number of suppliers at the auction must be at least three.
As for limited liability companies, they can expect larger orders.
Two-stage tender procurement
Business entities can learn how to properly participate in two-stage tenders from the relevant documentation. This type of bidding is mainly used when purchasing complex products or when performing development or research work, which are quite in demand in construction. Using this method, you can evaluate current technologies and methods, and the conditions of the supplier.
The first stage is for the customer to accept all proposals (without specifying the price), which are studied and supplemented. The second stage involves the provision by participants of already revised documents, which take into account all the amendments, and also indicate prices for products, works or services.
Respondents
Both legal entities and individuals can participate in tenders. They confirm their desire to be bidders by submitting an application to the appropriate commission. This document is drawn up in accordance with the tender documents. It is a rare business entity that does not express a desire to take part in the auction at least once. Today, most types of products on the market can be purchased on their basis.
tender documentation
Bidders should carefully study the available tender documentation, the content of which may indicate the level of this procedure. So, for example, if the papers contain significant shortcomings or technical errors, then this fact indicates the lack of special training of the customer. If, in addition to prices, he is interested in supply conditions, payment and warranty obligations, then we can confidently say that the emphasis is on an interesting offer regarding the specifics of supplies.
The price of the product may include costs for attracting additional companies or qualified specialists, as well as for paperwork. A detailed explanation of the price is a kind of guarantor that can ensure decent payment.
Studying the tender documentation allows you to identify shortcomings and some inaccuracies, as well as missing information during the preparation of the proposal. It is the high-quality preparation of the proposal in accordance with the documentation provided by the customer that will be one of the successful steps taken by the supplier.
Thanks to the transparency of this procedure, even newly registered business entities can win tenders. For these businesses, it is enough to study the relevant legislation well and submit the application correctly. Of no small importance in this process can be the adoption of the following measures: development of in-demand industries that have important social significance; improving technical training when participating in electronic auctions and bidding; correct preparation of tender documentation.
Training courses
To successfully participate in tenders, enterprise managers often send their employees to special courses, in which training is carried out according to a special program that explains in detail the provisions of the current Russian legislation, and also examines the technique of working on electronic trading platforms.
However, the knowledge gained cannot always guarantee successful competition in the market. To increase the effectiveness of participation, it is necessary to study in detail the process and results of bidding in terms of products or services; find auctions that are of particular interest to a particular enterprise; learn how to correctly formulate tender documents; appoint a person who would be responsible for participation in the auction.
Electronic trading
When participating in a special type of tenders on electronic platforms using the global Internet, a business entity also needs to know several mandatory rules. Thus, the Russian government has determined a list of electronic trading platforms on the World Wide Web, where orders are placed and effective selection of contractors is provided. The applicant who participates in the bidding must select one of the approved sites. Any corresponding electronic document in this case is assigned a legal status based on a certified digital signature.
How to participate in tenders: general information about tenders + overview of the public procurement market and analysis of promising segments, as well as step-by-step instructions for business in 6 stages.
Business is constantly looking for customers, because, as you know, any enterprise either expands (scales) or contracts. And what client is better than the state?
The authorities have powerful administrative resources, access to the treasury, and enormous needs. Especially when it comes to the humanitarian and social spheres. However, entrepreneurs are not particularly eager to cooperate with the state, fearing bureaucracy and legal difficulties.
So how to participate in the tender so as to come out of this initiative profitably and without unnecessary hassle?
To answer this question, you need to study the government procurement market, consider the tender itself - how to participate in it, and also highlight the most promising industries in which the state buys a lot and often from small businesses.
What is a tender?
Yes, we all understand that “tender” is a synonym for the term “government procurement,” but ordinary people rarely think about what exactly is hidden behind it.
A tender involves a special procedure for purchasing goods or services for public money and is a key instrument of public administration.
Without tenders, the state as such would hardly have existed for long. This procedure in different countries has its own specifics, but, in general, it comes down to two main schemes: competitive tenders and tenders from one participant.
We are most interested in the first ones, since the second ones are considered an exception, are held relatively rarely, and a limited number of firms admitted to them can participate in them. In practice, everything is not quite like this, but tender fraud is beyond our scope.
But competitive bidding is a completely different matter. Almost everyone can participate here if they have a sufficient amount of the necessary goods or are able to provide the service required by the customer. Moreover, large tenders are often divided into relatively small lots, which makes it possible for small businesses to participate in tenders.
Competitive tenders are conducted according to the principles of reverse auction or reduction. If at a regular auction the one who offers the maximum price wins, then here it’s the other way around - the one who offers the lowest price while maintaining the required quality wins. The quality and other characteristics of the product must be confirmed by relevant certificates and conclusions.
Is the “game worth the candle” - a brief overview of the government procurement market of the Russian Federation
General information about tenders from the state is contained on the Unified System website ( https://zakupki.gov.ru/epz/main/public/home.html), both in the form of graphs and in digital form.
- by the amount of contracts,
- by the number of purchases,
- at the maximum lot price.
At the same time, again according to the law, 10% of all tenders must go to small businesses. True, “small” in this case are rather medium-sized companies, but truly small businesses can choose something interesting for themselves and participate.
If you consider that the amount of government orders per year exceeds 32,000,000,000,000 rubles (that’s 32 trillion rubles, if you lost your count of zeros), then there will certainly be something for your industry.
However, the government distinguishes two systems for calculating tender procedures - according to the number of basic laws. That’s why there are always two numbers: 25.7 trillion rubles (223-FZ) and 6.4 trillion rubles (44-FZ). In total they give the same 32 trillion.
Moreover, from the point of view of international rating organizations (those that issue financial ratings), the main source of business enrichment in Russia is not oil or metal, contrary to the prevailing stereotype, but the state treasury. relies on government tenders.
In other words, in the USA or Western Europe they are betting on the development of innovation and enrichment through trade in a free market.
But in the Russian Federation, according to a number of foreign financial observers, businesses should focus on government tenders, since this is the easiest and simplest way to get rich without investing in know-how, etc. And the larger the company, the higher the need to participate in tenders becomes.
How to participate in tenders - step-by-step instructions
Formally, any willing supplier of services and goods (if they have the required quality) can participate in public procurement both under contracts and under agreements.
In practice, however, it is easier for small and medium-sized businesses to work with the contract system. It is more flexible and varied, and the tenders themselves are often smaller in scale. However, each individual case needs to be studied.
Oddly enough, on the website of the Unified Electronic System there are no clear and simple step-by-step instructions on how a business can work with tenders. It is assumed that everyone already knows everything well or can hire those who understand it.
Thus, large enterprises have entire departments that specialize exclusively in monitoring the scope of public procurement according to the profile of their company.
There is more information about procurements and how to participate in them on the websites of electronic platforms, but it is more technical - how to set up a secure connection, what an electronic signature is, how to log into an electronic account, etc.
So our step-by-step instructions on how to participate in tenders will come in handy for many.
Step 1. What do you need to know before participating in tenders?
Any more or less reasonable entrepreneur understands that before developing a new market, it is necessary to conduct marketing research, even if this “research” is very superficial and based exclusively on official materials.
In fact, even official data from the Unified System is more than enough to participate in tenders from the state, because now all processes are automated, which means they are displayed online on the website.
Let's assume that you are already familiar with the legislation (two basic laws) that regulates how to participate in tenders. So, let’s move on directly to a brief marketing research.
We previously wrote that by law, customers are required to make 10% of all purchases from small businesses. Therefore, state-owned enterprises and organizations are forced to break huge lots into small ones. This is inconvenient for them, but for individual entrepreneurs and small LLCs at government tenders it is just right.
But how can you find exactly those that are suitable among these thousands of tenders?
There are two ways here:
- end-to-end search with filters, which is available on the main page of the Unified System;
- special section for SMP ( https://zakupki.gov.ru/epz/gws/quicksearch/search.html)
The second point in practice turns out to be the same end-to-end search, but with pre-installed and configured filters for searching government tenders. You can find this option on the left in the general menu of the Unified System.
*Section on tenders for small and medium-sized businesses
Information about tenders from the state can also be found on the websites of electronic platforms, where the tenders will be held directly.
Perhaps this section is best developed by Sberbank. To participate in tenders, you will need an electronic signature, which the sites themselves can issue, as well as a personal account. These are practical steps that we will look at in more detail later.
Analyzing sites
According to the website of the Unified Information System, five electronic platforms are allowed to tender from the state, each of which has its own disadvantages and advantages, but they often lie in technical details or the activity of the support service.
Everyone has the same basic functionality, otherwise they would not have been certified in tenders so that they could participate as key players.
*Electronic platforms from the list on the website of the Unified Information System
Let’s say right away that most tender procedures are carried out through Sberbank - it is considered to be more reliable.
General online statistics tell us that the majority of tenders are carried out through this platform:
When choosing a site where you will participate, it is better to look not at the name of the site itself, but at what area you work in and what sites your potential customers cooperate with most often.
Register for tenders where there is demand for your goods/services. These indicators can also be checked through the main website of the system, through an end-to-end search.
In general, the situation for the lots looks like this:
When is the best time to start working with public procurement?
Marketing research involves not only reviewing sites that are adapted for holding tenders, but also determining when there is the greatest demand for your products.
We will not look at individual goods and services, since there are too many of them, but we must study the general indicators even before participating in tenders. The same website of the Unified System will help us in assessing data on government tenders ( https://zakupki.gov.ru).
The first and most important difference between government tenders and commercial ones is that the seasonal factor here has a completely different nature. So, if you sell winter clothes, then among ordinary buyers the greatest demand for it will be in the fall and early winter.
But if you are an official, then you must allocate budget funds for winter clothing to some employees at the end of the current period for the next.
Therefore, most often the peak of tender procedures occurs at the end of the year (in extreme cases, the end of the quarter), and the most important decline occurs immediately after the new year, when everyone is out for a walk and there is no time for tenders.
We see this in the procurement statistics by the number of lots under 44-FZ:
But here is a similar indicator for government tenders for 223-FZ:
Even more indicative is the seasonality factor in terms of prices for government tenders under 223-FZ:
Here we see a strong surge in activity in government tenders precisely at the end of 2016 and almost a decline in activity at the beginning of 2017. But it is worth considering that the largest transactions are carried out under 223-FZ, implementing them according to the contractual system.
For small businesses, statistics on contract tenders (44-FZ) are much more relevant:
Here we see a strong increase in the activity of tender procedures at the very end of the year and a sharp decline at the beginning. But what is more interesting is the gradual increase in activity from month to month with a new surge in March.
The fact is that the first quarter ends in March, and, as we already wrote, officials always buy everything in advance. The quarter is ending, which means it’s time to stock up on fuel and food for the canteens for the next reporting period. Therefore, it’s time to remember government tenders.
The smallest “step” is 1 month. But there are also unscheduled tenders, so it’s impossible to predict everything.
Having analyzed the indicators for government tenders over the past year, we can also see that customer activity gradually decreases from May to August, starting to increase in early autumn, and reaching a peak in November-December.
This is due to the fact that officials have a vacation period in the summer and, in general, business activity in Russia dies down - few people are ready to participate in such tender procedures. It is dying down, but not dying, so this is not a reason to despair, but at the same time you should prepare to reduce prices, because competition will increase.
Be careful with officials
We must remember that the system, of course, is Unified, but it does not take into account everything. The slightest grammatical error in tenders and you will never find the desired advertisement.
This is one of the most popular schemes for manipulating government tenders in Russia. Officials, for example, have already chosen their matchmaker/brother/godfather, they want to give the order for a “kickback” from tenders to him (a share of payment for government orders), and do not want to complicate the life of their relatives with “extra” competition.
Then they make a minor mistake in government tenders, for example, in the title - they put an extra period or a comma instead of a period. Or, let’s say, they change the Russian letter “a” to the English “a”.
For a simple observer there is no difference, but for an electronic system these are completely different things: if you enter a search query with exclusively Russian letters, then with an English insert the system will not show the tender, and, as you know, out of sight, out of mind.
Such tenders will not be seen by either potential participants or regulatory authorities (they will only be able to check the final reports on tenders after the fact).
If no one except one person willing to participate (the same matchmaker-brother) wanted to take part in the auction, then officials can declare the tender through the competitive procedure unsuccessful. Then they have the right to approve the purchase from one participant or a closed competition altogether.
Thus, an unscrupulous entrepreneur will be able to sell goods to equally unscrupulous officials at a price sometimes several times higher than the market value. The government is fighting this phenomenon at government tenders, but somehow without much enthusiasm.
Note that similar schemes are used in almost all countries where electronic trading has already been introduced - from Portugal and Ukraine to Korea and Taiwan. There is no panacea here, because this is already a human factor. If an official wants to break the law, he will always find a way.
Why are we writing all this? Any businessman must be very, very careful both in searching for information about government tenders and directly in participating in them.
Do not forget that we are talking about public money, which means that responsibility for its waste will be more serious than a small fine. Nobody wants to get an article for embezzlement of public funds on an especially large scale, do they?
So in relations with officials it is better to play it safe several times: prevention is the best way to avoid serious headaches.
Having dealt with the information component, read the legislation on government tenders, mastered the search elements on the Unified System website and calculated the activity cycles and “critical days” of officials, you can move on to the next step – the preparatory one.
Step 2. How to properly prepare to participate in Russian tenders?
All government tenders in Russia are conducted electronically, but document flow is still largely paper-based. This applies to all kinds of certificates, as well as other permits or documents confirming the quality.
How to make them electronic for participation in tenders? That's right - digitize and “sign” with your electronic signature.
You will need a signature to register in your personal account of the selected electronic platform. If you register, then everything you enter into the system will already be considered certified by your electronic digital signature (EDS).
EDS gives legal status to all electronic copies of your documents, but most importantly, it gives you financial responsibility, without which you will not be able to participate in government tenders.
To obtain a signature to participate in tenders, you need to fill out a special online form on electronic platforms, provide the necessary documents and become the proud owner of your digital signature. For example, for Sberbank you will find all instructions here - https://www.sberkey.ru
The entire process of obtaining it is optimized and usually takes no more than 3 days. This service is not free, but the price depends on the company itself, on the field of activity and on the site.
Once you receive the electronic signature, you must receive site accreditation. Simply put, fill out a form with information about your company to participate in tenders. There will be, among other things, the data that potential customers will see.
Different sites have their own accreditation system, but in general the requirements are similar:
- in addition to the digital signature, you will also need to enter its details,
- also attach an extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities,
- provide constituent documentation,
- confirm the identity of the manager/authorized person to work with the employee’s account, etc.
Your application will be reviewed within 5 days.
- You will receive a notification that you are accredited and a “personal account” has been created for you.
- You will receive a reasoned refusal, which will tell you why you were not accepted into the system and why you will not be able to participate in tenders.
You can resend corrected applications an infinite number of times, but after each submission you will still have to wait 5 days.
Step 3. How to use your personal account to participate in tenders?
This step can be called “practical” since you will finally be able to participate in tenders. But getting a personal account is actually not enough - you can view advertisements, but you cannot take part in tenders without a deposit.
To do this, you need to deposit into your account on this electronic platform an amount equivalent to 2% of the order from the selected advertisement. Only then will you be able to submit your application for participation in tenders. If you lose the auction, your money will be returned to you.
When you choose an advertisement for participation in tenders, we again urge you to be vigilant when studying customer requirements, deadlines, etc. Especially regarding the necessary licenses and certificates! By submitting an application, you agree that you already have the product you are looking for.
This part of your application is secret - you will not see how others apply, their details, etc., and others will not see you. The most important thing is that they will not see the amount of your first bet. But the application also has a public part - a list of licenses and certificates.
The application itself is completed electronically and is a standard application. The nuance is that in order to participate in tenders, when submitting an application, you are “removed” and assigned a serial number - the customer, in theory, cannot know who he is dealing with, since he only sees this number.
Please note that in order to participate in tenders, your application must be as complete as possible, including not only the cost of the product/service itself, but also logistics costs, taxes, etc. By submitting an application, you agree to all the terms and conditions of the customer.
If suddenly you see that you cannot complete something, then it is better to withdraw the application in advance without any losses. At the same time, you must understand that you will only be able to revoke it until a certain date - this must be indicated in the advertisement.
The result of all this activity should be a notification in the form of a protocol to the customer, which will indicate who is allowed to participate in tenders and who is not. You can appeal the decision (including in court) after the public procurement has been carried out.
Step 4. How to participate in the bidding stage?
And now your documents have been sent, the customer has accepted your application for participation in tenders. Now is the time to move on to the next step - bidding. Overall, there is nothing extraordinary here. If you know how an auction is held, then consider that you have already understood the essence of the process.
P.S. The only difference between an auction and tender purchases (reduction) is that the one who sets the price less, not more, wins.
As in a classic auction, government tenders have their own “steps” to lower the bid online. According to the law, the “step” size is fixed at 0.5% of the maximum starting price.
You are given 10 minutes for one “step”. During this time, you should consider how much further you can reduce the price and make your downside bet, or lose.
Remember that your task when participating in government tenders is to make money. This means that it is not advisable to reduce the price too much, with rare exceptions.
For example, you are participating in an auction, and you definitely need to win in order to receive the privileges specified in the law in the future. And these privileges, let us remind you, are granted only to those entrepreneurs who have already participated in government procurement, won them and successfully implemented the government order.
The most important advantage in tenders is that, other things being equal, the customer is obliged to choose the supplier who has the status of “conscientious”. If the step at government tenders is 0.5% of the price, then this is a serious advantage over competitors.
Also keep in mind that you most likely will not be allowed to excessively lower the price at government tenders before the start of bidding in order to further increase it.
However, there is a method of manipulation when the cost (not to be confused with the price!) of the goods is increased after signing the contract, bypassing the tori. This can be done by referring, for example, to the collapse of the ruble exchange rate or rising prices for raw materials and components.
The law requires that you benefit from the sale, but that benefit must be minimal. If you incur losses during tenders, you can compensate them after the fact.
Some use this rule for fraud: first they dump, lowering the price at tenders below cost, thereby eliminating all competitors, and then inflate the price after the conclusion of the contract.
But this is now extremely problematic (unless you are the already mentioned matchmaker of the head of the tender organizer, but this is extremely risky for both).
By the way, suspicions of underestimation of prices by a tender participant may become a reason for appealing the results of tender procedures. Moreover, you can even go to court if the price of the issue is high. This does not guarantee you victory in the next tenders, but it is still better than an inglorious defeat to a rogue.
Step 5. The tender is completed, congratulations to the winner
You made bids on tenders, your competitors made bids and - lo and behold! - suddenly it turned out that your bid was final - no one dared to set a price lower than yours at the tenders. Well, you are a winner! Hooray!
Although, we urge you to refrain from euphoria: firstly, the victory still needs to be formalized correctly, and secondly, now the real work of executing this tender begins.
In fact, all this is not so simple. Yes, if your word turned out to be the last, then you can already feel the taste of victory.
However, the formal procedure looks like this:
- At first, the bidding is conducted taking into account your secret requests, and the customer supposedly does not look at the open part and does not study it at all while the tender game is going on.
- Then, when the winner is determined, the customer of the tender opens the public part. There he studies certificates, licenses, logistics and other expenses.
- Only after this does he make a decision about who won.
So it may happen that the winner of the tenders is not the one who offered the lowest price, but the one who is geographically closer. Plus, do not forget about the advantages of a “bona fide” participant over newcomers in tenders.
In the end, let us recall one more factor: local authorities have the right to give preference in tenders to those firms that pay taxes in their region, thus stimulating the preservation of jobs, etc.
Simply put, even after the tendering process itself there are a lot of variables, so it is better to wait until you receive notification of victory.
You should rejoice at the stage when you see the protocol on the results of the tender indicating yourself as the winner, and your personal account receives a government contract that needs to be endorsed with your brand new electronic digital signature. Then the implementation of the contract can begin.
Step 6. Is there life after the tender?
Once you have decided to participate in tenders and won them, everything is just beginning. Firstly, you must fulfill all obligations under the contract within the specified period, and secondly, officials are not obliged to make payments within the specified period.
That is, formally they are obliged to do this, but in practice it periodically happens that officials are late with payment. This is especially true for periods of crisis in the periphery, where budgets are filled with government subsidies, which means there is a lack of funding.
No subsidies means no money in the local treasury, which means you have nothing to pay with.
Yes, you can go to court, refer to winning tenders, to protocols. The court will decide that the official is wrong, oblige him, and maybe even award him some kind of fine. But the customer will say that no matter how many fines you impose, there is no more money: “we are forced people.”
And there’s nothing you can do about it – you’ll have to wait.
So you need to be prepared for the fact that payment for tenders will not always be made on time. But still, you work with the state, albeit through separate organizations - the state is obliged to pay its debts sooner or later, it is not going anywhere.
That is, the minus here is that you cannot violate your obligations to the state in any way (and if you do, you may seriously regret it), but officials may not be so conscientious.
Complaints
Complaints regarding tenders are also an important indicator of the integrity of a government organization, as well as its solvency, which should be taken into account before participating.
The complaints describe in detail specific cases of errors by both customers and service/product providers. Therefore, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with complaints based on the results of other people’s tenders in the Unified Information System itself in the appropriate section (you can also easily find it in the site menu on the left) before participating in the auction.
Complaints regarding tenders are searched through an end-to-end search with a whole set of filters:
Based on the complaints regarding tenders reviewed, we can note that most of them are returned without consideration. In second place in terms of number are complaints considered in favor of the customer of tenders, which implies confirmation of the results of tender procedures (the next authority is only the court).
The fewest decisions were made in favor of tender participants. However, this is not a reason to give up complaining - this tool works. But it only works where there are compelling reasons for revising the results of tenders.
Do not forget that by appealing tenders, you stop the process of acquiring something, and then the enterprise or organization will find itself without what it needs. For example, there are frequent cases of appeals against the supply of food to educational institutions or equipment to medical institutions.
This means that while you are arguing who is right with the customer and other participants, children may be left without food or patients without the necessary treatment.
Of course, your commercial interests are important, but you shouldn’t forget about social responsibility, even when it comes to tenders.
How to start participating in tenders from scratch?
5 necessary steps to get your first contract:
Brief summary of participation in tenders
The conclusion from the article will not be the most extensive, because the instructions were quite detailed.
The main thing that an entrepreneur should understand before participating in tenders is whether it is worth getting involved in all this bureaucratic history in order to sell goods at low prices?
Of course, a small income is still an income, not a loss, but there will also be a lot of paperwork. So evaluate your chances in advance, before how to participate in tenders, play in auctions and make money on government procurement, not forgetting about care and scrupulousness.
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